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.
Hello. In my opinion, the recipe was good. To improve it, I added flax seed and cocoa powder mixed with mik and butter till thick enough and sweetened with sugar. I changed brown sugar to normal sugar and it tastes 101% better.It was good but now its excellent!
Try it too and tell me!
Twitter: MeredithH44
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I just made these yesterday! Delicious! They’re the best I’ve made so far
Thanks for the recipe!
Twitter: MeredithH44
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I just made these yesterday! Delicious! They’re the best I’ve made so far
[...] found the recipe for the granola bars at a new blog A Joyful Abode, you can find it right here. They went together quick and simple and they tasted great! From reading the post, it sound [...]
We made these a long time ago but used chopped almonds and chocolate chips, the chocolate melts into the granola. Everyone loves them
How long do these last? Can they be put in the freezer?
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How long will these keep? Did you try freezing them?
[...] from here. Note: If you are making gluten-free granola bars, use certified gluten-free brands of oats and [...]
Just about to try your recipe for the second time! So very good! Plan to experiment just a little. My husband loves these in his lunch. Thanks so much for the healthy tips.
Dianne
[...] Make homemade granola bars together: what a great grab n [...]
I made mine with cashews, almonds, walnuts, and pecans instead of peanuts and sunflower seeds. I think as long as you keep the proportions of dry hard to dry soft to “liquid glue” the same, you can basically make any combo you want! I’ve reposted to my facebook page and can’t wait to try different combos. Thanks for the amazing recipie!
Twitter: JoyfulAbode
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glad you like them! I hope by “reposted” you mean “shared” the link, not copied and pasted.
These were absolutely wonderful! I’ve given the recipe to friends and they love it, too. Thank you so much for posting the recipe.
Great recipe, thank you for sharing it. My husband and my 2 year old daughter love it!
I did some variations but it’s yummy in all senses.
A no bake granola bar! All you did with your oven was to toast your oats and nuts mixture. This is perfect for me, because our oven broke down just recently and so no baked treats for me for the meantime. I have to agree with the granola bars being candies. The ones we get from the groceries are packed with loads of sugar, so, always check the nutrition facts before getting them. I’ll have to try this recipe with rolled oats and raisins, or perhaps prunes so it’ll be gluten free too
My family really liked these. They were still a little crumbly even after we pushed them down with a pan.
I used peanuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, coconut, and raisins in mine. I also used a little less brown sugar and I thought they were still too sweet. I think next time I’ll add some peanut butter and cut down on the brown sugar.
Really simple recipe and delicious. I did coconut, almonds, cranberries, dates and some cinnamon
They were supposed to be for a party, but I may have to eat them all myself…
Thanks for sharing.
Em J
I really love the recipe!Question: Can you freeze the bars? Have anyone ever tried? Thanks
I did! after packing all my granola bars i put’em in refrigerator. Last longer…
These do look amazing, although people need to be careful with these. They are healthy in the way that they are made with natural ingredients, and have good fats in them, they also have an extremely high amount of fat, these are not bars to eat if you are trying to lose weight. They’re good for active people that are just trying to maintain. Although nuts contain good fats, a couple handfuls contain all the fat you should be eating in one day. Sunflower seeds are also extremely high in fat. I just thought I should mention this to help people that are trying to lose weight. All of this being said I intend to make and eat the hell out of these bars
Alright, I figured out if you cut these into 12 bars, which it looks like that is what she has done, they have 350 calories, 15 grams of fat and 50 carbs per bar. Over 2/3 of the carbs come from sugars, over 2/3 of the fat and 1/3 of the calories come from the nuts and sunflower seeds. Dried fruit also contains high amounts of calories and sugar carbs. Honey has no redeeming qualities, it has almost identical nutritional data to light corn syrup. These bars should not be snacks, they should be whole meal replacements or fuel if going on a long hike or run
I graze on these all day long, because I know exactly what I’m putting into them, if you use old fashioned oats, raw honey, this honey has tons of antioxidents, so there are great qualities when it comes to honey, if they used back in biblical times for so many uses, it’s good enough for me (never use the honey from the regular stores it’s so processed and heated to such high temps that all of the quality nutrients are striped away, and use good nuts with no salt added and at times skip the fruits or do just rasins you’re good to go on these bars. Lets just say anything homemade without the use of high fructose corn syrup or all of the other ingriedents you nor I can pernounce or even know what it is, is pretty darn good and ok to eat. My kids love them, and I’ve handed this recipe to tons of friends after they see me or one of my kids snacking on one of these. Thanks for such a great resipe and it’s something I make once a week along with othere homemade things.
