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Grab one of these homemade granola bars for a healthy snack for work and avoid a hangry moment in your day. My chewy granola bar recipe creates a pan of perfectly flavored oatmeal raisin bars that are perfect for kids and adults alike.
If you’re looking for a snack that will give you sustained energy and leave you feeling full, then these homemade granola bars are for you!
I grew up on Nature’s Valley bars thanks to my dad, but I wanted to make my own version using my favorite plant-based ingredients. Now this, my friend, is a “rawkstar” healthy granola bar recipe that is the best healthy snack for kids.
Table of Contents
Oatmeal Raisin Bar Ingredients
This chewy granola bar recipe has a longer ingredient list, yet you should have all of these items on hand or at your local grocery store. Here’s what I’m baking into mine:
- Rolled oats: The base of this recipe. You can taste them so you use the ones you like! Make sure your bag says certified gluten-free if you want that.
- Almond flour: I’m keeping this recipe gluten-free by using almond flour over regular flour. It also keeps the bars from puffing up too much when baked.
- Sliced almonds: I don’t want large chunks of anything in these bars, to keep them bonded, so I take sliced almonds and chop them a little further before mixing in.
- Maple syrup: I love using this natural sweetener as it brings a warm and nutty flavor to any dish.
- Raisins: I wanted to give these bars the classic “oatmeal raisin” flavor so they need, well, raisins!
- Almond butter: If you don’t want to make some homemade almond butter then look for a store brand that is just almonds, nothing else.
- Chia seeds: This superfood gives the bars healthy fat and protein to help balance the natural sugars in them.
- Coconut oil: This is my favorite healthy fat to use, especially in a sweet recipe. It has a faint coconut taste and can easily be melted in the microwave or on the stove before using.
- Vanilla extract: Another way to bring warmth to sweet recipes is vanilla extract. It’s not sweet by itself, yet adds a lovely vanilla flavor.
- Spices: Cinnamon and nutmeg are the spices of choice for my homemade granola bars. They pair nicely with the almond butter.
Read on for any swaps you need.
Easy Ingredient Swaps
I chose almonds in a few different forms, yet you can easily swap those out if you need to. Replace the almond flour with oat flour or gluten-free flour. Swap the almond butter with the nut butter of your choice, like peanut butter, or go with a seed butter like sun butter.
Finally, switch out the sliced almonds with the nuts or seeds of your choice like chopped peanuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.
Swap maple syrup with another natural sweetener like honey or agave. Make sure to stick with a vegan option to keep these bars vegan.
Raisins can be swapped with another dried fruit like cranberries, or go a different flavor route with some mini chocolate chips.
How to Make Healthy Granola Bars
This recipe makes eight bars and needs an 8×8-sized pan (like what you use for brownies). You also need a bit of parchment, an oven and a mixing bowl. Ready? Set. Bake!
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom of an 8×8 pan with parchment paper. You can grease the pan instead, but I find parchment works better.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients. You can either mix them well with a spatula or use the beater attachment of a standing mixer to combine them.
- Press the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden. Let the bars cool completely in the pan before removing them, as they will be crumbly if still warm.
- Cut into eight rectangles and wrap in parchment paper or enjoy immediately.
Storage Options
Once cooled, you can store this chewy granola bar recipe can be stored in the fridge or freezer. If storing in the fridge, place them in an airtight container with parchment between the bars to keep them from sticking together. They will last up to one week.
If you want to freeze them to have on hand for future snacking then store them in a silicone freezer bag for up to six months. I toss them into my hiking pack frozen then enjoy after they thaw to room temperature.
FAQs
I think it’s worth it to make homemade granola bars since they are super easy to make and then I know exactly what’s in them. It’s not easy to find good snack options with ingredients I love, so I make my own to get the taste and texture I want with ingredients I can feel good about giving to my kids.
My chewy granola bars recipe uses all real, plant-based ingredients. I’m sure you could find some store-bought ones with even fewer ingredients, yet this is a pretty affordable option and easy for me to make.
My granola bars use almond butter as the main binder. Stir them together well and make sure any mix-ins are chopped up so that they aren’t too large and cause the bars to crumble.
More Healthy Snack Options
I snack better when I am prepared, so here are a few of my go-to options. They are easy to prep ahead for the week or make as you go.
- Oven-Roasted Almonds: The easiest, tastiest nuts you’ll ever have.
- Healthy Granola: Perfect for eating with some homemade almond milk or in vegan yogurt.
- Strawberry Lemon Chia Pudding: My favorite mid-day snack.
- Vegan Protein Bars: Easy bars that can be a quick breakfast or filling snack option.
- Energy Balls: A snack your kids will love and you can easily make and freeze.
- Strawberry Vegan Muffins: My kid’s top breakfast option on busy weekdays.
Don’t forget to rate + review this recipe once you’ve made it. I’d love to hear how you customized your oatmeal raisin bars!
