Easy Homemade Granola Bars

We like to have these granola bars as a snack or toddler breakfast with milk or a smoothie—and they're an excellent lunch box component too. You can make them plain or choose a flavor to add!

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings

Calories 96kcal

Author Amy Palanjian

Equipment

Ingredients

1½ cups rolled oats
½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut (or use ½ cup additional oats)
¼ cup honey (or maple syrup or applesauce)
¼ cup whole-wheat flour
3 tablespoons peanut butter (or sunflower seed butter or 1 egg)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chia seeds
¼ cup water (or ¼ cup mashed ripe banana, pumpkin puree, applesauce, butternut squash puree, OR sweet potato puree)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat. Warm the honey and peanut butter for about 15 seconds if not stored at room temperature.
Place the oats and coconut into the bowl of a food processor and blitz to grind into a coarse texture (similar to quick oats).
Add the remaining ingredients, including the peanut butter and honey, and blend well.
(You can also grind the oats or use instant oats, then mix everything together in a bowl.)
Add ¼ cup water and blend until batter comes together like thick cookie dough. You should be able to press the batter together between your fingers and have it stick together. If it doesn't, add a bit more water.
Place batter onto the center of the prepared baking sheet and use your hands to press thin, about ¼-½-inch thick and about 8x8-inches big. I measure roughly using an 8x8-inch baking pan. (You can also roll out the dough—just cover it with a piece of parchment paper first to make sure it's easy to do.) Use a knife to lightly score lines for squares in whatever size you like.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, remove from oven, and let cool completely on the pan.
Break into squares and serve.
Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks in the fridge or a week at room temperature. To freeze, place cooled bars in a sealed zip top freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.

Notes

To make these with fruit or a veggie flavor, omit the water in Step 4. Choose one flavor from below. Proceed with the recipe as directed, though know you may need to bake up to an additional 10 minutes. Look for the edges to start turning golden brown. It just seems to take a little longer when you add a puree.
Banana: Add 1/4 cup mashed recipe banana or banana puree.
Pumpkin: Add 1/4 cup pumpkin puree.
Apple: Add 1/4 cup applesauce or Apple Puree.
Butternut: Add 1/4 cup butternut squash puree.
Sweet Potato: Add 1/4 cup sweet potato puree.
To make these without coconut, omit and use additional oats.
To make these without chia seeds, omit and increase the nut butter to 1/4 cup. Or use ground flaxseeds.
To make this without a food processor, use quick or instant oats and stir everything together. (Or grind the oats and coconut in a blender, then stir the ingredients together in a bowl)
Gluten-free: Use gluten-free cup for cup flour in place of the whole-wheat.
Add chocolate chips to this recipe by pressing a few into the top of the rolled out batter just before baking.
Use room temperature honey and nut or seed butter to make the batter come together easily, or warm them briefly.
Wet your fingers or use a piece of parchment to press the batter down if it's sticking to your hands.

Nutrition