Oh and also adding in flax seed also does the body good, I’ve even added in natural peanut butter to the “glue” mixture it really takes the taste to another level, and adding dark chocolate chunks to it makes them super yummy….this is only added everyother time I make these!
hocolate chips and flax seed to the receipe. Do you have an idea/su 2 day diet lingzhi japan ng ground flax seed vs. whole. Do you have a preference and why?
never use whole flax seeds, your body can’t digest them, always use ground flax seeds when you bake or cook. If you can only get whole flax, use a grinder to grind them before useing them.
Thanks for the recipe. I put in peanut butter instead of the butter for a peanut butter flavor. I can’t keep it in the house. My hubby grabs and takes them to work, too, and my picky 6 yo will eat them. A hit, thanks. Bye bye whatever is in store bought.
Sounds great, just like a bunch of others I have seen. My only complaint is every granola bar recipe I see doesn’t give nutritional information, and if it does, it only says how many calories per serving and doesn’t tell you what that serving size is. anyone have a good granola bar recipe with full nutritional info (including serving size)????
These were delicious! We used dried cherries, almonds instead of peanuts, and added 1/2 cup of toasted coconut. Great recipe, thanks for sharing!
is it possable to leave the wheat germ out?? or can i replace it with something else?? any sudgestions??
Hi! I just came across this recipe while googling “homemade granola bars.” We tried these yesterday and they are delicious! I like some of your suggestions too for variations and can’t wait to try them again.
Thanks for sharing the recipe. You take beautiful photos!
-Molly
Your granola bar recipe is AWESOME! My children love it and I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to share your recipe with others. Do you have any other recipes that you’ve posted? I would love to try others.
Amazing!! I am sharing with everyone. Even my husband is converted. I’ll be posting about it on my blog next wednesday. Thanks for the recipe!
These look great – my coworker and I were just talking about making our own granola bars. Any idea on the nutrition facts for something like this? Calories, fat, carbs, etc? Thanks!
Stephanie – you can access recipe calculators online…you just add the ingredients for your recipe and your servings and it calculates the nutrition…I got 310 calories/bar for this recipe, which is pretty good if you’re using it for a whole meal *breakfast for me* =)
How long can you keep these in storage?
They will stay for at least a couple of weeks, all though, you won’t have to worry, because there gone in less than a week in our home, I make them once a week, I send them with my husband for a snack and with my 7yr old to school. I love these.
Great recipe. Instead of the stevia, splenda, or sugar, I used Organic Blue Agave Nectar. As with another responder, I also used the coconut oil. My first batch (sliced almonds, coconut, oats, cherries, and cinnamon) didn’t have the “glue” to hold it all together- so, it is in an air-tight container and it will be used as a topping for yogurt or for fresh fruit cup. I’ll keep trying different combinations until I get a bar consistency.
Useing raw honey in my “glue” mixture works best for me.
LOVE these! Have made them 4 times in the past two weeks, as my kids and husband keep devouring them – also have a batch of grains in the oven right now.
I’ve been adding an extra 3/4 cup of oats, as there’s a bit too much sugar/syrup for my taste. Also adding bran, ground flax seeds, and current batch is loaded with pecans – which makes it taste even more like candy! I also replace the butter with coconut oil.
Thanks for the recipe!
Hello, I just read your program on granola bar (no HFCS).
Did you know that some cereal box have HFCS? EHH..
My husband can’t have peanuts but it can be soynut put in it for better nutrition (or soynut butter). Could you send this recipe to my e-mail address, thanks. I did read the first one with coconuts & coconut oil GF granola but I can’t have it because of chol. problem. The kids with braces, tried to put them in blender with milk or soy milk,or fruit juice how about that?
WOW!!! Loved these bars! My husband and son really have been eating them up too. I used walnuts and ground flaxseed, dried cranberries, and raisins, and peanuts. This is too delicious for words. Wonder about the calories on these. They are super easy to make, and I am looking forward to many variations as time goes on. Thank you!!
The granola bar recipe looks delicious. I will be trying when I get home from Texas. Please send me the recipe at my email address. I saw it on facebook but don’t want to have to try to retrieve it from there, when I get home. Thank you.
Laurie Allen
This looks really good! I was wondering if you could put raspberries in it as well as dark chocolate!
Twitter: ssdonley
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I’ve been looking for a recipe to make granola bars similar to the ones I used to love to get at my local coffee shop. I eat gluten free, so I wanted to make my own just to be sure they were made 100% GF.
This recipe worked great! I made mine with walnuts, raisins, flaxseeds and sesame seeds (love the toasted sesame seed flavor!) I also added chocolate chips, which ended up melting and spreading throughout the granola bar. Not quite what I was going for! But, still delicious.
I used 2.5 cups of GF oats, 1/2 cup of GF brown rice cereal, 1/2 cup of raisins, 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, and 1/2 cup of walnuts… and honestly I’m not sure how much flaxseed or sesame I added. I think I ended up putting in 1/8 cup flax, and 1/4 cup sesame.
