Guess what? I have created a no bake homemade chewy granola bars recipe that is going to knock you off your seats!
I’m telling you.. this recipe is really good. I am a little angry at myself for not creating it sooner. After all, I have been making my own granola for years now to eat with yogurt and fruit. My kids love it, but it seems like they like these granola bars better. Maybe it’s because of the chocolate chips, not sure… either way these are really really delicious.
Have you seen the ingredients on store-bought granola bars? Lots of processed ingredients. But I wanted to make a more healthy granola bar, with real ingredients, and it needed to be kid friendly. This homemade granola bar had to be the soft chewy kind, and had to be easy. Lastly I wanted to make a large quantity so that I could freeze the bars and plop them into my kids lunches.
I played around with the ingredients that I wanted to use and made a few batches until I came up with the prefect concoction. Muwhahaha (that’s my evil scientist laugh). They tasted like heaven. My kids couldn’t get enough! I was worried that I was going to be in a lot of pain from eating so many — I really should have thought twice before inhaling that 8th granola bar. This was the actual thought that went through my head that night. I know, it’s quite sad.
I hope you and your family enjoy these no bake homemade chewy granola bars as much as we did.
No Bake Homemade Chewy Granola Bars
Ingredients:
1/2 cup raw sugar or brown sugar
1 1/2 cups honey (Buy some on Amazon here)
1/3 cup coconut oil (Buy quality Coconut Oil here)
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt (Buy on Amazon here)
1 cup 100% all natural crunchy peanut butter – ( I used the Adams brand)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 cups crisped rice cereal
2 2/3 cups old fashioned oats
2/3 cups ground flax seed
1/2 – 1 cups mini chocolate chips
Method:
In a large bowl, combine your oats, crispy rice cereal, and ground flax seed. Stir with a large spoon until well combined. Set aside.
Measure out sugar, honey, coconut oil, and sea salt and place in a sauce pan over medium heat. Bring it to a boil. Stirring the whole time, boil for exactly 1 minute so mixture combines and sugars dissolve. Take pan off the heat and add in the crunchy peanut butter and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth. Pour this Peanut buttery honey deliciousness over your bowl of oat/crispy rice cereal mixture.
Stir until well combined.
Let this mixture sit and cool for about 5-8 minutes. Meanwhile, grab a large cookie sheet or jelly roll pan (mine is sized at 12½ x 17½ by 1 inch), and some parchment paper. Place cookie sheet on a large piece of parchment paper and trace around the outside of it. Cut it out and place this on the inside of your cookie sheet. It should fit perfectly. This will help later to keep the granola bars in one piece before cutting up. Believe me on this. I tried greasing the pan and it didn’t work.
After the mixture has cooled enough that the mini chocolate chips wont melt upon contact, pour the granola mixture out onto the large cookie sheet.
Spread mixture out evenly.
Next, tear off another large piece of parchment paper and place this over your granola mixture. Take another jelly roll pan or cookie sheet the same size and place it on top of the parchment. Press down. This will help to compact the granola so that the bars will stay together and not fall apart. Little helpers love to do this part.
Remove cookie sheet and parchment, sprinkle mini chocolate chips evenly over the top and repeat the process above, taking the parchment paper and extra cookie sheet and pressing the two together so that the chocolate chips get pressed into the bars.
Remove parchment paper and cookie sheet. If you have fridge space, place cookie sheet in the fridge to finish cooling. If not, it can finish cooling on the counter just as well. Once the bars have cooled completely, slide solidified mixture out of your pan. Yell hallelujah and pat yourself on the back for using parchment paper. Didn’t that make things so much easier? At this point they should look like this….
Now take a cute knife… and yes, the knife has to be cute (don’t ask dumb questions), and cut the bars into the size of your choosing.
Here is a grid to help you see just how I cut mine.
Be prepared to be blown away. I was amazed at just how easy these were to make and how good they tasted. They are so soft and chewy and honestly, I don’t know if I will ever go back to store bought. Not only are my homemade chewy granola bars tastier, they are healthier too. I’d be willing to bet that bar to bar, they are cheaper than store bought.
To Freeze: Wrap each bar in plastic wrap.
Place in a freezer safe zip lock bag and freeze. In the morning, I pull out a bar and put it in my children’s lunches. By lunch hour they have thawed, becoming soft and chewy again.
Below I have added the printable version of this recipe. Enjoy!
no bake homemade chewy granola bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw sugar or brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups honey
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 cup 100% all natural crunchy peanut butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups crisp rice cereal I used organic
- 2 2/3 cups old fashioned oats
- 2/3 cups ground flax seed
- 1/2- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine your oats, crisped rice cereal, and ground flax seed. Stir with a large spoon until well combined. Set aside.
- Measure out sugar, honey, coconut oil, and sea salt and place in a sauce pan over medium heat. Bring it to a boil. Stirring the whole time, boil for exactly 1 minute so mixture combines and sugars dissolve. Take pan off the heat and add in the crunchy peanut butter and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth. Pour this Peanut buttery honey deliciousness over your oat/rice crispy mixture. Stir until well combined.
- Let this mixture sit for about 5-8 minutes. Meanwhile, Grab a large cookie sheet or jelly roll pan sized(mine is sized at 12½ x 17½ by 1 inch), and some parchment paper. Place cookie sheet on a large piece of parchment paper and trace around the outside of it. Cut it out and place this on the inside of your cookie sheet. It should fit perfectly. This will help later to keep the granola bars in one piece before cutting up.
