These No Bake Granola bars taste so much better than store bought ones, and not to mention cheaper. Easy to adapt with your favourite granola ingredients, these cereal bars require no baking and just 5 minutes of prep time. Sweet, but not too sweet, and crunchy - they make a great little snack bars.
I used to always grab granola bars when I went shopping, but then realised just how easy they were to make myself and this recipe has been made about 30 times. Not only could I make this granola bar recipe a different way every time, using my favourite nuts and fruit, but making them myself saved me a fortune.
Oats, fruit and nuts are such budget friendly ingredients, these granola bars make a great cheap snack. Also, have you seen our Low Sugar Granola recipe?
If you are looking for some more breakfast on the go ideas, then why not try our Make Ahead Smoothie Packs, Ham and Cheese Croissant or Freezer Friendly Breakfast Burritos.
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Why you will love them
- Cheaper and healthier than store bought granola bars - These healthy snack bars are lower in sugar than what you would find in the supermarket and cheaper too.
- Easy to adapt with your favourite ingredients - If you have lots of dried fruit and nuts, then this is a great way to use them up.
- A kid friendly snack - Once your kids are old enough to eat nuts, these little oat bars make a great snack then will give them lots of energy.
- No need to bake them - These are no bake granola bars, so you just mix everything together and then put them in the fridge to set.
- Just 8 ingredients for our basic recipe - Minimal ingredients go in to making these granola bars. So easy!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Oats - This is the main ingredient in granola bars and helps to make them nice and chewy. We used rolled oats. If you are wanting these to be gluten free, make sure that your oats are gluten free.
- Nuts - These add lots of crunch, protein and health fat to these snack bars. We used almonds and pecans, but you can use any nuts.
- Dried fruit - This is where you can easily adapt the granola bar recipe by using different dried fruit. We used apricots, raisins and cranberries, however we have suggestions below on what else you can add.
- Honey - This adds lots of sweetness to the granola bars, and also helps them stick together. If you want to make this recipe vegan, you can swap it to maple syrup (but follow our tips in the FAQs).
- Chocolate chips - I don't think this really needs any explanation. Chocolate chips make everything better and chocolate and nut butter is such a great combination.
- Almond butter - This helps to bind the granola bars together, as well as adding protein and healthy fats. We used natural almond butter, however you could use peanut or cashew butter. You could also use sun butter if you prefer.
- Cinnamon - We love cinnamon in anything sweet. If you don't like it, you could either leave it out or add ginger or nutmeg instead.
- Vanilla - This compliments the sweetness perfectly. You could leave it out though.
A full ingredients list with measurements is in the recipe card below.
How to make granola bars - Step by step
One: In a saucepan, melt the nut butter until it is runny.
Two: In a bowl, add the oats, nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips and melted nut butter. Mix well.
Three: Press the mixture into a lined tray and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Four: Remove from the fridge, and slice into bars.
Are granola bars healthy?
Healthy is definitely a relative term, and looking at the calories and fat of these they are quite high. However, the calories come from the nuts and dried fruit, and they are full of nutrients.
However, when you compare these no bake granola bars to store bought ones, they are much healthier. We have sweetened them with a little bit of honey (and the chocolate chips), rather than loads of added sugar and there are no hidden nasties in them. We also haven't added any salt.
Variations
The great thing about granola bars is that they are so easy to adapt. We used almonds and pecans for the nuts and apricots, raisins and cranberries for the fruit, but there are lots of other things you can add (just make sure you use the same ratios as in the recipe, so everything sticks together):
- Desiccated coconut
- Peanuts
- Pretzels
- Dried cherries
- Dates
- White chocolate chips
- Dried Blueberries
- Sunflower seeds
- Dried Cranberries
- Chia seeds
- M&Ms
- Walnuts
Storage
Store: Once the bars have chilled and cut, you can store them in an air tight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Freeze: If you are freezing them, wrap them individually and then store them in a freezer bag.
Defrost: Let them thaw for about 30 minutes before eating.
FAQs
Yes, you can make these no bake granola bars vegan. You will need to swap the honey for maple syrup, and then roll the mixture in to small balls as the maple syrup won't bind it together enough for bars.
Are long as you use gluten free certified oats and make sure there is no cross contamination, then these can be gluten free.
You can take the nuts out and focus on the dried fruit. For lots of crunch, add some seeds instead.
Extra tips
• If your nut butter is already really runny, then there is no need to heat it with the honey. Just mix the wet ingredients together and stir them in to the dry.
• It might be tempting to cut and eat these straight away, or to cut the chilling time. But they do need the full two hours in the fridge to set.
• You need to use mini chocolate chips for this recipe. If you can't find any, then you can finely chop up dark chocolate to add.
• Make sure your nuts and dried fruit are chopped up really small, otherwise the bars will not stay together.
• Press the mixture down in to your pan really well. This will make sure that the bars will stay together when cut.
• You could skip the chocolate chips and add a drizzle of dark chocolate over the top before putting them in the fridge.
