Have you ever made your own homemade granola bars? These are so much better than anything you can buy at the store, and I think you’ll be surprised at just how easy they are to make!
Today’s recipe includes a video at the bottom of the post showing you just how I make these in my own kitchen!
I’m just about tired of seeing these granola bars, to be honest.
Zach has been eating homemade granola bars every. day. for breakfast ever since I first made them a few weeks ago. I’ve been waiting for him to get tired of them, but he hasn’t (it probably helps that each time I make them differently with different add-ins to keep things from getting boring).
I’ve been making these pretty much non-stop for the past few weeks and even decided to make a video of the process, as you’ll see they’re super simple to make.
You’ll start with oats and nuts, which we’re going to combine and toast before we make our granola bars. You’ll want to use old fashioned oats/whole grain rolled oats, but you can use your favorite nuts.
I used walnuts for today’s recipe and coarsely chopped them (almonds are another great option). The oats and nuts will go into the oven for about 15 minutes to toast.
Once they’ve toasted, we’ll make our homemade syrup, which will serve to bind our granola bars together.
You’ll need unsalted butter, dark brown sugar (you can substitute light if it’s all you have on hand, but I prefer the flavor of the dark brown sugar), honey, and salt.
Melt these together until your sugar is dissolved and then stir in a splash of vanilla extract for flavor.
Next, combine your toasted oats and nuts and this syrup in a large bowl and stir everything together until all of the ingredients are well-coated by the syrup.
At this point, if you have any non-melting add-ins you’d like to add, such as dried fruits, you can stir them in as well. However, you’ll want to wait about 10 minutes before adding any chocolate chips. They’ll still melt a bit once you add them (which we want!), but if you add them too soon you’ll just have a runny melty mess.
Tips for Making Homemade Granola Bars
- You can substitute your favorite nuts for this recipe. I use walnuts but almonds, cashews, or pecans are all great choices!
- When preparing your 9×9 pan for these granola bars, make sure to leave parchment paper (or wax paper) hanging over each side of the pan so that, once they cool, you can easily lift the bars out of the pan and then slice them on a cutting board — this is much easier than slicing them directly in the pan.
- Use a large chef’s knife (if you have one) to cut your granola bars. I’ve found that using a smaller blade tends to cause my granola bars to crack while I’m slicing; it’s better to make fewer long cuts rather than a series of small ones.
- Even though you should refrigerate your granola bars to help them firm up quickly, you do not need to store them in the refrigerator. After cutting them, I wrap mine in a strip of parchment or wax paper (to keep them from sticking to each other) and then store them in a resealable Ziploc bag in my cabinet.
How Long Can You Keep Homemade Granola Bars?
We’ve found that homemade granola bars stay fresh for about 1 week when stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Any longer than that and they tend to become a little stale.
Enjoy!
How to Make Homemade Granola Bars
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Homemade Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 3 cups old fashioned oats (285g)
- 1 ½ cups coarsely chopped nuts (I used walnuts, almonds would also work great!) (170g)
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 6 pieces (85g)
- ½ cup dark brown sugar tightly packed (100g)
- ⅓ cup honey (80ml)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips divided (170g)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F (175C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Evenly spread oats and chopped nuts over the baking sheet and bake on 350F (175C) for 10 minutes. Use a spatula to stir the oats/nuts and return to the oven and bake another 5-7 minutes until lightly golden brown.
- Pour your oats and nuts into a large heatproof bowl and set aside while you prepare your syrup.
- To prepare the syrup, combine your butter, sugar, honey, and salt in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir frequently until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
- Pour syrup over your oats/nuts and stir until all ingredients are well coated. If you plan to add any dried fruits, stir them in now as well.
- Allow the mixture to cool for about 10 minutes. While it is cooling, prepare a 9x9 square pan by lining with parchment or wax paper, using enough that some of the paper hangs over the sides of the pan (so that you will be able to lift the bars out of the pan to easily slice them later).
- Once mixture has cooled for 10 minutes, stir in ⅔ cup (113g) of mini chocolate chips. Stir until just combined (the chocolate will begin to melt, this is OK).
- Pour the mixture into your prepared 9x9 pan and use a spatula or the back of a spoon to evenly, firmly, press the mixture into the pan.
- Pour remaining ⅓ cup (57g) of chocolate chips over the mixture and use your hands to gently press them into the bars.
- Transfer pan to the refrigerator and allow to chill for 1-2 hours.
- Lift the bars out of the pan (using your over-hanging parchment paper) and use a large knife to cut into 5 evenly sized slices (about 1 ½" width) and then cut each slice in half so that you have 10 evenly sized granola bars.
