I am hesitant to put this down on paper (as you will) since writing it will seem to make it true. But alas, there is no avoiding it. This summer has come to an end, and not just because New England seems to be on strike with producing warm weather.
Zach and I must return to work as teachers tomorrow. Siggghhh.
I know, I know… we are lucky we had a summer vacation at all. Sorry, I got sulky there for a second. Let me look at the silver lining! For one thing, I can get back to problem solving for this blog and really hone in on the real food for busy people aspect… I have drifted away from this since I have had inordinate amounts of time for the past six weeks to make whatever cooking creations from scratch I wanted! So, good news for the blog.
For another thing, back to school means more snacks, which I like to keep as healthy and as energizing as possible, as well as easy-to-make. So, without further ado (and complaining), the first back-to-school snack on the menu: DIY chewy granola bars!
What is awesome about these granola bars? I will tell you.
- You can basically use any combination of ingredients you want! This recipe consists of oats, nuts/seeds, and dried fruit, bound together with coconut oil and sweetened with honey.
- These are no-bake granola bars, which makes them really easy! The method is similar to making rice crispy treats- just heat up some liquid ingredients, add the dry, and press into a baking dish and allow to cool. Boom. Done.
- They stick together! There is no crumbly mess! (well, maybe there are one or two crumbs, but almost every other granola bar recipe I have made has resulted more in granola rather than a bar, which is less portable and totally not as fun).
- They are super duper healthy. No refined sugar, good-for-you coconut oil, and lots of fiber and good fats from the oats, nuts, and seeds. It will keep you going for a long time.
- Did I mention they taste amazing? Especially since you can add whatever fruits and flavors you want, catering it to your own tastes.
When I made these, I used what I had available. I had dried figs leftover from a recipe I made months ago, plus some almonds, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds. I have a never-ending amount of chia seeds (anyone else have this problem? They really should come in smaller packages, if you ask me.) so I threw some of those in there as well, and since I made a delicious coconut cardamom granola a while ago, I added cardamom for flavor, along with cinnamon and nutmeg, which paired VERY well with the figs.
In the recipe below, I explain the ratios I used for these cardamom fig granola bars, as well as how to add your own ingredients. On my mental list of future granola bar combinations:
- Orange cranberry (I’ll add orange zest as a spice and dried cranberries to the bars)
- Ginger molasses (I’ll substitute molasses for the honey)
- Carrot cake (think I can use shredded carrots in place of dried fruit?)
- Honey almond (simple, no extra spices and omit the fruit)
- Peanut butter (add peanuts and peanut butter to the mix)
- Chocolate coconut (coconut flakes and cocoa powder)
If you make these and find a magical combination, or if you have any other ideas for combos, please share it below!
One important note: it is very important to press these into the baking dish very well- as much as you can. I used my Lodge Cast-Iron Grill Press to make sure it was sufficiently pressed, but you can also just use your hands. Just cover the top of the granola bars with parchment paper and press away!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go sulk because summer is over. (and by sulk, I mean eat a granola bar) :-)
DIY No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup coconut oil or butter
- 1/4 cup honey or other sweetener, such as molasses, agave, etc.
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- other spices/flavors I used 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup nuts/seeds I used 1/2 cup sliced raw almonds, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, and 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 cup chopped dried fruit I used chopped dried figs. You can omit the fruit if you want.
Instructions
- Melt coconut oil, honey, salt, and other spices/flavors in a medium saucepan.
- When liquid mixture melts and becomes a bit foamy, turn the heat down to low, add the oats and stir to coat.
- Add the nuts/seeds, and stir to coat.
- Finally, add the dried fruit, and fold in to the mixture.
- Continue cooking on low heat for just a couple minutes (this will soften the ingredients slightly before you cool them, allowing them to stick together better).
- Meanwhile, line a small baking dish (mine measures 6" by 8") with parchment paper or plastic wrap, leaving the sides of the paper/wrap long.
- Add the mixture to the dish; press with the back of a wooden spoon so it is evenly spread out.
- Fold the parchment paper/plastic wrap over the granola so the top is covered (get more if necessary). Press the granola aggressively, so it is as packed as you can make it. I used my grill press, but you can also use a dish or cup, or your hands. Just make sure it is well packed and evenly distributed!
- Place in refrigerator and allow to cool completely- at least two hours, but I recommend overnight.
- Remove granola from parchment paper- it should be in one big block. Cut into 6-8 bars, and wrap individually in plastic wrap. Store in the fridge for about 2 weeks.
Notes
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
KC
Followed the recipe to a T using coconut oil. Tastes great, but doesn’t stick together worth a hoot, even after three days in the fridge. All crumbles.
