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These homemade Granola Bars are deliciously chewy and so easy to make in about half an hour. They’re filled with oats, fruit and seeds, making them the perfect after-school snack or breakfast on the go.
I love having a batch of Granola Bars ready for my peckish children after school, or when snacks are needed for packed lunches, or just to enjoy with a cuppa during a break myself!
Not only are they really easy to make and delicious, they’re also WAY better than processed, expensive pre-packaged cereal bar snacks.
There are a few simple tips below to make sure you get the best out of this recipe, including which oats to use (I use porridge oats as they help to keep everything stuck together. I use jumbo in my Slow Cooker Granola recipe as we need the sturdiness and crunch for that, but I wanted these more chewy.)
Then there’s the addition of salt (a perfect contrast to the sweetness), and why we’ve added a good amount of honey (on first testing they were a bit rock solid so we made sure to up the sugars to make them more of a chewy treat.)
For the fruit, we like to use whole raisins and chopped dried apricots but any dried fruit will work (but if it’s bigger than a raisin you will need to chop it up.)
There’s also details below on being careful not to over bake (they will become too hard) and making sure you line the tin so you can get the bars out easier without breaking.
You can whip a batch up in about half an hour with very little faff or fanfare, making 12 Granola Bars. Just solid, simple, treats for everyone!
Why you’ll love this Homemade Granola Bars recipe
⭐️ Chewy homemade deliciousness
⭐️ Ideal for lunch boxes and snacks
⭐️ Packed with filling nutrients
Sarah’s notes
I first published my recipe for Granola Cereal Bars in 2014 (oh my!) and George and Harriet were only 2.
These soon became a regular in our house, especially when they started school and I needed a healthy, homemade alternative to sweet and shop-bought snacks when they were ravenous at 3.30pm.
Along the way I have tweaked and retested it to get it into today’s perfect recipe – just the right amount of sweet, fruity and a tiny bit salty.
During its transformations, the breakfast bars have become more chewy and satisfying, helped in part by the addition of rice crispy cereal for additional texture.
There’s more flavour from the vanilla and a little salt too – I did try it without these in an attempt to keep the recipe super simple, but they really do elevate the flavour so I kept them in.
I also swapped my oats to just porridge oats rather than jumbo in an earlier version of this recipe, as these tend to be a bit crumbly and I wanted more chewiness overall. However, if you prefer to use jumbo, go for it. They’ll still work. Or use half and half like in my Flapjack recipe.
Granola Bar Ingredients
- Porridge oats – We use porridge oats as they help keep everything chewy and stuck together but you could use jumbo oats too if you prefer. The bars may just be a bit more crumbly.
- Rice pop cereal (rice crispies) – Use whichever brand you like.
- Mixed seeds – Use whichever combination you like or have in.
- Dried fruit – This can be the combination of your choice, we use raisins and chopped dried apricots. Chop everything to your desired chunk-size.
- Butter – Use unsalted for this if you can.
- Honey – Use whichever kind you like for this.
- Light brown sugar – This gives a nice light caramely flavour.
- Vanilla extract – It’s important NOT to use vanilla essence instead. This is more synthetic and doesn’t taste as good. You can, however, use pods instead if you like.
- Flaky salt – This is optional but it adds a really delicious contrast to the sweetness of the bars so we really recommend giving it a try.
How to make Granola Bars
1. Mix the oats, rice crispy cereal, mixed seeds and dried fruit together in a large mixing bowl, as per the full recipe below.
2. Melt the butter, honey and sugar together until all the sugar has dissolved, then turn the heat up and let it bubble for a minute.
3. Take off the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
4. Pour the wet mixture in with the dry. Stir everything together, making sure everything is coated in the butter.
5. Tip the mix into the lined tin and press it down evenly and firmly.
6. Sprinkle over the flaky salt if using, then bake according to the recipe below. Slice when cool.
Substitutions
- Additions – You can customise these bars however you like with the kind of seeds, nuts and fruit you add into the mixture. Only like raisins? That’s fine. Fancy a sprinkling of choc chips? Go for it!
