A simple recipe for the best homemade granola bars. They’re healthy, chewy, crunchy, versatile, made without honey, and naturally vegan – the perfect snack. Mix and match with other great snacks like our Healthy Oatmeal Jam Bars!
I think we can all agree that the hardest part about eating real food is where to begin, right?
And it can be even harder when you are DEAD SET on having certain foods. Like granola bars.
My husband used to EXCLUSIVELY eat chewy chocolate chip granola bars from Quaker. Those were his “snack” at work, but he’d eat 3-4 bars every day!
At $3-4 per box and 2-3 boxes each week, we were going broke on granola bars alone!
That’s when I first came up with this bar recipe, and he loved it!
Homemade Healthy Granola Bar Recipe
Not only did my husband love this recipe, but it was a winner all around! Personally, I like this recipe because:
- I can mix and match the nuts, seeds, and fruit (based on what I have).
- It’s cheap!
- They’re naturally vegan
- It’s super healthy
- They’re shelf-stable and don’t have to take up fridge or freezer space.
- It’s hearty and will actually hold people over to the next meal
Plus, this is a GREAT recipe when you’re trying to get your family to eat less processed food. It’s a bit sweeter than a “healthy” bar is, making it a good segue out of boxed food and into homemade foods.
Ingredients for Healthy Homemade Granola Bars
The ingredients might seem long, but everything can be boiled down into base, nuts & seeds, fruit, and glue:
Base Ingredients:
- Rolled Oats. You can use quick-cooking oats in a pinch, but rolled oats carry a bit more oomph in the belly.
- Wheat germ. If you don’t have wheat germ on hand, oat flour is a great substitute.
Nuts & Seeds: You need 2 cups in total. Use what you have on hand and what your family likes. Here are some ideas:
- Chopped Almonds
- Chopped Pecans
- Peanuts
- Cashews
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Sunflower Seeds
- Flax Seeds
Dried Fruit: You need 2 ½ cups total, and like the nuts, substitute with what you have on hand. Here’s a tutorial for dehydrating apples.
- Cranberries
- Cherries
- Prunes
- Coconut
- Dates
- Raisins
Glue:
- Sweetened Condensed Milk. This sweetens the granola bars and holds them all together. Here’s how to make it homemade. Feel free to use condensed milk + sugar to control the amount of sugar in the recipe as a whole.
Looking for a no-bake chewy chocolate chip granola bar recipe? Try this recipe instead!
How to Make Granola Bars
The method for making granola bars is pretty simple:
Step 1. Line a 8×8 or 9×9 glass pan with two large pieces of parchment paper that overhang the edges. You want to create “handles” on each edge to help lift the granola out of the pan once it’s cooled. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2. Chop any big pieces of fruit into smaller pieces. Everything should be about the size of a dried cranberry. You don’t want to take one bite and get a mouthful of fig. (Trust me on this one.)
Step 3. Once everything is chopped, put everything except the oats and milk into a big bowl. Mix the fruit and nuts thoroughly, breaking up any pieces of fruit that are stuck together. Add the oats and again mix thoroughly. Add the milk and stir until everything all (or nearly all) the ingredients are moist.
Step 4. Carefully pour (or scoop) your mixture into your glass pan. Using either greased hands or another piece of parchment paper, press the mixture very firmly into the bottom of the pan, ensuring that it’s level across the pan and into corners. (In order to press it firmly enough, I had to put the pan on the floor and use my full body weight. This may sound silly, but it was effective!)
Step 5. Once the mixture is pressed firmly and evenly, bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes. You want the edges to be slightly brown, so check every few minutes or so after you hit 20.
Step 6. Remove from the oven when the homemade granola bars are done. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.
Notes:
The only trick with this particular granola bar recipe is that you really want to press the mixture into your pan firmly. As in, REALLY REALLY HARD.
I’ve taken parchment paper and put it over the top of the granola bars and stood on top of it – that’s how firmly packed you want the mixture to be!
This ensures a bar that won’t crumble after it’s done baking and holds up to handling while eating.
FAQs for Healthy Granola Bars
How do you get granola bars to stick together?
In this recipe, the sweetened condensed milk and flax seeds are the “glue” to hold the granola bar together. In my u003ca href=u0022https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-granola-bars/u0022u003echewy chocolate chip granola bar recipeu003c/au003e, the honey and coconut oil is what makes the granola bar stick together.
Are granola bars healthy?
Yes – as long as your ingredients are healthy! Using sweetened condensed milk isn’t the best option, but it’s better than buying the boxed granola bars.
How long do homemade granola bars last?
These granola bars will last about a week on the counter. You can freeze them for longer storage if you’d like.
