If you’ve done much reading on this blog, you know that I love to cook and eat delicious foods. Unfortunately, they’re not all the healthiest choices, so my husband and I have decided to make more of an effort to plan healthy, lower-fat, lower starch, higher fiber, more veggie-filled meals. I also made a list of healthful snacks we should try to have on hand.
On the list was granola bars.
But do you know what??? They’re not all healthy! Some of the granola bars you can buy in stores may as well be candy bars, with the amount of sugar and “fluff” they include in their ingredients. And most of them (except Kashi) also have high fructose corn syrup as a main ingredient. Disgusting. While I love Kashi granola bars, the guy and I tend to go through a bunch of those, so it gets pretty expensive.
So I decided to take matters into my own hands. After reading tons of granola bar recipes (and throwing out the ones that sounded like disguised candy), I came up with my own mixture that works deliciously well to create healthful, filling granola bars. If I eat half of one of these and a small piece of fruit, I’m good to go for several hours. And it makes me happy knowing that I didn’t eat anything disgusting to feel full.
So here’s my recipe. Let me know if you try it out!
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Gather your ingredients:
- 2 cups oats
- 3/4 cup wheat germ
- 3/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 1 cup peanuts, crushed
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- approximately 8 oz. dried fruit
To crush your peanuts, put them in a plastic bag and smash them with a heavy mallet, measuring cup, or sauce pan.
Then, mix the peanuts, oats, wheat germ, and sunflower seeds in a baking dish with sides. Toast them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, stirring every few minutes so that they don’t get burned.
Meanwhile, prepare a glass baking dish (about 11 x 13 inches) for your granola by lining it with waxed paper lightly sprayed with a nonstick spray.
Put the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. (I forgot to take a picture of this step, but it looks so pretty!)
By now, your grains and nuts should be toasted, so mix everything together in a large bowl. The grains, the liquid “glue,” and the dried fruit. Oh, and turn off your oven, because you’re finished with it now.
Mix everything REALLY WELL because you want to make sure the “glue” gets all over everything. Now, dump your granola mixture into your prepared baking dish.
Spread out the mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula.
Now fold over the sides of the waxed paper or add a sheet on top, and PRESS HARD all over the granola. You want to compact it together so that your bars won’t fall apart when you cut them.
Wait 2-3 hours or until the granola has totally cooled.
Then, open the waxed paper …
And carefully turn the granola onto a large cutting board, peeling away the rest of the paper.
Now, firmly pressing down with a big knife (not sawing), cut your granola into whatever size bars you’d like.
I wrapped ours individually in plastic wrap, so that we could just throw one into our bag or lunch box in the morning. If you’d like to save on packaging though, you can store yours in an airtight container, between sheets of waxed paper (so they don’t stick together).
Enjoy!
Of course, you can mix up the recipe. I used peanuts because they’re what we had, but next time I’m going to make the granola nutless at first, but during the pressing-down part, I plan to press almonds into the top of the bars.
Another combo that would be fun to try is macadamia nuts, dried pineapple, and coconut flakes.
Or try dried cranberries, walnuts, and white chocolate chips (just a few).
I also plan to add flax seed to my granola mix.
Different flavors of honey would also probably change the final outcome too. Mmm…
So many options! Good thing we have time!
Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a Navy wife and stay at home mom of two beautiful children. I cook simple, delicious, grain-free recipes, do crafts, decorate my home on a budget, and keep a happy household. I tandem breastfeed, babywear, cloth diaper, practice elimination communication, homebirth, and co-sleep, but I'm not a hippie.
fantastic website, recipe, and pics!
Twitter: JoyfulAbode
says:
Christy, the person above you used jaggery and no butter, which worked for her!
I’m really glad everyone is enjoying the recipe (and making their own variations of it, of course)!
I was just wondering: does there absolutely HAVE to have 4 tbs. of butter?
Hello!
Inspirational!!!
I found your recipe very simple, and indeed healthy. I just tried it out, and I licked the remains off the pan till it looked ready to go right back on the shelf!
I wanted to add my 2-cents worth:
I began making the granola and only half-way realised that I neither had brown sugar, nor butter. So I looked into my cabinet and pulled out jaggery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaggery and http://www.pbase.com/digitalfestival/image/56360922). This is a product made either of sugarcane or of date-palm. The kind I used was very dark brown and I think it is made form date palm with a superb depth of taste. As far as the butter went, I decided to take a chance do without it.
AND… much to delight it works perfectly without the butter! So those of you wanting to shave off some more calories, can make this without the butter (provided you’re using jaggery, I suppose)
Thanks! Great inspiration!
I am making this recipe, with my own variations, of course, this weekend, and will try to post how they turned out soon afterward. Looks/sounds absolutely wonderful!
