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These homemade granola bars are chewy, lightly sweet, and packed with healthy ingredients like oats, almond butter, and maple syrup. Baked to golden perfection with a hint of cinnamon and crunch from sliced almonds, they’re the perfect grab-and-go snack or quick breakfast for busy days. Simple to make and easy to love, these bars are a healthy upgrade from store-bought granola bars.
For Active Days, I Make Homemade Granola Bars
I love to hike, walk and run for the fitness benefits but also because of the snacks I get to enjoy along the way. These homemade granola bars are one of my healthy motivators to do more miles. Here’s why:
- Wholesome, flexible ingredients: Made with simple, plant-based pantry staples you can easily swap (nuts, seeds, dried fruit), so you can customize every batch to your taste or what you have on hand.
- Sustained energy that actually lasts: A balanced mix of oats, healthy fats, and plant-based protein (thanks to almond butter + chia seeds) keeps you full and fueled longer—no crash an hour later.
- Naturally sweet, warm, and cozy flavor: Maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla create that classic oatmeal raisin vibe with a soft, chewy texture and just the right amount of crunch.
More healthy snacks recipes: roasted almonds, healthy granola, lemon chia pudding, vegan protein bars, no-bake energy balls, and banana muffins.
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How to Make Healthy Homemade 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.
Homemade Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup rolled oats
- ½ cup almond flour
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ cup raisins
- ¼ cup almond butter
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, unrefined melted
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon ground
- ¼ tsp sea salt, unrefined
- 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
Nut-free: skip almonds, increase oats to 2 cups, and use sunflower butter. Storage: Store in an airtight container with parchment between layers for up to 1 week (fridge or cool place). Freezer-friendly: Freeze in a silicone bag for up to 6 months. Enjoy straight from your bag once thawed—perfect for hikes or busy days.
Nutrition
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Common Questions
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.
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!!
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 🙂