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.
I too love Kashi granola bars but only buy them when on sale because I go through them fast and it gets expensive. Definitely going to try this recipe and variations. I have an almond addiction
They would also be great to make ahead in the winter. I snowboard all the time and need something healthy to give me energy on the hill!
My family loves these granola bars. However my 10 year old daughter was recently diagnosed with Type 1 Insulin dependant diabetes and I now have to count her carbs. I wanted to post my results for others out there who may be diabetic or just trying to lose weight. Here are the total carb counts on all the ingredients.
2 cups oats – 108g of carbs
3/4 cup wheat germ – 108g of carbs
3/4 cup sunflower seeds – 12g of carbs
1 cup peanuts, crushed – 24g of carbs
2/3 cup brown sugar – 128g of carbs
1/2 cup honey – 136g of carbs
4 Tbsp butter – 0g of carbs
2 tsp vanilla extract – 0g of carbs (too minute to even bother counting but it is 1.4g of carbs per 2tsp)
1/2 tsp Kosher salt – 0g of carbs
approximately 8 oz. dried fruit – This will depend on the amount and types of dried fruit you add.
For the original recipe minus the dried fruit the total number of carbs is 516 carbs. The 2 different batches I made in one I added 2/3 cup craisins and 1/2 cup raisins which is 2 servings of each and the carb count on that is 148g of carbs and in the other I added 3/4 cup peanut butter and 1/2 cup semi sweet baking chips and the carb count on that was 120g of carbs.
Now depending on how many bars you cut is obviously going to determine the carb count in each bar. The batch I made with the fruit if I cut them into 20 bars it would be 33g of carbs per bar and cut into 18 would be 36g of carbs per bar. The peanut butter chocolate chip one is cut into 20 bars is 32g of carbs and cut into 18 bars is 35g of carbs so really not much of a difference.
I did check and there is no carb saving by using Splenda brown sugar over regular because they are both 4g of carbs per serving.
I was wondering if anyone has any ideas of “glue” that would work besides honey and brown sugar that would be a little more carb friendly but still hold tight and taste good?
Overall this is a great recipe and my family loves it. I feel better knowing that they are getting a filling and healthier snack than the store bought granola bars. Thanks for a delicious recipe.
This is the second time I’ve made these wonderful granola bars. Naturally I had to use my own variations here and there. I used pecans instead of peanuts and two different types of honey. I found that all the sweet ingredients made the bars just a little too rich for my taste so this time I omitted the brown sugar. I used agave syrup instead.
In general I just love this recipe. The photos are terrific and of great help. Kudos for coming up with this fantastic way of making a delicious granola bar.
By the way, I made up a batch for my trip to the West Coast so that I would have something quick and nutritious on the plane or on the road. Easy, breezy and yummy!
This is basically Alton Brown’s recipe with variations. I like your omission of his baking step… makes it so much easier. I made variations of my own, and this recipe just works really well that way. Try Craisins as the fruit… yummy!
I love the recipe, the photography, can’t wait to begin; however, I would like to have a copy. How can we print this one?
Johna Moody
This recipe is phenomenal. It’s easy to follow, easy to customize, and the results are irresistibly delicious!
this recipe is awesome!!! My husband and I can’t get enough of them!!! I use half the brown sugar and add in almonds. They are addictive!! Thanks so much!
Nicely done! I’m going to try these soon.
I have been making this recipe for my cafeteria at our university, they love it so much the posted in their newspaper. I triple the recipe and put into a cookie sheet, and it flies off the shelf. Great recipe.
In response to Post #77, the calories for a cup of peanuts is incorrect. One cup of peanuts = 854 calories. I am very conscious about the calories, too, so I thought everyone should know. I am not sure where the poster go 166 calories from. Perhaps that is for peanuts in their shells. The poster also multiplied the dry fruit by 5 ounces instead of 8 ounces. I get that the total calorie count per batch is 4846.
Beyond that, I have to say that they are fantastic bars, too! thanks for the recipe :>)
Great recipe! I made two batches. Batch 1 I forgot to heat the ‘glue’ and therefore mixed the ‘glue’ ingredients cold and then added the toasted oats, peanuts and sunflower seeds (I didn’t have wheat germ so I added additional oats). I also used a fat free butter substitute. They were still amazing! On batch two I heated the ‘glue’ and added some cinnamon and these bars are incredible. I trout fish in the mountains and need a lunch-type pick-me-up with my banana and these work! Thank you.
Just made these and they are SO yummy!! I omitted the nuts, because we have a nut allergy in the house, but they are delish! Thanks. Oh, and I did add a handful of chocolate chips, but they melted. Maybe would omit them next time….