I am replying to Lindy’s comment posted in May:
Just copy and paste all the words that you want to use, from the recipe, into Word (or whatever word processing program you have). Then, print it out. Hope that helps.
Have a happy, healthy day, everyone!
I just made a variation of these. I didn’t have oatmeal but had the Bob’s Red Mill 5-grain hot cereal, so I used that. No peanuts except shelled ones, so I used finely-chopped walnuts. I didn’t have sunflower seeds, so I used some flax meal and some wheat bran. I also used toasted wheat germ and raisins. In the wet ingredients, I increased the butter a little bit and used dark brown sugar. I also added about 2 tbsp. of blackstrap molasses for iron. When I melted the sugars, I let them carmelize with the butter and the flavor is unbelieveable. They are still hardening, but I ate what was left on the spoon (which hardened quickly and well, maybe because I cooked the sugars a little longer?) and the results are amazing. THANK YOU for this recipe!!! It lends itself to all kinds of variation!!!
I made them and they are awesome!
I love sneaking healthy supplements into my childrens food and have two with anaphylactic food allergies so now want to find a non-soy protein bar for one of them. I think this recipe will do it with a few modifications. I much prefer maple syrup to honey and plan to add whey protein powder, flaxseed oil, dried cherries and dark mini chocolate chips to this recipe. I can’t wait to try it tonight (and get my 9 year old son to help) and will repost his reaction. Thanks so much.
Your recipe looks awesome. I’m allergic to peanuts so I’ll prob substitute almonds instead. I’ve been looking everywhere for a good granola bar recipe. Have you tried making it with agave? Agave is a natural sweetener that some people use in lieu of sugar. I’m trying to cut out sugar in my diet completely and found that a lot of the granola bar recipes out there use honey and brown sugar.
Thanks so much for this recipe. I’ve been searching and searching for a Granola recipe and one for bars without High Fructose Corn Syrup. I’m glad I found this recipe. I’ll be making it tonight with some minor fruit/nut changes for our road trip!
Thank you!
These are so good. I found out that if you want to put nuts or whatnot on the tops of them, it’s best to scatter them on the bottom of the pan. They don’t stick so well to the top.
My favorite variation uses toasted coconut, dried cherries, dried strawberries, dates and cashews. Thanks for the recipe.
Best receipt for gluten free bars ever, so easy and super yummy. try adding chunky peanut butter.. mmmmmm
Thanks for the fantastic recipe! I’m allergic to gluten so I made a gluten-free version by using gluten-free oats (http://www.onlyoats.ca/only-oats) and substituting flax seed for the wheat germ. It’s so satisfying to have homemade gluten-free power bars!
And I added dried sour cherries as the fruit—yum.
They are the best. We tried them and everyone loved them. Thank you for sharing.
This looks like a great recipe. I have tried many, and from your pictures and responses I have greta hope in these. Can’t wait to make them and tell you how they turned out!
Thanks for sharing
Emily
My kids, ages 9 and 3, are madly in love with granola bars, but I cringe at the thought of all the HFCS. I can’t wait to make these with my oldest daughter, who is fast becoming a little foodie herself. These will be a huge hit on the last day of school next week!
Thank you for this recipe. I’ve been on the hunt for one without corn syrup and have had awful luck finding one that tasted good. I’m excited to give this one a try!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Finally, a tummy friendly granola bar and NO COCONUT.
I must be in heaven.
What a delicious bar, and it’s fun to try different variations.
I’m going to save this for my weekend project! These homemade granola bars sound and look absolutely delicious. Can’t wait to try them!
Thank you for sharing!
I substituted ground Flax seed for the Wheat Germ, 2 C Bob’s Red Milll 5 Grain Rolled Hot Cereal(whole grain rolled wheat, rolled rye, rolled oats, flaxseed, rolled barley and rolled triticale)for the Oats, and 2 C Target’s Raw Almond, Cashew and Dried Cranberries Trail mix for the Fruits and Nuts. EXCELLENT! Now if I could just get them to stick together without so much sugar.
These are great! I’ve made them 3 times already in the last few weeks. I keep trying to save them for my husband for work, but they’re to yummy!
Awesome recipe!
Oh, thank you for this recipe! My husband has bad reactions to high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) but needs good handy snacks when his blood sugar drops. These look wonderful and the pictures are great! I think I’ll try to make several batches of these and freeze them. Thanks again!
Thanks so much for posting this recipe! I’ve made these twice now and absolutely love them. I’ve passed the URL on to several friends now too and they’ve been a hit with everyone who’s tried them. I even blogged about it: http://wendolonia.com/blog/2008/05/18/may-daily-18-home-made-granola-bars/
These look so wonderful. I can’t wait to try them with my family. I love whole grain goodness and try to work it in where ever I can. I have several whole great recipes on my blog already.