- Next pour out granola bar mixture onto cookie sheet. Press with a second cookie sheet so it is flat. Then immediately spread your chocolate chips on the top and press again.
- Allow to cool. You can add it to your fridge or leave on counter to cool. Once the bars have cooled completely, slide solidified mixture out of your pan. Now take a knife and cut the bars into the size of your choosing. (I cut 5 bars across and 7 bars down making 35 bars total).
Notes
Nutrition
If you loved this recipe and are hungry for more check out the from scratch or freezer meals section of my website. Oh and if you try this recipe out please come back and let me know if you liked it too!
They worked out well but they are a sugar bomb. I didn’t add the sugar and only one cup of honey and they were still very sweet. Next time I’ll use puffed rice as the rice cereal has sugar and even less honey. To make up the volume, I added more sunflower paste (no nuts allowed at school) and maybe next time some tahini as the sunflower paste has sugar in it too.
How would adding berries or mango work. My daughter and I hate peanut butter but with her going to school soon, I’m wanting something like this that DAD can whip up her lunch box and not have her sent to the office for having “inappropriate” foods. (Daughter also doesn’t like nutella).. any thoughts would be great. TIA 🙂
What a fabulous recipe! So yummy. We played around with different flavors, using Kashi Go-Lean instead of crisped rice, adding dried cherries to one batch, pnuts and mini M&M’s to another. Thanks!
If I am not adding the sugar, do I need to boil it that long or just heat it up to get things melted well?
Also, I like to use the sprouted grain cereal which puffer than the regular crisp cereal. It doesn’t quite stick as well. What should I increase to help with that?
Thanks!
I used 1 cup of honey and 1/2 cup of maple syrup because I didn’t have enough honey. They turned out great. My husband loved them.
Carrie: I have a son who is allergic to coconut. Is there another oil I can substitute for the coconut oil.
I’ve made these a couple of times now and I can’t get them to stick together. They keep breaking apart into granola- which isn’t totally bad because it’s delicious in a bowl with milk! But…any idea where I might be going wrong?
Make sure and cook those ingredients on the stove top correctly, that could be the problem.
Did you buy ground flax or grind it yourself? I’ve read that the fresher ground the flax (or chia) is the better it binds. I use flax or chia in my veggie burgers and I add a little more than the recipe calls for to help it hold together better. It doesn’t affect the taste. On that note I am going to try this recipe for the first time with a few tweaks. I plan to use some mashed banana to replace the sugar. I’m hoping that adding a little extra flax will make sure it still holds together.
I just bought it already ground. 🙂
These were AMAZING!!!! Thanks for sharing.
I like when good things come easy, and these do not disappoint. And the great thing is you can add what ever you want to it; we put in pumpkin kernel seeds and coconut, and who would forget the chocolate chips.
I have tried several recipes on this site and I am so pleased to say that I we have enjoyed every single one. This is a definite go-to site for me!
These sounds really good and a lot of good hints from reviewers too….which I think I might use some of them…..but they do sound delicious….and being homemade no matter what you put in them beats the store bought ones with all the additives added in that we can’t even pronounce….think about it people……
Tried these today and they were great! The kids especially LOVED them! Best and easiest chewy granola bar recipe I’ve tried or seen!
I think I might add some brewer’s yeast to a batch and make “lactation chewy granola bars” for when my baby is born in May!
We love this recipe! The only thing we noticed was that it tasted very coconuty. We did half butter and half coconut oil and it was much better. also we added cranberries, sunflower seeds, walnuts, granola and more, instead of all 4 cups of rice cereal. Thank-you
Great idea–I bet the addition of the nuts and cranberries were a great addition!
I made these but used sunbutter instead of peanut butter and chia seeds instead of flax seed. It turned out really well and my boss loved the idea of the kids at work having them on outings or hiking trips.
Great additions! I haven’t tried the chia seeds in it but I bet it would be great! I will try those on my next batch!
Another one here through the giveaway, and I *love* this recipe! I need some good gluten-free options for a trip I’m taking this summer, and this looks like it may be a perfect fit. Thank you!
I found you through the Summer Favorites Giveaway!!! And I am loving tons of your freezer meal ideas!!! This is one of my favorites! I love the idea of making an easy and yummy snack ahead of time and being able to freeze it!!!
This looks really good can’t wait to make them.
I haven’t read all of the comments, but has anyone attempted to make them like a fudge dipped version??
I made this recipe as written. It was a little too sweet for my taste so I will cut back on the honey next time. Regardless, my three young children LOVED these bars! This is a lunchbox request now. Super easy to make too!
I’ve tried lots of granola bar recipes from around the net, and so far, this one has topped them all. The others have been crunchy and crumbly. This one is not. Most of them tasted fine, but who wants to find a bag of granola in their lunch box when they packed a bar? my only (slight) complaint is that it has a bit too much honey. I have a honey sensitivity, so have to watch how much I have.
I have a similar recipe that calls for 1/4 cup honey and NO sugar, and it’s plenty sweet. I’d consider cutting WAY back on the honey next time. Of course, it makes a smaller batch so cut back on the oats and crispy rice too. And I add a scoop of protein powder.