Thanks again,
Gabi
Wheat germ has a lot of protein, iron, potassium, vitamin E and other good stuff… if you want to leave it out the bars will taste fine. They just add a bit of “yay!” to the healthiness of the bars. (maybe to make up for all the sugar and butter? haha)
What is the purpose of the wheat germ?
Great recipe thank you! I didn’t use butter or sugar, just half a cup of honey and half a cup of almond butter. I also used dates instead of the dry druit… perfect!
Thanks for this recipe! They look awesome, and with summer coming a snack to throw in the diaper bag and go is SO important. Granola bars are not only disguised candy but they’re EXPENSIVE! These are great…I’m going to try your coconut and dried pineapple suggestion, but with almonds still instead of macadamia.
Love the recipe Thank you PB in place of honey with a little maple syrup works too
I even grabbed a box of Cascadian Farm Organic granola and I never had to turn on the oven! Thanks for great recipe
Good recipe. Next time I will use less honey and brown sugar, as it was a bit too sweet to me. My husband thought they were great!
Tried this recipe, used chopped dates and currents as my fruit. SO SO good and extremely easy and a very short process. Just take a minute to have all ducks in a row before starting. Much better than store bought and a better deal as well.
Thanks for a great recipe! My only problem was that my wax paper stuck horribly to the bars and ripped off in tiny shreds.
Any suggestions?
My son made these for a class project. We modified the recipe a little because he was only allowed to have a certain amount of sugar. We decreased the honey and brown sugar and used fat free peanut butter. It worked like a charm! His was voted the best in the class. We will definitely be making them for our own consumption.
Tried these, they are great!!! Probably the best granola bars I’ve ever eaten, much thanks given. If you were to coat these in chocolate, how long should you bake them and at what temp? Thank you
http://sharshomecookin.blogspot.com/2009/03/home-made-granola-bars.html
I made these today
)) i have the same thoughts as you about the kashi bar and finding a healthy bar!!
I will be trying this recipe on Friday! We are having a food fair at my church I am volunteered to bring a healthy kids dish. This is perfect! I will let you know how they like it. Thanks for posting this.
These are delicious! This was my first attempt at making granola bars and I was truly impressed with how easy, healthy, and tasty they are! Thanks for a great recipe!
was very good w/ apples and cinnamon!
Thanks for this great spring board recipe! I too cleaned out the kitchen cupboard and had to make substitutions and the recipe still worked. One suggestion I have is to add warming spices to the ‘glue’ after you take it off the heat (should add the vanilla at that stage as well). I used Garam Masala blend with a little extra cinnamon, you could also use pumpkin or apple pie spice blends or make your own using cinnamon, nutmeg, alspice, and cloves.
It does not take much spice blend to give these granola bars a nice flavor – 1 tsp or less – so give it a try!
In response to Evan’s concerns that heating polyunsaturated fats turns them into trans-saturated fats. This isn’t accurate. Heating polyunsaturated fats adds a molecule of oxygen, not a molecule of hydrogen, so although the fats end up slightly more saturated, you don’t have trans fats. In fact, heating these oils to 350 will only cause a very small change. In order to cause major changes, you’d need to boil the oil for long periods, or under pressure.
Not to worry! You aren’t creating trans fats in your kitchen.
Made these for my allergic-to-everything husband for a road trip, and now he’s addicted. I used pumpkin seeds and crunched-up shredded wheat biscuits instead of nuts, flax meal instead of wheat germ (non-fishy omega-3′s!), canola oil instead of butter, a mix of sweet and tart dried cherries, and a heaping half-cup of mini chocolate chips. I tried waiting a while before adding the chips, as suggested by folks above, but apparently I didn’t wait long enough as the bars came out a little muddy and chocolate-coated. He doesn’t care.
Over the course of the trip, I noticed that the flavors in the bars seemed to mellow and blend, so that they got better over time. At the outset, the vanilla flavor was very strong; by the sixth day, it had equalized with the rest of the ingredients. I don’t know if this is a result of using fancy vanilla or if it’s something experienced by anyone who doesn’t eat the whole batch in a sitting. Either way, yum!
I just stumbled upon your blog in a search for a homemade granola bar recipe for my kids (with no HFC!!!!) and am so excited to see your recipe!
Can’t wait to try it!
Yum! I love homemade granola bars – they taste so much better then store-bought! In my recipe, I use sweetened condensed milk instead of honey.
Hi,
I found this when I googled granola bars. I think you and I were like-minded because I agree with everything you typed before the recipe! I’ve been saying it for years processed foods are discusting!