Just made these. They are amazing. I love the nutty taste. Thanks for the brilliant recipe.
Sally xxx
Hi
I saw these posted on Tastespotting and they were just what I was looking for, so thank you. I made some last week and they turned out great, perfect for my mid-afternoon pick me up snack 
I think I will take out the vanilla next time though and maybe add more honey instead of sugar, as they were a bit too sweet, still tasty though.
Hi- This recipe sounds great but it would be so helpful to have it published in a printer-friendly format!?! I would love to add it to my recipe book but didn’t what to print it with all the pictures! I will have to hand write it out.
Just a thought…
Thanks – Lindy
This looks an amazing recipe and I really do enjoy the pictures. I also have another recipe on my blog at http://fitnessplanpro.com/homemade-granola-bar-recipe/
These look delish!
Twitter: JoyfulAbode
says:
Emily, they are chewy, but the nuts and things like that add crunch.
These look so delicious!! Can you tell me if they are crunchy or chewy granola bars? Thanks.
I made these this afternoon and they were great. I used minced crystallized ginger instead of dried fruit, which I love but might not suit everyone’s taste. I also subbed slivered almonds for the peanuts and flax seeds for the sunflower seeds. I loved the texture of the flax seeds and will definitely use them again.
I also stacked a pile of heavy cookbooks on top of the finished mixture because I was worried I wouldn’t be able to press down hard enough. It compacted everything nicely and saved me some work!
Yum, they look delicious!
I am so making these for quick snacks around here! We are constantly on the lookout for yummy, healthy food that is super fast and these are ideal. Thanks.
Hi there
I just found your blog through stumbleupon and am loving the design, nice and clean and simple. The recipes are looking nice as well and can certainly see myself making some of them in the future. I am actually looking for people with excellent food photos who want to share them with the world and interact with other foodies. I started by blogging myself about a year ago and was frustrated that not enough people were seeing the quality content I had and saw huge potential for people to share their food photos and videos with a bigger audience and ultimately drive more traffic back to their own site. Check me out at http://www.ifoods.tv and let me know what you think and keep up the good work on the blog!
I love this! I will definitely have to try them.
Ohhhh thank you for this! I’ve attempted before and failed cuz they fell apart. I never heated the mixture to cool, nor did I press down. Thank you! I will let you know how it comes out!
Oh, I’ve been looking for a decent recipe like this for ages for a *proper* snack. Thank you!
[...] I came across this recipe via tastespotting. Now I’ve been on the look out for something like this for ages and [...]
Kris: How about using puffed wheat instead of oats? Or a mix of puffed rice and puffed wheat. The puffed wheat is a bit more tender than the puffed rice so they wouldn’t crumble, but they might crush a bit…
I’ve got to try these, I guess I know what I’m going to be doing tonight!
Very nice! Looks very yummy!
Your blog is wonderful! Best Wishes!
Thanks for the great recipe! I’ve been making my own granola for ages, but I’ve never made bars! I just whipped up a batch, which are now cooling, and it is taking alot of willpower to wait for them to cool!
I added 3T of unsweetened fresh ground peanut butter to the wet ingredients as well as a tsp of cinnamon. I also used cashews in place of peanuts, unsweetened coconut, and for dried fruit – cranberries & apples. YUM!
Thanks for the recipe!
Mmmmmm….. The boy and I were thinking of getting some nice granola bars for breakfasts but I think I’ll try this instead. I think I can get some lovely bulk ingredients including flax probably at the Food Co-op. Love that place. Is it really cheaper in the end?
Ok- I am so glad to see this recipe. I always have problems with the baked granola bars because they seem to burn on the edges while the center is still “raw”. So I can handle the toasting part and heating the other things in the saucepan. I will have to try these. We have nut allergies so I am happy that this can be modified. Nice pictures too!
What a great recipe..Will have to copy it down..I’m all about good food and no junk in it..Thanks.
Twitter: JoyfulAbode
says:
Becca – let me know how you like them!
Mr.Puffy – You’re so welcome
Kris – I’m not sure, but I was thinking about (for the next batch) reducing the oats and using some puffed rice cereal (like rice crispies) in its place. Probably anything similarly textured would work though.
Mrs. Maze – I hope you two enjoy it!
This is the best idea! I’m so doing this for me and my husband! Thanks for posting this!!!
Any idea what to use instead of oats in this? (I can’t help it, I love the concept of granola bars, but I cannot stand the texture of oats in anything other than proper oatmeal.)
They look wonderful. Thank you for sharing what looks like a great recipe!
I am going to have to try these. They look good!