These Homemade Granola Bars are chewy, crispy, and loaded with mini chocolate chips. Super quick and easy to make, without preservatives or high fructose corn syrup, and unbelievably delicious!
Other great family-friendly snacks we love include our stovetop popcorn and hot buttered cheerios!
Easy Homemade Granola Bars
Store bought granola bars are a nightmare when you’ve got kids with peanut allergies. They’re the biggest culprits for peanuts, and therefore used to be my nemesis – until I found out how easy and fast it is to make them. I’ve tried a gazillion recipes for homemade granola bars; some have been like candy, and some have tasted and felt like cardboard.
This granola bar recipe is hands down my favorite! Soft and chewy, with a slight crunch, sweet, and without preservatives or HFCS. And no nuts. We love them so much that one batch doesn’t last long – great as a snack or breakfast on the go.
Ingredients Needed
You only need a few simple ingredients to make these chewy granola bars.
(Scroll below to the printable recipe card for details and measurements.)
- Quick-cooking oats – You need quick-cooking oats for these granola bars to turn out. Avoid rolled oats or steel cut oats.
- Rice Krispie Cereal – Offers a nice bit of crunchy texture. You can use the name brand cereal or an off-brand copycat.
- Brown Sugar, Honey, & Butter – These ingredients not only lend sweetness, but more importantly act as a binder so everything stays together. If you need the bars to be honey-free, brown rice syrup is a good substitute. Avoid maple syrup, which isn’t sticky enough.
- Vanilla extract – For a touch of added flavor.
- Mini chocolate chips – Mini chips are key here, since their tiny size won’t make the bars fall apart, plus you get some in every bite.
Are These Homemade Granola Bars Healthy?
Let’s just say these granola bars are health-IER. I mean, they still have brown sugar, butter, and mini chocolate chips. But, they don’t have any preservatives or high fructose corn syrup, so that’s healthier in my book.
How to Make Homemade Granola Bars
These granola bars are SO easy to make. 10 minutes, if that.
(Scroll down to the recipe card below for more detailed instructions and don’t miss the video below.)
- Combine the oats and cereal. In a large bowl, stir the oats and rice cereal together.
- Boil brown sugar, honey, and butter. Bring the brown sugar, honey, and butter to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Mix wet and dry ingredients. Pour sauce over the oats and cereal; mix well until everything is moistened.
- Press mixture in pan. Transfer mixture to a parchment lined 8×8 baking pan; press down so it’s very tightly compacted. Sprinkle with the mini chocolate chips and press down lightly.
- Cool. Cool at room temperature until fully set, slice and enjoy.
Tips for Success and Variations
- Use quick cooking oats. This granola bar recipe requires quick cooking oats to turn out. Avoid rolled oats or steel cut oats.
- Make sure the honey mixture boils long enough. If your granola bars aren’t staying together once you cut them, it’s possible the honey mixture didn’t boil long enough. (Alternatively, if you boil the mixture too long, then they’ll be too hard to eat.)
- Pack the mixture tightly. You really want to press the mixture compactly into the pan. The better you press, the better the bars will stay together once you slice them.
- Don’t make the granola bars too thin. This granola bar recipe calls for pressing the mixture into an 8×8 square pan. Don’t try using a bigger dish or the mixture will be spread out too much, be too thin and can fall apart.
- Chill for a bit. You can try placing the bars in the fridge for 15 minutes or so, but be careful not to have them in there too long or they’ll become super hard and difficult to eat.
- Possible add-ins. If you want to tailor these a bit to your family’s taste and replace the mini chocolate chips, go for it! Just keep the ratios the same. Some possible mix-ins include coconut flakes, raisins, cinnamon, and yes, even nuts.
Video: Homemade Granola Bars
How to Store Homemade Granola Bars
These are best enjoyed at room temperature. I prefer not to refrigerate or freeze them since once hardened and thawed, they lose their wonderful chewy, crispy texture. After the mixture has set, cut into individual bars, then wrap each one in plastic wrap or parchment paper. Store all of them together in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
More Snacks To Try
- Stovetop Popcorn
- Homemade Granola
- Almond Joy Stuffed Dates
- Fire Crackers
- Ranch Pretzels
- Hot Buttered Cheerios
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Homemade Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups quick-cooking oats (not rolled or steel cut)
- 1 cup crispy rice cereal
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Lightly coat an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray, then line with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir the oats and rice cereal together; set aside.
- In a small saucepan, bring the brown sugar, honey, and butter to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Pour the melted mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well until everything is moistened.
- Pour the oat mixture into the prepared pan and really press down to ensure that the ingredients are tightly compacted in the pan. Sprinkle the top evenly with the mini chocolate chips and press down on the top lightly with the back of a spoon.
- Cool at room temperature for a couple hours, then slice into bars.
