These soft and chewy granola bars are way better than store-bought and so easy to customize! They’re gluten-free, refined sugar-free and easily made nut-free and/or vegan.A quick, filling, and healthy snack!
I’ve gotten so lazy with granola bars!
There was a time where I’d make a new batch as soon as my previous one ran out just so I always had some on hand to snack on, and at this point I can’t even remember the last time I made any… I’ve just been buying them from the store.
Not that there’s anything wrong with store-bought bars, but… they’re kind of boring. Or at least they get boring. And when your options are super limited because of allergies, they get boring pretty darn fast. Speaking of which, why is it that peanuts, or traces of them, are in literally 80% of bars? Especially the ones that look the best? Asking for a friend…
Anyways! Long story short, I’m back to making my own granola bars – soft and chewy granola bars – and I’m sharing them with you because: a) they’re delicious, b) we love them, and c) you might possibly be in the same boring-granola-bar predicament.
How To Make Easy Homemade Granola Bars
- Mix the dry ingredients first! The recipe calls for quick oats but you can definitely use old-fashioned oats if that’s what you have on hand. The texture of the bars will just be a little chewier.
- The honey + almond butter act as the glue for the oats, while the almond milk softens them a bit to make them perfectly soft and chewy. It’s like eating an oatmeal cookie in bar form.
- Add-ins are completely customizable! Mix together things like chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, coconut shreds, etc. to create different flavour combinations. This is the part that cures the boring-granola-bar predicament since you can swap out flavour combinations and always have something different.
- When pressing the uncooked granola bar mix into your baking pan, make sure to spread it out evenly and use a spatula to pack it down slightly… this will ensure that your bars don’t fall apart.
- I added almond flour to make the bars a little more cookie-ish, but you can use an equal amount of oat flour if you don’t have almond on hand.
- Oh, and if you need these bars to be nut-free, replace the almond flour with oat flour, the almond butter with soy nut butter, and the almond milk with another non-dairy alternative like rice, oat, or soy.
- You can also easily make these bars vegan by replacing the honey with brown rice syrup and using non-dairy chocolate chips (if using).
- And finally, if you need these bars to be gluten-free, use certified gluten-free oats.
Okay, But What Are They Like?
Like eating an oatmeal cookie, but in bar form.
They’re soft, chewy, hearty, sweet, and super satisfying. And the best part is that you can customize them based on whatever it is that you might be craving at the time. I made these ones with a basic raisin + chocolate combo, but I also really love:
- cranberries + pumpkin seeds + chocolate
- coconut shreds + chocolate
- white chocolate + cranberries
- dried blueberries + almonds + coconut shreds
- trail mix
You can also customize them according to your dietary needs as they’re super easy to make gluten-free, refined sugar-free, nut-free, and/or vegan.
Happy eating!
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soft and chewy granola bars
- Author: Amanda @ Running with Spoons
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 bars 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 cups (160 g) quick oats*
- 1/4 cup (28 g) almond flour**
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 Tbsp (120 g) honey***
- 1/4 cup (64 g) almond butter**
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) unsweetened vanilla almond milk**
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (80 g) add-ins (chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts, etc.)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (176°C) and prepare an 8 x 8 (20 x 20 cm) baking pan by lining it with a sheet of parchment paper, leaving a few inches of overhang on the sides to allow for easy removal. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, almond flour, and salt. Add the honey, almond butter, almond milk, and vanilla, mixing until well combined. Stir in your add-ins.
- Transfer the mixture into your prepared baking pan, using a spatula to spread it out evenly and slightly pack it down.
- Bake for 20 – 22 minutes, until the edges begin to turn golden brown. Remove the bars from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes before cutting. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Notes
* Use certified gluten-free oats if you need these bars to be gluten-free. You can also use old-fashioned oats, but the texture will be slightly different.
** To make these barsnut-free, replace the almond flour with oat flour, the almond butter with soy nut butter, and the almond milk with another non-dairy milk.
*** To make these barsvegan, replace the honey with brown rice syrup.
**** Nutritional facts are calculated using base bar recipe with 1/4 cup of chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of raisins. Values may change depending on what add-ins you use.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
Keywords: gluten-free, granola bar, healthy, homemade, easy, quick, recipe, snack, vegan
Looking for more granola barrecipes? Try one of these!
Honey Almond Granola Bars
Blueberry Almond Oat Bars
No Bake Almond Fudge Protein Bars
Soft and Chewy Banana Bread Granola Bars
*Disclosure: Some of the links included in this post may be affiliate links, meaning I’ll earn a small commission if you purchase through them, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products Ipersonally use and believe will add value to my readers. Thank you so much forhelping support Spoons!