More snack recipes
If you’ve tried this granola bar recipe, then let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - You can use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.
Recipe
No Bake Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 200 g (2.5 cups) Oats
- 130 g (1 cups) Mixed nuts - roughly chopped
- 100 g (2.5 cups) Dried fruit
- 100 g (0.5 cups) Milk chocolate chips
- 125 ml (0.5 cups) Honey
- 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- 200 g (0.75 cups) Almond butter - (or any nut butter)
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a saucepan, melt the 200 g Almond butter until it is runny.
- In a bowl, add 200 g Oats, 130 g Mixed nuts, 100 g Dried fruit, 100 g Milk chocolate chips, 125 ml Honey, 1 tablespoon Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon and the melted nut butter. Mix well.
- Press the mixture into a lined tray and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Remove from the fridge, and slice into bars.
Recipe tips
- If your nut butter is already really runny, then there is no need to heat it with the honey. Just mix the wet ingredients together and stir them in to the dry.
- It might be tempting to cut and eat these straight away, or to cut the chilling time. But they do need the full two hours in the fridge to set.
- You need to use mini chocolate chips for this recipe. If you can't find any, then you can finely chop up dark chocolate to add.
- Make sure your nuts and dried fruit are chopped up really small, otherwise the bars will not stay together.
- Press the mixture down in to your pan really well. This will make sure that the bars will stay together when cut.
- You could skip the chocolate chips and add a drizzle of dark chocolate over the top before putting them in the fridge.
Nutritional Information
The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
Katherine Hackworthy
I love these! So many great flavors and awesome that they're no-bake.
Alison
These granola bars look so simple to make! I'm going to give a batch a try this weekend! My kids go through granola bars so fast! This is a great cost effective alternative to store bought!
Tracy
LOVE that these are no bake! And they're so customizable. So so easy, thank you!
Beth Sachs
These no-bake granola bars are perfect for a quick grab-and-go breakfast or post work-out energy fix.
Gina
Homemade ALWAYS beats store bought when it comes to snacks like this and I just love how flexible and adaptable this recipe is. Not to mention how easy too!
Kay
My daughter had to make snacks out of oats, as part of her home education cookery course last week. We all loved them so much that she has decided to make another batch today!
Jacob Lenaerts
I want to dat thank you to who posted this recipe! I am a persoon who eats very much so I often get hungry in the evening or in the afternoon. When I get hungry, I always go searching for some snacks. The problem is when I search for a snack, I always pick the unhealthy snack. So I started looking at this recipe and try to make it. I have to tell you I’m not The best cook, but it still was very easy to make. It also tasted very good and is also super healthy.
Ellen
These will be great to pack for a mid-morning snack at work!
jan
Hi,
I just made you granola bars, slightly adapted due to a lack of coconut chips & carob or choc chips. I used dried cranberries, blueberries & dates - just 2 dsp spoon in total & 2 small bananas to loosen the almond butter. I'll post what they came out like! I am not sure what my alterations have done to the total calories, but like you I struggle to eat enough some-days. I also eat 'clean' and have lost over 50lbs since last Sept. I have gone from no exercise to intense gym (cardio & weights) & running. I recently did a 5k twilight race for life in 37 mins (slowish I know, but it was dark!). My focus now is fitness/health and exercise as a way of dealing with stress & anxiety - which works! Great website,
Dannii
Well done on losing 50lbs. And 37 mins for a 5K is not slow at all - I would say that is pretty quick.
Stephanie
Hi. I just made these bars, they're really delicious, only problem is they were too dry and fell apart as soon as I tried to cut them, even though I added extra honey and some water. Any suggestions? I think there are too many oats.
Karen
Hi,
I love homemade granola bars and just tried this one out. Are you sure about the quantities? 350 g is a lot of oats; I just could not make the ingredients make stick together, although I added more butter and some liquid. Still - the result was somehow dry.
Jennifer
Hi, this looks like a great recipe! Do you have a calorie count per serving? And serving size?
HHHAdmin
I haven't worked out the calorie count yet. I shall do that today :)
HHHAdmin
I have updated the nutritional information now :)
Jennifer
Thanks!!! I'm gonna make these today:)
HHHAdmin
Let me know if you like them :)
Maria @ runningcupcake
Wow those granola bars look lovely :)
Eleanor
I knew when you mentioned these on my blog that I'd like the look of them and now I can see exactly why you've had to hide them! Most of my favourite things in one bar and the texture looks perfect :-)
Jen @ Jen's Favorite Cookies
I LOVE homemade granola bars. This recipe looks great!
HHHAdmin
They may be *too* great. I can't stop eating them!
Brigette
Could you let me know what else besides nut butter you could use in this? My daughter is allergic to all nuts. I assume the creaminess of the nut butter adds to it.
HHHAdmin
You can buy or make sunflower seed butter than could be used instead.
HHHAdmin
Is she allergic to almonds too? As they are not technically a nut. My husband is allergic to all nuts, but can have almonds - so I use almond butter.