Quick and easy homemade granola bars recipe, made with simple ingredients. These healthy, no bake, chewy, gluten free peanut butter chocolate chip bars are great as a snack or breakfast on the go.
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These taste so much better than whatever bars you are normally buying, which are loaded with preservatives and artificial flavorings. These are just as tasty as my Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bars (Eggless) and these No Bake Peanut Butter Bars. There is no corn syrup, no refined sugars and no butter in this recipe, which means you can enjoy them without any guilt.
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Key ingredients
- Peanut butter- The creamy kind works best in this recipe.
- Honey- Find the best raw, high quality, local honey.
- Oats- Be sure you use rolled oats, not quick oats.
- Coconut- Shredded adds more texture and flavor.
- Chocolate chips- The mini ones are easier to consume in the bars.
Variations
- Use almond butter- Simply replace peanut butter with almond butter.
- Add cranberries- Just use these instead of chocolate chips.
- Try other add-ins- Including chopped cashews, macadamia nuts, walnuts, pistachios, peanuts, dried fruits, chopped up candy bars, pieces of cookie, cereal, or almonds.
- Add a boost of nutrition- By adding 2 tablespoon of protein powder, chia seed, or flaxseed.
- Replace regular milk/dark chocolate chips- With white chocolate chips.
- You can replace honey with maple syrup- And some people even use molasses.
- Try other extracts- Including almond, coconut, or maple.
- Add some zest- Like orange, lemon, or lime.
How do you make homemade chewy granola bars?
The process is very simple. Start off by heating peanut butter and honey in the microwave, then stir together. Mix in the oats and coconut. Then add chocolate chips and spread in a pan. Chill, cut into slices, dip them in melted chocolate, and enjoy!
1. Add ingredients in bowl- This includes peanut butter and honey.
2. Heat in the microwave- Then mix altogether.
3. Add in- Oats and coconut.
4. Stir in- Mini chocolate chips.
5. Spread mixture- Tightly in a lined pan and chill.
6. Drizzle melted chocolate- On top and cut slices.
Tips and techniques
- Don't replace peanut butter with coconut oil- Because they won't have the same flavor or texture.
- Don't replace honey with applesauce- Because that would make the bars too wet and soft.
- You must pat down the oat mixture tightly- In the tray using the palm of your hands or the flat bottom of a measuring cup. If you the oat mixture is not tightly set, it will crumble when you make slices.
- There are different types of oats- In the marketplace, but you must use old-fashioned rolled oats.
- Instead of chilling overnight- You can freeze for 30-35 minutes until the granola mixture firms up and then slice into bars.
- Wrapping options- You can use saran wrap, sandwich bags, edible gift bags, or wax paper held together with a cute sticker.
Recipe FAQs
Homemade bars are always fresh and you can modify the ingredients to suit your taste preference. You can also get very creative with your add-ins (chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruits e.t.c) plus they are are cheaper to make at home! Store-bought bars are usually made and packaged months ago and most boxes only have 1 or 2 flavors plus good quality ones can become very expensive.
You need to pat down the oat mixture tightly in the tray.
It depends on the ingredients. If healthy ingredients are used like nuts, dried fruits and protein powder, then yes, they are good for you.
Storage
- Make ahead- These are a great snack to make in advance for road trips, lunches, and afterschool. Simply wrap them individually and keep them in the fridge for up to a week. You can even freeze them for a month. Just be sure to thaw before serving.
- Room temperature- You can keep this out for 2-3 days. Any more than that and they won't taste fresh and chewy.
- Refrigerate- They hold their shape best and can be stored for up to 1 week in the fridge.
- Freeze- Make sure not to dip them in melted chocolate since they won't freeze or well. You can dip them after thawing, though. Wrap each granola bar tightly with saran wrap. Then, place them in a freezer bag and squeeze out the air. Freeze for up to 1 month. Bars can be thawed at room temperature when you want to enjoy one.
More peanut butter desserts
- Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Energy Balls
- Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Small Batch Peanut Butter Cookies (With Chocolate Chips)
- Easy Peanut Brittle (Microwave)
Recipe
Easy Homemade Granola Bars (No Bake)
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Ingredients
- 1 cup Peanut butter I like creamy but some people prefer chunky
- ½ cup Honey
- 2 ½ cups Old fashioned rolled oats
- ¼ cup Shredded coconut
- ⅓ cup Mini chocolate chips Or any other add-ins of your choice
- ¼ cup Melted chocolate For drizzling, Optional
Instructions
- In a microwave-safe mixing bowl, add peanut butter and honey. Heat in the microwave in 20 second increments until peanut butter has fully melted. Stir everything together until smooth.
- Add oats and coconut and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Stir in chocolate chips (I used a combination of mini chocolate chips and mini peanut butter chips, which I got from Canada).
- Dump this mixture into a square pan (Dimensions: 8x8), lined with wax paper.
- Use your hands or the flat base of a measuring cup to flatten down this oat mixture tightly.
- Cover with saran wrap or foil paper and refrigerate overnight or until mixture is firm.
- Use a sharp knife to cut bars.
- This step is optional: Drizzle each bar with melted chocolate.
- Allow the chocolate to set and harden and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Some other add-ins include chopped nuts, dried fruits, chopped candy bars and cookies, extracts, zests.
- Read additional tips and variations above.
- Bars will hold their shape best if they are stored in the fridge.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Nutrition
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
Kayle
omigosh, leave it to you to make even granola bars beautiful!! love em!
Cathy Perez
These look to pretty to eat, but I'm sure I'd manage to eat them. Pinned!
Stephanie
We don't do coconut in our house. Any suggestions on what to substitute?
Abeer Rizvi
You can just omit it add replace it with whatever else you like: oats, rice krispies, crushed cornflakes...
Yvonne
Just made these during this heat wave we’ve had for a couple of weeks. I love that they are no cook, so I don’t need to use the oven. I put them in the freezer, cut them up and they taste great!
Abeer Rizvi
Awesome!!!! I hear ya on this heat wave... some days it's just way too hot to even step outside the house!
Rebecca
These are delicious! I actually add a couple scoops of my protein powder to them as well. My husband loves them! We have stopped buying granola bars from the store. Thank you for the recipe!!
Abeer Rizvi
Love the addition of protein powder. So happy to hear you guys enjoy these bars.
Sam
I made these into cups and added a blend of 5 other grains and ground flax seed for extra nutrition. I usually make granola but we are 2 weeks into a heat wave with no end in sight and I cant imagine turning on the oven. This was a great alternative.
Susan
Peanut butter and chocolate go so good together. I have never seen mini peanut butter chips sold in stores, but regular size peanut butter chips can be found in most stores.