Easy and good!
Amazing! My family absolutely loves these and they are so quick and easy to make.
Love this recipe. But mine don’t stay together and just keep falling apart. Any suggestions?
Hi Heather – sorry to hear that. Make sure you read the “Tips for Success and Variations” section in the article.
this was easy, i added peants and slivered almond. This recipe can be easily modified with a million combinations. I also replaced honey with cane molasses!
Quick question…can i sub coconut sugar for brown sugar? And why can’t i use rolled oats
I love this recipe and have made it several times. Sometimes I add just a touch of peanut butter. Whenever they’re all gone, I make more. They’re so easy. My kids love them.
Made a half batch on a whim, followed recipe as written and loved them!!
I made this twice now. I absolutely love it! I did do one modification though. I substituted 1 cup of the oats for trail mix. I roasted my almonds and coconut with sunflower seeds. Then added chia seeds to the mix. The texture is perfect. It’s like a Rice Krispie Treat. Then with the nuts and chia seeds it is very fillling! My husband & i fight over these!
I have been looking for healthier homemade alternatives rather than buying packaged snacks. These chewy granola bars are a keeper! We all loved them! I have 5 kiddos and all of my kids absolutely loved these! I shared a couple with my friend who was also looking for a granola bar recipe and her and her kiddos really liked them as well! Thank you for sharing your delicious recipe with us!
Tasty and easy recipe
These are the best i have found so far for homeade granola bars! I wonder if anyone has played with the honey amounts? The kids find them very sweet but still enjoy them. If i could tone that down it would be that much better! Any suggestions?
This granola bar recipe was very easy to make. I did put mine in the fridge overnight but took them out and they softened up. Real nice in about 10 minutes. Question, how can I double or triple the batch? I’m hoping you tell me it can be done. Thank you
Hi Coleen – Without further testing I can’t vouch for proper results, but I’m guessing you could double all the ingredients and just use a bigger pan.
These taste incredible and I LOVE that there isn’t anything weird in them. Added to my back to school list of things for my kids’ lunches. Thanks!
The grandkids love these!
Yum! I can’t have store bought granola bars because they have soy. These are so yummy! I add chia seeds to make them more filling as well as some cinnamon and salt. Oh and way more chocolate hahah
My kids ate all of these in 2 days!! Guess I’ll need to make another batch. Thanks for such a great recipe without all that junk!
This recipe is perfect as is. Everyone loves it.
This recipe was great since we have a nut allergy in the family. Do you have any breakfast bar or protein ball recipes without some kind of nut butter. Thanks.
This is the BEST granola bar recipe I’ve tried. I made a double batch of these for my family of 5 2-3 times a week. My 3 year old with a corn allergy was so excited to have a breakfast/snack that he recognizes! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
I love the simplicity of this recipe, that it tastes good, and NO peanut anything. My allergy applauds you as does my wallet.
I made these and loved them. However, the quick cooking oats didn’t cook are they okay to eat like that??
Yes, they’re totally okay. These are no bake granola bars.
These taste great. I pressed down so hard and when I pick one up they just do not stay together. Any tips?
There are helpful tips in the article and recipe card notes.
I loved the taste of these, but mine did not stay together very well. I’m not sure what I did wrong or if it’s just that I live in a high humidity area. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Yes, yes, yes! So simple, so tasty. I will never buy store bought again.
I would give these 10 stars if I could. Excellent recipe!
Very yummy!!
I just made these and we already ate 5 of them. LOVE!! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Thanks, Erin! We go through them so fast, too!
Thank you! I used this for my son who is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, sunflower, coconut and eggs. He loved granola bars and for the first time cried when he couldn’t have something (store granola) the other day. I found this and he LOVED it. My picky husband even loved it. The batch was gone in 2 days. You made him SO SO happy. Said it is his new favorite snack
Oh boy, you have even more challenges with your son. Ugh…kids and allergies. So hard, I know. Thrilled these worked out for you!
My favorite granola recipe so far! I’ve made it twice already & it’s so DELISH!!! I’m going to switch it up next time with toasted coconut & almonds.
Made these yesterday. So yummy!!
I think it’s totally reasonable and acceptable to dip these in chocolate as well, fondue style.
I’ve made these before, actually…and may or may not have eaten half the pan. In one sitting. That seems rational for a midday snack, right?
First time making granola bars and I cannot believe how easy these were. I wish dinner was this easy! Lol. Loved these, thank you!
Made these for my girls and they proclaimed then their new favorite snack!
And isn’t it that even if things are made with peanuts, they usually come from some factory where there are peanuts present?!
What a great and simple recipe! Home made granola bars have always intimidated me–until now. This actually looks doable to me–wheeee!
These are so good! We put cranberries and coconut in ours!