Homemade Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups rolled oats
- ½ cup almond flour
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup raisins
- ¼ cup almond butter
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tbsp coconut oil melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon ground
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg ground
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease an 8×8-inch baking pan or line the bottom with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the oats, almond flour, almonds, maple syrup, raisins, almond butter, chia seeds, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.
- Press the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until lightly golden on the edges. Let cool completely in the pan.
- Cut into 8 rectangles. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Gluten-free if using gluten-free oats.
- Swap maple syrup with honey or the natural sweetener of your choice.
- Nut-free: Remove almonds, increase oats to 2 cups, and replace almond butter with sunflower butter).
- They will keep for about 1 week if wrapped well and stored in a cool place.
- Use the dried fruit of your choice, just chop it up to raisin size before adding.
- Swap sliced almonds with chopped cashews.
Just need some clarification: in your instructions to make these nut-free, you didn’t give any substitutions for the almond flour. Have you tried any other kinds of flours? Or do you just leave out the almond flour and go short 1/2 cup of ingredients?
Hey Megan,
I would not leave out the flour while making this recipe. The other flour that would be a good recommendation for this recipe is oat flour. It will have the same consistency as almond flour so you shouldn’t notice any difference while cooking with it.
This recipe is a must try. I must admit that I have tried many of your green smoothies and salad recipes with great success. This has got to be a winner, too.
Ding ding ding!!! SO happy this recipe is a winner for you!!!
I’ve made them twice already … they are that good!
Yay Sandy!!
I am so crazy excited that you are loving this recipe! Sounds like you will be crunching or chewing on these for a while =P
Do you think these would freeze well? Wrapped in parchment maybe? (I’m guessing yes)
Hey Beth!
I think the bars would hold up nicely if you wrapped them in the parchment paper to freeze. Sounds like you are about to make a big batch! I am getting hungry just thinking about it 🙂
Looks delicious. I would love to see nutrition facts for all the recipes though.
Thanks for your feedback Marla!
At this time we do not offer nutritional facts but that is something we may start adding in the future. 🙂
I dont see where you can comment on the video so maybe it is here on the blag. Recipe looks great cant wit to try it
Hey Lisa,
Thanks for leaving a comment! You will have to let us know what you think when you give these a try. I have a feeling you will love them!! On our Youtube page if you scroll down to the bottom of the video you should be able to leave a comment there 🙂
These sound delicious! Is there a substitute for the maple syrup? Can I use liquid stevia?
Hi Loraine! We prefer to use maple syrup or raw honey as our sweeteners. Or, you could skip those and throw a super-ripe banana in there (as long as you like bananas). We prefer not to use stevia as it tends to be highly processed.
These look good, adaptable and easy to make, more importantly.
And crunchy for me! There’s something satisfying about the crunch.
The crunch is the best part! Feel free to leave them in the oven for a little longer for an even bigger CRUNCH!!
They totally are! That crunch is everything =P
I would prefer the crunchy bars! p.s. your oven looks pretty clean for all the baking you do. lol
The crunchy edge pieces are always my go-to as well. 🙂 I try to keep my oven clean, yet some days it gets a little crazy.
I would have loved to make this recipe however my child is allergic to almonds and all tree nuts. However since she is not allergic to peanuts, which is a legume, I can use peanut butter. do you know if the consistency can work with another nut free flour?
I found the nut free answer by reading to the bottom at your notes thanks! I had only read the yummy ingredients when I commented
You can def swap out the almonds for sunflower seeds and the almond butter for sunflower butter (or peanut butter if you prefer). I would swap the almond flour with oat flour (just grind down some oats into a fine powder) and it should work!
Yummy!!!! I will be making these this weekend. I prefer crunchy!!
Yum! Yum! Enjoy these Traci and feel free to cook extra long if you want them even more crunchy!
I like it give good a recipe
I will be trying this recipe today thanks you
You’re welcome Veronica. Glad to share some new fun recipes…. these bars are addicting… in all the right ways.
Chewy all the way for me!!! Love that you don’t need a food processor for this one!
Blender all the way Brooke! I rarely use my food processor— just for pesto really. I tried to blend pesto once and it was too powerful and made it a green slime. Bleh!
Simple delish and nutrish! I LOVE it
You got it right Karen! xoxoxoxo
This sound AMAZING Jen! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe— your video is super helpful too. My go-to granola bar is Rise, which has a delicious lemon cashew flavor that I can’t put down. It’s sometimes hard to find, yet Whole Foods usually has it and they are popping up more and more!
Hey Dani. Lemon cashew sounds really delicious! You could try subbing those flavors into this recipe and see if you can recreate your favorite bar at home!
I love crunch granola bars. Yummm…..
I will be trying this recipe
Me too Dunmola! Glad you’re gonna make it— I know you’ll love it!