Baked Oat Granola Bars with Peanut Butter

Name: Baked Oat Granola Bars with Peanut Butter
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats; 1 cup assorted nuts*; ¼ cup pumpkin seeds; ¼ cup sunflower seeds; 1/2 cup unsweetened dried fruit*; 1/2 cup ground flax seeds; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; ½ teaspoon salt; 1/2 cup peanut butter*; ½ cup honey*; ½ cup dark chocolate chips

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Why buy inferior store bought granola bars when you can make a tastier, healthier and cheaper version yourself? Yes, I know the packaged and processed bars are convenient and tasty….well, this easy recipe is kid tested, mother approved, and you can prep them in advance for a quick grab and go option too. The best answer to a hectic and hangry morning or after school snack option to eat in the car? These crunchy baked granola bars!

Wooden board with granola bars lined up on a piece of parchment. Also are some bars wrapped in parchment and tied with a kitchen twine. Some cinnamon stick and loose nuts and chocolate chips are strewn about.

This post was updated from the original posted on September 14, 2015.

I’ve been that harried mom who wanted to limit the packaged and processed foods, especially those that contained refined sugars….AND also the mom on the go who was rushing her kids from activity to activity.

It took some time and patience, but I was determined. After a lot of trial and error, I perfected my recipe for a homemade crunchy granola bar and we never looked back. Even now, I always have a batch of these, and also myno bake chewy grain-free granola bars in the freezer, so if one of my kids stops by, I can send them home with a supply of healthy and hearty vegan snacks I know they adore.

Stack of crunchy granola bars, separated by parchment paper.

Ingredient Notes

Labeled ingredients for granola bars: rolled oats, ground flax, nut butter, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, chocolate chips, honey

Rolled oats: . I like to use Thrive Market Organic Oats or One Degree Organic Sprouted Oats. Whatever brand you use, be sure they are non-GMO and glyphosate free.
Nuts, Seeds, Chocolate Chips and Dried fruit: Go for any combination that gets you to the magic 2.5 cups total so you’ll have the right ratio of wet and dry ingredients.
Honey: For a true vegan granola bar, substitute the honey for date syrup or maple syrup.
Peanut butter: Make sure it’s creamy and drippy….I’ve learned over the years to store my unopened jars of nut butter upside down in the pantry and to mix them THOROUGHLY when I first open them so they’re uniform in texture and ready to use in recipes.

Step by Step

Baking sheet with sections of oats, nuts and seeds.

Spread oats, nuts and seeds in a single layer on a large rimmed baking tray.

Large rimmed baking tray with oats, sliced almonds, chopped walnuts, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Bowl with assorted oats, nuts and seeds.

Let toasted oats/nuts cool and then pour into a bowl.

Chocolate chips, flax, raisins and cinnamon in a bowl of oats and nuts.

Add the dried fruit, ground flax, cinnamon, salt and chocolate chips to the bowl.

Mixture of oats,nuts, seeds, cinnamon, raisins and chocolate chips.

Mix. If the oats/seeds aren’t cool, the chocolate chips will melt when mixed in, rather than stay as chips.

In a small bowl, stir the honey into the nut butter until thoroughly mixed.

Peanut butter mixture on top of oats, nuts, seeds, raisins, and chocolate chips.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Thick and pasty granola bar batter with oats, nuts seeds, chocolate chips and raisins.

Mix well. It may feel like there isn’t enough sticky nut butter to go around, but stick with it (see what I did there?), it is the perfect amount. Use a heavy wooden spoon or metal spatula…the batter will be thick and sticky.

Granola Bar mixture spread into glass baking dish lined with parchment

Spread the batter evenly into a 9×13 baking pan lined with unbleached parchment.

glass baking dish lined with parchment, then filled with granola bar mixture, covered with additional parchment and a gold measuring cup is patting it all down.

Use another sheet of parchment to cover the batter and then press down FIRMLY. The more you can compact the bars into the pan, the more they will hold together. I use an empty measuring cup to push down and get a uniform flatness.

granola bars in a glass dish lined with parchment

Turn the oven temperature down to 325 and bake for 25 minutes, until golden. Let the bars cool a bit in the pan so the chocolate chips aren’t so melty. Place the parchment back onto the top of the bars and push down to compact again. Let cool completely in the pan.

Granola bars on a piece of parchment atop a cutting board. Long thin strips have been cut with a sharp knife resting on the side.

Remove by holding onto the edges of the parchment paper and placing onto a wooden cutting board.

Crunchy granola bars on a sheet of parchment atop a wooden board.

Start by cutting vertically into long strips and then cut across horizontally to whatever size you prefer.

Crunchy granola bars lined up on a sheet of parchment on top of a wooden board. THere are a few wrapped in parchment strips with a kitchen twine tied around it.

Debra’s Pro Tips

granola bars cut into squares, lots of crumbs and a glass container holding the granola crumbs.

Let the toasted oats cool before adding the chocolate chips or they will melt and you will have chocolate granola bars….not a bad thing…but just know that the chocolate will blend right into the oat mixture.
If you don’t press down the batter and compact it before baking, they will fall apart. See the photo above? I couldn’t cut them into bars without them crumbling. The silver lining? Hubby thought it was the BEST GRANOLA ever. Yes….if yours fall apart, scoop the crumbs into a jar and use as granola…it happens to the best of us. No shame, no waste!
Store in the freezer, wrapped and ready to grab and go.

4 crunchy granola bars lined up on a piece of parchments. There is a spoon full of oats, a puddle of honey, a dish of chocolate chips and two cinnamon sticks.

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