Other Easy Homemade Snack Recipes
- Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- Homemade Cheez – Its
- Sweet and Salty Energy Bites
- Candied Pecans
- Nutella Protein Bars
30 Minute Dinners Sample Meal Plan
Sign up to get instant access to my 30 Minute Dinners Sample Meal Plan, complete with recipes and step-by-step instructions!Kitchen Sink Homemade Granola Bar Recipe
A simple recipe for the best homemade granola bars. They’re healthy, chewy, crunchy, versatile, made without honey, and naturally vegan! The perfect snack.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Snack
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup dried cherries
- ½ cup dried prunes
- ½ cup flaked coconut
- ½ cup dried dates
- ½ cup chopped almonds
- ½ cup pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)
- ½ cup sunflower seeds
- ½ cup flax seeds (ground or whole)
- ½ cup wheat germ
- 1⅔ cup oats
- ¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp homemade sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Line a 8×8 or 9×9 glass pan with two large pieces of parchment paper that overhang the edges. You want to create “handles” on each edge to help lift the granola out of the pan once it’s cooled. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Chop any big pieces of fruit into smaller pieces. Everything should be about the size of a dried cranberry. You don’t want to take one bite and get a mouthful of fig. (Trust me on this one.)
- Once everything is chopped, put everything except the oats and milk into a big bowl. Mix the fruit and nuts thoroughly, breaking up any pieces of fruit that are stuck together. Add the oats and again mix thoroughly. Add the milk and stir until everything all (or nearly all) the ingredients are moist.
- Carefully pour (or scoop) your mixture into your glass pan. Using either greased hands or another piece of parchment paper, press the mixture very firmly into the bottom of the pan, ensuring that it’s level across the pan and into corners. (In order to press it firmly enough, I had to put the pan on the floor and use my full body weight. This may sound silly, but it was effective!)
- Once the mixture is pressed firmly and evenly, bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes. You want the edges to be slightly brown, so check every few minutes or so after you hit 20.
- Remove from the oven when the homemade granola bars are done. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.
Notes
* If you would like to modify the recipe, here’s where the artsy science stuff comes into play. No matter what combination of fruits and nuts you want to use (apples, raisins, chocolate chips, walnuts, macadamia… whatever), you need about 5 cups total for the above measurements of oats and milk to work. If you want less or more bars, here’s the math:
(total cups of fruits & nuts) / 3 = (cups of oats)
(cups of oats) / 2 = (cups of milk)
* Want to put this in a 9×13 pan? Double the recipe: 10 cups of fruits & nuts, 3⅓ cups of oats and just over 1½ cups of milk. If you only have 4 cups of fruit and nuts, use the formula above to get the right amount of oats and milk.
* Experience from failed attempts leads me to believe that your measurements can be slightly off. Not by a ton, but a little spillage of cranberries or picked out chocolate chips won’t ruin the batch.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 132
Katie
Hi Tiffany!
I just made these and they’re the best granola bar recipe I’ve made! I have a few questions for you.
1. I didn’t love the raw oats taste. Another recipe I’ve tried toasts the oats in a mixture of butter and canola oil. Would applying that method here cause any issues with the recipe? I think I’d use a mix of butter and coconut oil.
2. My bars turned out a little crumbly. They definitely hold the bar shape, but fall apart a bit when eating or transporting. My initial assumption was that I didn’t press them enough into the pan, but then I thought maybe the mix of fruit/nuts I used could cause a change in binding. What do you think? I subbed the cherries for raisins and added another 1/4 c each raisins and cranberries for the prunes. Subbed chopped pecans for pep it’s and used whole flax as opposed to ground. Thoughts?
I’m looking forward to perfecting this recipe!
Thanks!
Tiffany
Hi Katie! That’s great news! For toasting the oats, I think that would be fine with butter/coconut oil combo. They’ll get squishy when you mix them with the milk, so if you’re just going for taste not texture, you’re fine. Two things can cause the binding issue: having too much “stuff” and the “stuff” being too big. What you use shouldn’t matter. So using the same ingredients you mentioned, I’d chop the cherries to raisin-size, and really chop the nuts. Then mix really, really, REALLY well. That milk needs to be EVERYWHERE. Each environment is different too, so you can experiment with reducing stuff by 1/4 cup and see what happens. Mine hold together well in transport, but there’s typical crumbs when you eat… not overly excessive, but typical of any granola bar.
Tammy
What about a gluten free version?
Crystal
Some grocers carry it in the health food section, but definitely a natural foods market. Thanks for the recipe.
Crystal
You can use brown rice syrup instead of sweetened cond. milk.
Tiffany
Thanks for the idea Crystal! I’ve heard of it, but don’t know anything about it. Can I find this at a regular grocery store? Or should I check the health food stores?
Claudia
Hi Tiffany,
These look really good. I have a few questions:
– Are they crunchy or chewy ?
– Can we use the food processor instead of chopping by hand ?
– Can we replace condensed milk with something else ? (ex: agave nectar and milk ?)
– How long do they keep ?
– Can they be frozen ?
Thank you !
