Chewy Granola Bars
Chewy Granola Bars Recipe Video – scroll down for recipe card
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I took a poll on Facebook to find out whether people prefer chewy granola bars or crunchy granola bars. I personally like them both, but have a slight leaning towards crunchy. So it was a surprise to me that 75% of y’all said chewy granola bars are your favorite!
This chewy granola bar recipe has a similar flavor to my favorite crunchy granola bars, Nature Valley, but they don’t crumble as much as a crunchy granola bar does and they won’t break your jaw, either. I sweeten my granola bars with real maple syrup, though I think honey would work, too. Peanut butter and tahini are added for flavor and for binding properties. If you like, use all peanut butter. It also works with almond butter, but I really love the flavor combination of peanut and sesame.
I added some cereal (something called Crunchy Flax that I got at Whole Foods) to lighten up the texture. Rice Krispies works, too. I think any small cereal would work. (Maybe Uncle Sam’s? Does anyone except me and my dad even know what that is?) If you don’t want to mess with buying cereal to put in your granola bars, just add another cup of oats.
Chewy Granola Bars Recipe – printable
Homemade Granola Bars
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats (not instant oats)
- 3/4 cup fine-shredded coconut, unsweetened
- 1 cup puffed cereal (Rice Krispies or Crispy Flax)
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted or raw
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)
- 2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- dash cinnamon, optional
Instructions
- Line a 9×9 inch square pan with parchment paper, foil, or wax paper, leaving some overhang to make it easy to remove the granola bars later. Preheat oven to 325ºF.
- Place the oats in a dry skillet over medium-high heat and shake for 2-5 minutes until they are slightly toasted. Dump into a large bowl.
- Add coconut to the skillet and shake for 30-60 seconds until toasted. Add to bowl, along with cereal and sesame seeds. Mix.
- To the same skillet, add syrup, nut butters, butter or coconut oil and heat together, stirring, until bubbling. Turn off heat and add seasonings. Pour this warm syrup over the oats and mix well.
- Press into pan and bake 15 minutes until edges are golden and center is fairly firm. Bake 20 minutes for crunchier bars.
- Cool 5 minutes, then lift out of the pan and cool 10 minutes before slicing into 8 bars.
- Store bars in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator up to two weeks. Freeze for longer storage. Bars will be a little hard when cold but within a minute become soft and chewy again.
- Tip: Pack for lunches, breakfast, or snacks, wrapped tightly.
13 Comments
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Awesome recipe! I added some almonds and dried cranberries instead of cereal, they taste BOMB x)
Ooh, Tina, that sounds badass!
cooked these at 325 for 15mins in an electric oven and they were almost burned.
Sorry to hear that. Have you checked your oven temperature lately?
Tasted great but didn’t stay together, I used puffed rice for the cereal. I am wondering if that cereal is too big to use?
Hi Mary!
I tested it with Rice Krispies, too, and it was fine. The trick is really really packing the “dough” into the pan. Hope you enjoy your granola over some yogurt or someway 🙂
I’d use a strong flavored maple syrup, such as a dark amber or even a Grade B. Medium or light amber is better for a pancake or waffle topping.
Hi Hilah,
I’ve been looking for a granola bar recipe for a quick and healthy breakfast during the week, and this looks awesome! However, I REALLY don’t like coconut. Could I just leave it out, or should I add something else to replace it?
Thanks!
Hi Anna! You can just leave it out and see what you think. They will be a little chewier/softer but otherwise should work fine!
So good! I got my daughter to research a ‘healthy’ granola recipe for snacks and maybe even breakfast and she found this one. We omit the tahini and coconut and double-up on peanut butter ? The Rice Krispies make such a fab texture. They only lasted a few days and a second batch is in the oven as we speak. As a side, I marvelled at the fact my daughter found this recipe, we are in the UK. I am a huge Adriene fan (YWA FWFG) and I’ve spotted Hilah on some of Adriene’s videos before but, my daughter wouldn’t have known that – amazing! Enjoy folks they are scrummy ?
What a great coincidence!! 😀
Tried them today. The recipe was very easy to follow and they taste really good. Thanks for sharing.
Mine didn’t stay together ?not sure why