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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.
By far the best granola bars ever! This is a must try recipe! I don’t think I will ever eat store bought again. My husband loved them (he ate most of them). Very flavorful and not heavy. Will make weekly! The week soft and yummy! Any suggestions on making them harder?
That is awesome, Sheila! I am so happy that you loved this recipe. It really puts the store bought granola bars to shame!
these are fabulous!! so soooo good!
Hey Jaime,
Thank you and so happy to hear that you love this recipe! 🙂
Thank you for this recipe, going to try to make this. Quick question (sorry if this has been answered): can I switch almond flour with almond meals?
Hey Grace!
So happy that you love this recipe! A great substitute for almond flour with this recipe would be oat flour so you can keep the same consistency.
Enjoy!! 🙂
These sound great! I’ve been trying to find ways to incorporate chia seeds into my diet and this would double as a great recipe for my daughters.
They are a big hit with adults and kids alike!
These are our new go-to bar. I freeze them and put them in my kids’ lunches everyday!
Hey Elisa,
Yay!! So happy these are your new go to bars!!
I made these for my family and they were SOOOOO good! Everyone loved them! They were great right out of the oven and I poured some milk over them and ate it like cereal, also good!
What a great idea, Michelle!
As soon as I pick up some almond flour I’m gonna try these for my kiddos! They look delicious and we haven’t found a good store bought granola bar that they like to eat and I like the ingredients of! Thank you!
So true, Rachel! It’s very tough to find a store-bought granola bar that tastes good and doesn’t have a bunch of sugar and other “stuff” in it. These are the perfect answer to that!
I love this recipe! I was so tired of the boxed bars from the grocery store. These bars were so easy to make and tasted delicious! My husband loved them too! Thanks for the great recipes Jen!
So glad you and your husband love them, Susan! 🙂
I’ve loved all the granola recipes from the 21 day cleanses, I can’t wait to try these too.
They are just as good as the others, Amy!
My family loves granola bars, so we will have to try these soon!
Def give them a try and let us know what you and your family thought!
I love making my own granola bars and I seriously cannot wait to get home and make these for myself! I know they’ll be great to take to work and keep in my desk.
They are def great snacks to keep at work for those afternoon hunger pangs!
I am making these this week! I love your recipes for warrior bars too! I am an avid hiker and backpacker and will make these to fuel my next adventure.
That’s awesome, Rhonda! 😀
I made these and they were amazing!! The ingredients were super simple and gluten free! With a recent gluten intolerant diagnosis, these bars fill the void of all the things I was missing. If you haven’t tried these yet. They are sooo worth it!
Hey Amber!
I am so happy to hear how much you love these granola bars. They really are so delicious!!!
I made these as soon as I saw this blog post, and I’ve made them several times since. They are so convenient and delicious. One thing I do to make these successfully is melt the almond butter with the coconut oil to make sure it is easier to mix. Otherwise, the ingredients don’t stick together as well.
Yay! I am so happy to hear that you love these granola bars so much!
Thank you for sharing that tip with us 🙂
I used dried cranberries instead of raisins. The whole family loves them. Great school snacks!!
Oh yum!! I love dried cranberries so that sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing that with us.
Made these and they taste wonderful however they fell apart. Any suggestions on what I might have done wrong?
Hey Donna,
I am sorry they fell apart! I would try pressing them a little firmer into the pan before you cook them.
Hope that helps!!