Leftovers
Store these in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
You can freeze these for another day if you like. Thaw thoroughly before eating.
Recipe Tips
⭐️ We use porridge oats as they help keep everything chewy and stuck together but you could use jumbo oats too. The granola bars may just be a little more crumbly.
⭐️ We like to use whole raisins and chopped dried apricots for the fruit, but any dried fruit will work. If it’s bigger than a raisin, you will need to chop it up before adding though.
⭐️ Allow the bake to cool completely in the tin before you slice into 12 bars (with a sharp serrated-edge knife), otherwise they will crumble.
⭐️ It may feel odd to put salt on Granola Bars but it adds a really delicious contrast to the sweetness of the bars, so we really recommend giving it a try.
More oaty breakfast recipes…
FAQs
I usually use a 20cm x 20cm tin and this gets the best thickness. You can use another size or shape but just be aware your squares might be thinner or thicker.
Yes! Make sure you do this so you can get the cereal bars out quicker and without breaking.
I use this baking parchment or baking paper for almost everything I bake. No sticking, ever.
I buy it in bulk from Amazon so I don’t run out, and it works out cheaper. Be careful not to confuse it with greaseproof paper, which isn’t suitable for no-bake cakes.
This is probably down to over baking. Next time, turn your oven down a little and cook them for 5 fewer minutes.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Granola Bars {Easy Recipe}
Ingredients
- 160 g (1.5 cup) Porridge oats, See notes
- 20 g (0.5 cup) Rice crispy cereal
- 60 g (0.3 cup) Mixed seeds
- 90 g (0.5 cup) Dried fruit, Chopped | See notes
- 80 g (3 oz) Unsalted butter
- 80 g (4 tbsp) Honey
- 80 g (0.3 cup (packed)) Light brown sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 tsp Flaky salt, Optional
Instructions
- Prepare: Preheat the oven to 150°C fan/170°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3 and line a 20x20cm cake tin with parchment paper.
- Mix the dry ingredients: Mix the porridge oats, rice crispies, mixed seeds and dried fruit together in a large mixing bowl.
- Melting time: Melt the butter, honey and sugar together in a saucepan over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved, then turn the heat up and let it bubble for 1 minute.
- Combine everything: Pour the hot sugar and butter into the oat mix and stir everything together, making sure everything is coated in the butter.
- Into the tin: Tip the mix into the lined tin and use the back of a spoon to press the mixture down evenly and firmly. Sprinkle over the flaky salt if using.
- Bake: Bake for 15 minutes, then leave to cool in the tin before slicing.
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Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutritional values are per portion unless otherwise stated.
This post was originally published on June 26, 2014 and updated later to make improvements.
this was so amazing. instead of using nuts i used chocolate chips, grated coconut and pumpkin seeds. i over-baked mine so some of it turned into granola!
It was very sweet and i unfortunately overbaked by using your minimum time of 35 minutes but that was mainly my bad. Overall, it was still a good granola bar
Beautiful
Thanks Kay, glad you liked it!
Lovely recipe. Both crunchy and chewy and very filling. Planning on adding some chocolate chips next time.
Oh sounds delicious Norman!
I made this today. I don’t change anything in the recipe (so tempting!) and they are the perfect balance of crunchy and chewy. Delicious
Made these for a school snack for my child in primary school. They were far too sweet, and I used less sugar than the recipe stated, no fruit and a few chocolate pieces scattered on top. I’ve had to bin them.
Sugar and honey is too much.
Hi is the nutritional info based on the x1 recipe?
These are amazing! We make them every weekend now to last the week. We add desiccated coconut, raisins, apricots, cranberries. Then chopped hazelnut, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and sometimes a few white chocolate chips
Love them