As you can see, I have made a few recipes and really like granola bars so I usually make a lot at a time.
Tiffany
Hi Clauda! These are not crunchy. I’d call them a “firm chewy,” as in they won’t break apart in tiny little pieces, but you won’t break your teeth either, lol. You can use the food processor, but I wouldn’t recommend it on the prunes (or any other super wet fruit). The first time I used a food processor and they never really broke up into pieces, but rather smeared onto the blades (which didn’t help the chopping process for the other items). My food processor isn’t the best though, so if you have a good one, I’d say give it a whirl. Worst case scenario is having to go over the mixture with a rough chop of the knife. Feel free to use the food processor on the nuts though – just pulse so you can get pieces instead of crumbs. Using condensed milk is the only successful “glue” that I’ve found, but that doesn’t mean others don’t exist. If you can find a good substitute for condensed milk that uses agave nectar and milk, I’d say go for it. I think the key is to start with a super thick glue so that when it’s baked, will stay just as firm or even become more solid. I once tried a honey/brown sugar mixture and that didn’t work at all (but it could have just been that recipe). I’ve had them in a container for at least 6 weeks (and it’s probably closer to 8 or 10), lol. A tupperware container with a secure lid should be fine. Yes, they can be frozen! My last batch was bigger and I couldn’t fit them all in my container, so I used plastic wrap and froze 4 bars at a time and just took them out last week. Once thawed, you can’t tell the difference!
Please let me know if any other questions arise! Good luck and I hope you like them!!
Desiree
Tiff these are seriously amazing. I’ll taste test for you anytime! I can’t wait to get all the ingredients to make a batch for myself!
Tiffany
Thank you Desiree! Be sure to let me know how your own batch turns out!
Cinthya
Hello, just stopping by to let you know that you have been featured at Anything Goes At Eye Heart Monday’s.
Thanks for posting. This recipe looks so good.
Michelle
These look and sound delicious! Thanks so much for linking up to Creative Thursday this week. I can’t wait to see what you link up next week. Have a wonderful weekend.
Michelle
Kathy
My family loves granola bars. We’ve tried several recipes but these by far look the most filling. I can’t wait to try them. I’m pinning them now. Thanks for linking up to Titus 2 Tuesdays on Cornerstone Confessions!
Kathy
Jill
MMM! Those look and sound delicious! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Thursday’s Temptation.
Jill
Lisa
I can’t wait to try these! Thanks so much for sharing at Mix it up Monday 🙂
Rachel
I was just thinking that I needed to find a good granola bar recipe. Since school’s almost out, I have more mouths to keep full between meals. Pinned! Thanks for sharing at Terrific Tuesday.
Rachel
adventuresofadiymom.blogspot.com
Terry
Oooh, I have been on the lookout for an awesome granola bar for some time and my criteria is the same as yours. Looks like this is my lucky day. Thanks so much for sharing at our party this week. I am pinning,..right now.:)
Sheryl @ Lady Behind The Curtain
CONGRATULATIONS!!! Your recipe is being featued today on Menu & Party Idea Round Up from Cast Party Wednesday #41!
Thanks for sharing your recipe with us! —Sheryl—
Shirley@motivatedmommyoftwo
These look delicious, my kids love to eat granola bars. the store bought ones I would rather make them myself. Thank you for sharing stopping by from the Show me what you got at ODH link party
Tiffany
It always feels better giving our family what we made, especially when we can control exactly what goes in it!
Alyssa
These granola bars looks really good. I like how they have so much nutrition in them. I would love if you would share this and any other posts at Showcase Your Talent Thursday. I hope to see you there!
Carrie- young living oil lady
YUM! What great timing too! I was just looking at some recipes to make our own granola and you shared this with us at Kids in the Kitchen! Thank you so much!!! I can’t wait to make it! 🙂 I hope to see you again next Tuesday! We would love to have your share with us every week. Blessings!
Tiffany
You’re welcome Carrie! I hope your family enjoys them as much as we do. My kids love all the fruit (and I just slying leave out the part about the seeds seeds, lol)!
kelli-AdventurezInChildRearing
I learned the hard way – this is no easy task! thanks for posting such a great recipe! happy you are linking with Kids in the Kitchen!
Tiffany
A very deceiving snack! You’re welcome, and thanks for visiting!
Jolene @ Yummy Inspirations
Wow! These would be amazing for breakfast! Would love you to share this at Breakfast Ideas Mondays!
Tiffany
These are great for meals – add a piece of fruit and you’re all set!
Ann from Sumptuous Spoonfuls
I love this recipe! So full of good stuff … definitely pinned it to my “Recipes to Try” board. Thank you 🙂 … and btw no, I don’t mind the geeky math stuff at all, but then, I’m a geek, so my opinion is a little biased.
Tiffany
Thanks Ann, and so versatile too! Easy to adapt for allergies or taste preferences. Thanks for the geek-support!