Elizabeth Lindemann
The bars definitely are a bit crumbly even with refrigeration. There are some coconut oils out there that are refined and liquid at room temperature, so I do wonder if maybe the wrong coconut oil was used? This might help, for you or anyone else reading this comment. Sorry you had a frustrating experience!
Abbey
Hi just wondering how much you would sell this for if you sold them as single bars at a canteen ( just an example)
Elizabeth Lindemann
My rule of thumb for selling products at a profit is to double the cost of both the supplies (ingredients) and labor time. So if this whole recipe costs you $6 in ingredients and takes you half an hour to make and you want to pay yourself $20/hour, that’s $16 total to make. Divide that into the amount of bars (let’s say you can make 16 with $6 worth of ingredients), that would be $2 per bar. Hope that helps!
Simone Neunzig - IHTBvegan
These are so good! I make mine with molasses and coconut oil and whatever seeds, fruit and nuts I have around at the time. They hold together really well and are so yummy! My toddler is a big fan also. Thanks for the recipe!
Simone
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you and your toddler like it!
Lex
I used butter and sugar and they didn’t stick together, so don’t do that
Elizabeth Lindemann
To be clear, these granola bars won’t stick together unless they are refrigerated, whether you use coconut oil or butter, and even then they won’t be as “solid” as your usual granola bars. They do definitely crumble apart at room temperature. Hope that helps, and sorry you had a frustrating experience!
Stephanie
Tried them yesterday. I quadrupled the recipe and added rice cereal. It turned out great! I plan on doubling the quadruple ;-) because I have a crew of 5 little eating children. They all love it and it was super simple. My young bakers could easily make this. . And such a better alternative to store-bought!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you and your kiddos liked it!
Tavasya
Is there something you can use instead of butter or coconut oil? I prefer not to use butter, and l really don’t like the taste of coconut.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Hm, you might be able to get away with using olive oil, as long as you keep then in your refrigerator. Butter and coconut oil solidify at room temperature which helps bind these together, but olive oil solidifies in the fridge, so that might work! Hope that helps :-)
Chef
Use dairy free spread olive base margarine
Jill Lopez
Tried these yesterday with a mixture of half full packets that were available. Tasted really good, (hence 5 stars) but why having promoted something so good do you show the bars wrapped in cling film? Surely something like a paper based product should have been used.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thanks for bringing this up, Jill! I love how we can use the internet to push each other to better, more earth-friendly practices. I am constantly learning new ways to reduce the amount of plastic and disposable items I use in my life, and when I wrote this post 5 years ago, I used plastic wrap more frequently. I photographed it with an intention to show how you could package them to take and bring with you places. When I update and rephotograph this post, I’ll be sure to include a more earth-friendly storage option. Thanks again, and so glad you liked them!
Lauren
I was looking for a recipe that my husband and I could take backpacking on a three night trip and was curious if these would hold their form even when they aren’t refrigerated? I hope so because I already bought everything for them they looked so good!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Aw man, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but these won’t hold together very well without refrigerating. The main thing holding them together is the coconut oil, which melts at about 72 degrees F. There’s hope though! How about trying these peanut butter and banana energy bars? They’re baked, but the PB and banana helps bind everything together. You could add a lot of the ingredients from these bars to them- all the nuts and fruit can just be added to it. Hope that helps!
Kat Underwood
These are amazing! I used dried cranberries and orange peel, coconut (given) pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and ground pecans! Oh YUM!!! THANKS for the recipe!!
Elizabeth
Thank you!! SO glad you liked it!
Ariana
I absolutely love this healthy recipe and the freedom to add any ingredients you please (like chocolate!) For nuts I used almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, and pine nuts and for seeds I used pumpkin and sunflower, and WOW, they turned out amazing – so soft and chewy! Will definitely be making these again soon. Thank you for sharing the recipe! :)
Elizabeth
So happy you liked them! Thanks so much for the comment!
Veronica Valencia
I made a batch on Sunday and they taste great! But do they have to stay stored in the fridge? I brought one to work and left it on my desk by 3pm it sorted if just melted into my mouth. Lol
Elizabeth
So they won’t go BAD if you leave them out of the fridge, but they will fall apart (which is why it was melty!). Coconut oil is solid at cold temperatures, which firms the bars up. If you leave them out, they will fall apart because the coconut oil isn’t hard enough to bind them together (same with butter, if you use that). Hope that helps!
Stephanie
These are delicious. I used molasses because I’m always looking for new recipes to use it in. My kids loved these too – a great success. And I’m always happy to find no bake recipes so I don’t have to use the oven.
Elizabeth
So happy you and your family liked this! Love the idea of using molasses- I always seem to have a half used jar of it in my pantry so I’m going to try this next time!