- Wrap with a strip of wax or parchment paper (to keep bars from sticking to each other) and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Cindy W
sounds so good and I can’t wait to make them== but ==
can I use steel cut oats or do they have to be old fashioned?
Sam
Hi Cindy! I think that will work fine in these granola bars. 🙂
Janet Callan
Hi! I made these and they were delicious! I then made a 2nd and 3rd batch. The 3rd batch had 1/3 cup craisins, and reduced the amount of nuts only a little. The original recipe is very brittle while the craisins batch was chewy and cut nicely.
How can I make the original batch less hard and more chewy?
Sam
Hi, Janet. I am wondering if the sugar got cooked a little too long. That would be my best guess. 🙂
Janet Callan
Possibly! I will try another batch!
Meg
Craisins often are produced with some sunflower oil on the outside, and I wonder if that oil affected the texture. In which case, maybe add a little more butter, or oil, to the original recipe? Anyway, thanks – am in the process of trying this syrup base to convert some pre-existing granola into bars. Adding puffed quinoa to make proportions come out right.
Janet Callan
Hi! I made these, and they are delicious! My son loved them. However, I found them to be brittle when I cut them. I made a second batch, and chopped the nuts smaller. Still brittle. Weirder still, I made a 3rd batch, and added 1/2 cup craisins and reduced the bits by a large handful, and they cut like a dream (I also added1/4 C chopped white chocolate).
How do I get the original recipe to be less brittle?
Thank you for this recipe! My son is away at school, and this is something lovely to send to him to remind him of home!
Poopyhead
Great recipe!
Cynthia Ann Shields
Good Afternoon Sam: I have made your Cinnamon 30 minutes Buns twice now. Loved them each time but considering my husband and I are seniors I decided the second time to cut them a little smaller and see how that work. It was much better for our household and I popped some in the freezer for future treats. Excellent recipe and I know I will make them again often.
Sam
I am so glad you liked them, Cynthia! 🙂
Amesha baptiste
Love You video instructions I think it was very nice have a blessed day
Sam
Thank you so much, Amesha! 🙂
Cee
My mother used to make these all the time and they’re the bomb.
I’m trying to make these and do not have honey on hand, would maple syrup work?
Sam
I have not tried it so I do not know how it would turn out. Maple syrup is a little bit thinner so it may not hold together as well. Let me know if you try it and it works. ☺️
Cee
They turned out so good with a rich rustic maple flavor! However it was brittle and ended up into chunky granola…but was still great as granola cereal! Thanks for the recipe!
Sam
Thank you for letting me know how it turned out. I was afraid they would be too brittle, but that was a good idea to just eat it as granola. Sounds delicious. I may try it out.☺️
Katrina Spencer
Made these for my family! Mixed PB, dried cranberry and dark chocolate. Amazing!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them! ☺️ Those sound like excellent additions.
Blanca
Thanks for the recipe I will be making this for back to school snacks
Sam
Glad to hear it! Thank you for commenting, Blanca!
Jen
Just a note to say that I did a 1.5 batch for a 9×13 pan, and they turned out great! I made these yesterday and my family loves them.
Sam
I’m so glad to hear this! Thank you for letting me know how they turned out for you, Jen!
Mikaru86
I added some chopped almonds (in addition to the walnuts) as well as some dried and sweetened cranberries. Although my chocolate that was mixed in pretty much melted entirely, they turned out great: https://imgur.com/a/pbdijEh
They were very delicious, would highly recommend them!
Jeannette
Can you add peanut butter to the strip mixture, my family lives peanut butter & chocolate chips ?
Sam
You know, I honestly haven’t tried it but I do think that would be fine. I’d probably add the peanut butter when you add the vanilla and stir until it smooth and then add the mixture to your oats/nuts. I’d probably start with 1/4 cup of peanut butter, if you add more you may need to add more oats as you’ll have more liquid and it could make them stickier.
Bree
So, I added just a touch less of the brown sugar and a touch more honey and also added flaked coconut that I toasted with the oats and then raisins. They’re super amazing and delicious. Many thank yous for this wonderful base recipe! I’ll be making all sorts of versions of these! 💚
Sam
You’re very welcome, so glad to hear it was a hit! 🙂
Sabamb
Planning on making these this weekend! Just so I know, are these crispy or chewy?
Sam
They’re chewy 🙂 Hope you love them!
Vicki
These look awesome! Thank you for the recipe. I’ll be making these this weekend for the family.
Sam
I hope you love them, Vicki!! 🙂
Eva Dankers
We have nut allergies in our home. Could I replace the 1 1/2 cups nuts with extra oats?
Sam
I think that would be fine! Also, if you don’t have seed allergies, you could substitute seeds for the nuts (like pumpkin or sunflower seeds).
Eva Dankers
Great idea! Thanks!