Anyways I tried the recipe for my sister’s cross country team and altered a few things, instead of peanuts and sunflower seeds I used a nice mix of walnuts and pecans. For fruit I did half/half of Cranraisins and raisins.
I think you can taste too much of the honey so next time I’m going to either up the oats, decrease the honey, or decrease the sugar. Otherwise they turned out great! Thanks for making the recipe avaible. Nice photos by the way
Just made these. Had to alter a few things since I don’t like honey. I used Maple syrup and apricot jam, a mixture of yellow raisins, currants, chopped dried apricots and cranberries for the fruit. Also- foolishly added choc bits- they melted and so everything is chocolaty. Would add that later as a topping. Really appreciate the step by step process- it was very helpful. They taste TERRIFIC, but I still would not include the choc bits next time. Thanks!!!
Push the chocolate chips into it after it is cooled. Works GREAT:) YUMMM! Thanks for sharing!
I just recently made these, adding flax seed and almonds. I also used blueberries, crasins, and goji berries. These were great and I will be using this recipe forever more!
I am def. going to try these but I am on a restricted diet that won’t allow me any refined sugars…so I am going to substitute the brown sugar for maple syrup..or maybe more honey. They look really really delicious though.
Thanks for this wonderful recipe! Here are a few ‘tweaks’ that worked for me:
For my first batch, I mistakenly boiled the syrup for longer than the recipe states, but it actually worked out fine and made the bars crispy-crunchy instead of soft-chewy. Delicious both ways.
Use parchment paper to line the pan and to press down the mixture. NOTHING sticks to parchment! My waxed paper stuck and I was forever picking out little pieces from both top and bottom, and I probably ate just as much.
I made a batch to send to my deployed husband – he and his men will love these! To ensure they made it to Iraq in good shape, I wrapped each bar in plastic and then FoodSaver-ed them, and included a ziploc bag for leftovers.
Adding flaxseeds makes them delicious, earthy, and full-flavored. Yum!
These are so good that you want to eat more than a few each time, but the butter in them requires some restraint on my part. I need to find a recipe that uses heart-healthy oil for my vegan son and for myself.
Thanks so much for these easy to make and delicious bars.
My waxed paper stuck like crazy! So much for bringing these to work! Any idea what went wrong? I sprayed it and everything. I still haven’t been able to get it all off.
These were fabulous! I came across this recipe while trying to find granola bar recipes for the same reasons you mentioned – boughten ones were just disguised candy bars!! I made the first batch directly from your recipe, then started playing. Almonds are a very nice addition, but our favorites have to be dried cranberries and a handful of dark chocolate. Thanks for posting this!
Just wanted to say your recipe is awesome! I first found it about two months ago and have about 4 batches. I’m about to make a new batch for myself and a batch using millet instead of nuts as my picky-eater-vegetarian son won’t eat nuts. Thanx for an awesome and flexible recipe!
Hey, i had to try this recipe the minute i saw it… but i didn’t have
wheat germ, so i added millet and just mixed it in with the oats etc.
and i didn’t put any salt in them. And the results were amazing, everyone loved them and my daughter took the last 4 home with her. I was so surprised!! She is a picky eater too.
I use ground date sugar. It is natural fruit and has the sweet taste of sugar.
I made these last night and they are absolutely delicious! I used soft dark brown sugar so there’s a hint of treacle about them. Definitely going to experiment with the ingredients a bit – it’s such a flexible recipe. Yo good lookin’ out, bars be dope!
Just tried this recipe last night and THEY ARE SOOOO YUMMY!!! I used almonds instead of peanuts and used 1 cup of dried cranberries. Much better than any granola bar available at the grocery store! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Awesome recipe – can’t wait to try it out – I thought of adding flax seed to it as well – you can have a little fun mixing and matching healthy ingredients too. I’m with you – the good granola bars are too expensive. Nice website too!!! Paulette – Ottawa,Canada
It is great to see a granola bar without corn syrup. My son has corn allergies and finding good tasting, healthy, snacks WITHOUT corn is difficult. i am going to give them a try.
I tried the granola bars. They were great, but the next morning they were hard as a brick. Any suggestions on what I may have done wrong?
Thanks
Thanks for posting this recipe!
And I happened to notice your ring, which is exactly what I’m looking for as a wedding ring. Can you tell me where you got it? Celtic knots with a sapphire or other blue stone is exactly what I want.
I added unsweetened coconut and used lavender honey. It was really good. Thank you for the great recipe.
Great recipe! My husband and I love them!