I also toasted mine on the stove top. Just put it in a big pan over medium high heat and keep stirring!
SO tasty! Thanks for the recipe!
good recipe and much better than store bought processed.
I’ve been doing similar way with ground flax seeds,raw almonds and walnuts, with mixing it up between 85-90% cocao semi-sweet dark chocolate bits,dried cranberries and raisens.
I start with creamy raw almond nut butter in a saucepan on low very heat,then add raw honey and maple syrup,vanilla extract,cinammon,molasses,stevia natural sweetner mix thoroughly and then add walnuts (after put thru food processor)and then whatever combination of dried fruit and/or dark chocolate I feel like having.
I also will use some natural/unsweetnend applesauce at times.
I would recommend molasses and stevia (natural sweetner) instead of brown sugar for a bit more healthier alternative and I use raw nuts instead of wheat. much better to stay away from wheat and sugars as much as possible…especially refined and processed types.
also to those I see using the artificial sweetner splenda as a substitute,u should go with stevia instead.the price is a bit more but worth it health wise for its purity and u dont need nearly as much (about 1/2 as much) for sweetness. especially in this recipe that has honey and molasses (or brown sugar)….hope thats helpful
Simply delicious and thank you for sharing the recipe. Way to go healthy…
I have never made granola bars for and having dying to find a good recipe. I must have searched through 2 dozen recipes before I decided to give this one a try. And boy am I glad I did!! I altered it a little bit due to the taste of my sister and what I had on hand. I did 1 1/2 cups crushed pecans, omitted the sunflower seeds, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, subbed 2 tbsp canola oil for the butter, and added cinnamon and cloves. They are delicious! The bars are chewy and airy and dont sit in your stomach! They are perfect for breakfast with yogurt or a snack. Thank you!!!
can’t wait to make them! Is there a nutrition break down like grams of fiber, etc?
My wife and I tried a slight variation of this recipe for the first time today. The bars are still cooling, but our first taste test indicates we have a winner!!! I know you said to wait until they cool before cutting, but I couldn’t resist sneaking a bite from the warm and chewy corner Thanks for sharing.
Ground flax seed!!! This way you get the health benefits because your body can not digest whole flax seed. I tried this recipe and changes a few things to my families liking: ground flax seed, raw honey (much better for you than the kind you get in the store-try a farmers market), a few dark chocolate chips on top when I pressed down, instead of peanuts I crushed up almonds…with these changes my family can’t get enough!!! They asking for me to make more all ready! Thanks for the help!!! Keep the yummy ideas coming!!
This recipe is just absolutely the best without a doubt!! I just made it today for the first time, and they came out superb, and taste fantastic!!! Thank you for a brilliant recipe!
How long do these keep? Do they need to be refrigerated? Are they really hard and chewy? I was only asking because my family members have braces…
So you don’t bake them all together? I have a recipe and you mix it all ( very crumbly) and pat it down in dish then bake. Taste is great, but it is very hard and crunchy or to soft and falls apart.
I made these for my family yesterday, and they’re already almost gone. Absolutely delicious. I used dried apricots, and I plan on trying other combination of nuts/dried fruit. I also used splenda brown sugar, so I only used 1/2 the suggested amount.
Simply delicious. I have been looking for a flour and peanut butter free recipe. Thanks!!
I am going to sub. peanuts for pumpkin seeds – I have two DDs with peanut and tree nut allergies. I also thought about adding chocolate chips and flax seed to the receipe. Do you have an idea/suggestion how much of each? Also, I will be using ground flax seed vs. whole. Do you have a preference and why?
Thanks for the receipe, I can’t wait to try it!
It was my first time making something like that . Granola bars are not popular at all in Lithuania ( Where I am from ) , so I decided to make those as I saw in USA . This recipe is basic and very good , I changed something and it worked very well for me . It is not a diet thing at all because of sugar , honey and oats . But nothing what is delicious is diet
still awesome stuff instead of cookies , cakes , candies or something like that 
,.f
It was my first time making something like that . Granola bars are not popular at all in Lithuania ( Where I am from ) , so I decided to make those as I saw in USA . This recipe is basic and very good , I changed something and it worked very well for me . It is not a diet thing at all because of sugar , honey and oats . But nothing what is delicious is diet
still awesome stuff instead of cookies , cakes , candies or something like that 
These look awesome! I want to make them. Do you know if they are low in calories? I supposed they would be, because of being mostly made of oats and nuts.
Twitter: JoyfulAbode
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oats and nuts are NOT low calorie foods. The point of these is to know what is in the food you’re eating, not to be a “diet bar” or anything…
try popcorn, carrots, or celery if you want low calorie.
thanks. I’m not looking for low calorie for me, just needed a snack to take with me to a meeting, to celebrate monthly birthdays
I love the fact that they don’t have HFCS in them though or aspartame. 
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