Sweet and Salty Homemade Granola Bars Freeze Great and are the Perfect Grab and Go Snack!
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Homemade granola bars have become such an important part of my kitchen routine. My kids love them, my husband is always grabbing them on his way to work, and they are by far my favorite night-time snack. The ingredients are unintimidating, but oh so good and full of healthy fiber and protein. Best of all, this recipe makes a big batch that lasts for quite a while in the freezer, so I’m usually making them once a month.
Making Homemade Granola Bars a Staple in Your Kitchen
In order for my week to go smoothly, I like to have three things in place.
- A batch of homemade Greek style yogurt in the fridge.
- Bread baked, sliced, and in the freezer (I make 6 loaves at a time).
- Homemade Granola Bars individually packaged and ready to grab and go.
If I know I have these three foods available to draw from throughout the week then I feel prepared for anything! It keeps me from impulse buying snacks and convenience foods. The only reason this works so well is because they are all foods that we truly enjoy eating. I’ve spent a lot of time and energy trying to incorporate different healthy foods into our diets and so many are met with disappointment! So now I lean on these key foods and know that my kids are enjoying nutritious, from scratch staples, and are growing into healthy habits.
Changing up Ingredients in your Homemade Granola Bars
You can definitely adjust the ingredients in the recipe to meet your family’s tastes. It’s an easy way to add variety to the grains in your diet, and I love switching this seven grain cereal for the oatmeal. Aside from the health kick, it adds so much flavor and depth! Also, I love trading the dried cherries for dates or apricots, or another larger dried fruit. Raisins also work great in a pinch, but are not quite as soft because they’re so small. Feel free to experiment with different nuts and seeds and use whatever you have on hand! If you don’t have whole wheat flour, use white. Don’t have olive oil, try canola. As long as the basic proportions of dry ingredients to fats and sugars remains balanced you’ll end up with awesome granola bars.
My favorite part of these homemade granola bars is the chocolate topping. It holds the bars together really nicely and ensures that there are no notes without chocolate! As soon as they come out of the oven, I sprinkle chocolate chips evenly across the baked granola (use good chocolate, you’ll never go back!). In about five minutes the chocolate will be soft enough to spread out with a palette knife or the back of a spoon. When the chocolate has completely set, you’ll know the bars are cool enough to cut.
Storing Your Homemade Granola Bars
You can store your homemade granola bars in an airtight container on the counter for about a week. We don’t go through the entire batch that quickly, and I like knowing I only have to make them once a month as opposed to weekly. I store them individually in sandwich bags and place them in the freezer for up to 2 months. (This is a great reusable option.) Because we like them cold, I usually take them out of the freezer about ten minutes before we’re going to eat them. If you prefer them at room temperature, then I would recommend taking them out an hour before eating.
Homemade Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 4 cups oats (320 grams)
- 3 cups dried cherries or another dried fruit (450 grams)
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (180 grams)
- 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced almonds (150 grams)
- 2 teaspoons coarse salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3/4 cup peanut butter (195 grams)
- 3/4 cup olive oil (180 grams)
- 3/4 cup honey (255 grams)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Spray the aluminum foil with cooking spray to avoid sticking.
- In a large bowl, measure your oats, dried cherries, wheat flour, almonds, salt, and cinnamon. Mix together with a large spoon until all the components are uniformly distributed.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine your peanut butter, olive oil, and honey. Use a fork or a Dutch whisk to break up the peanut butter until it’s smooth.
- Pour the peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients and stir together until all of the oats are coated. Pour the final mixture into the prepared cookie sheet, spread it out into an even layer, and use your hands to press down with your hands. This helps the granola bars hold together after they are baked.
- Bake for 25 minutes. The edges will start to turn golden brown.
- A soon as you remove the bars from the oven, cover with chocolate chips. Let sit for 5 minutes. Once the chocolate is soft, spread the chocolate covering the whole pan.
- Let cool completely before cutting into bars. I like to cut them into 2×3 inch bars, put them in sandwich bags or plastic wrap, and keep them in the freezer for up to 2 months! Or, enjoy at room temperature for up to a week.
