Homemade Baked Granola Bars
- PREP 10min
- COOK 20min
- TOTAL 30min
My family loves these baked granola bars (especially me). They turn out lightly toasted, hearty, and full of flavor. Feel free to swap in your favorite nuts, seeds and dried fruit.
One note with these: As with many homemade granola bars, these can crumble a little bit as you cut them. Cooling the bars completely (or even chilling them) helps you get clean edges when cutting them. Also, when chopping your nuts and dried fruit, chop them finely. The larger the piece, the more likely that will be where the bar will crumble a little. So, getting everything finely chopped before adding to the granola mixture is helpful! I use my blender for the nuts and pulse a few times before adding them. And finally, if they do crumble around the edges, you can usually just push them back together!
You Will Need
1 ½ cups (160g) old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup (35g) old-fashioned rolled oats, finely ground, or 1/3 cup oat flour
1/3 cup (65g) coconut sugar or granulated sugar, increase to 1/2 cup (100g) for sweeter bars
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup (85g) finely chopped nuts, like walnuts or pecans
1/4 cup (30g) pumpkin seeds, unsweetened dried coconut flakes, or a combination
1/2 cup (70g) chopped dried fruit
2 tablespoons flaxseed meal or flaxseeds
1/4 cup (65g) almond butter, peanut butter, or sunflower butter
1/4 cup (85g) honey or maple syrup
1/4 cup olive oil or melted butter
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon water
1 large egg or flax egg
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) grease and line a 9×9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides to make removing the granola bars easier.
In a large bowl, mix the rolled oats, finely ground oats, sugar, chopped nuts, pumpkin seeds, dried fruit, and flaxseed meal.
In a separate bowl, whisk the almond butter, honey, olive oil (or melted butter), vanilla extract, water, and eggs until well blended. Pour into the bowl with oats. Mix until thoroughly coated.
Transfer the granola mixture to the prepared baking pan, then press it down. Use a sheet of parchment paper placed on top of the granola mixture to help firmly pack it down into the pan. The better you pack it in there, the better the bars will hold together later.
Bake the bars for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the edges are light golden brown and there is a little color on the top. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan to room temperature.
Remove from the pan, and then cut into bars or squares. A serrated knife or heavy chef’s knife is helpful. If the bars are crumbling a little on you, chill them for about an hour and try again. I find these crumble slightly, but only where larger bits of nuts or dried fruit are, which you can usually push back into the bar.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Keep these bars in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 week, or freeze them! They stay fresher in the freezer, especially when individually wrapped and placed into a freezer bag. You can remove them as needed, and they last in the freezer for up to a month.
- Sugar: As written (with 1/3 cup) these bars are not too sweet, but not as sweet as many generic store-bought bars. For sweeter bars, increase the sugar to 1/2 cup or more. Or, add chocolate chips to the granola mixture.
- Chocolate chips: If you add chocolate, I prefer the mini chocolate chips for the same reason I prefer finely chopped nuts (the bars hold together better).
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We assumed olive oil.