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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.
Delicious! I was looking for an alternative to store bought, and this is the perfect recipe! Thank you!
These were so so good! Even my fussy son liked them! So that’s a win 🙂 not over sweet like some others I have made . This is a keeper!
Love that Tina! Winning over fussy eaters, one granola bar at a time. What a good mama!
Hi for the granola recipe to double up on the protein, do I ad the 1/2 cup of almond butter and protein powder?
Thanks Gigi
Very excited to give these a try!
Come back and let us know what you think after you make them!
So so good! I think I’ll try adding some homemade protein powder to the mix for extra protein. Has anyone tried that yet?
I haven’t but others have and they said it’s a great addition for extra protein!
Such a great alternative to store-bought granola bars. Feeling like super-mom right now! 😉 Thank you for the delish recipe!
You’re welcome, Kim! 🙂
I would love to ship these bars. yeah or nay?
Shelf life.
I bet you could Suzanne— just make sure they’re air tight and prob cook them a little less so they hold their moisture (otherwise they might get crumbly and turn into granola…which wouldn’t be too bad)
Hey Suzanne! I think you probably could as long as you wrap them well and ship in an airtight container. Let us know how it goes!
Question: can cranberries or dried cherries be substituted or added to the raisins? Can Natural Peanut Butter be used?
Yes you can totally add in some dried cherries or raisins! We usually like to stay away from peanut butter but if that is what you prefer then you could definitely add that to this recipe!
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! 😀