Homemade Granola Bars
Save RecipeMy Homemade Granola Bars recipe results in the perfect portable snack packed with flavor, crunch, and chew — with no mystery ingredients.
Hi Bold Bakers!
Some of my favorite recipes to create are homemade versions of things you typically buy. From homemade cereal like my Bran Flakes Cereal recipe to Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches, no matter what it is, it’s always better homemade. My Homemade Granola Bars recipe is no exception. These quickly baked granola bars are the perfect portable snack packed with flavor, crunch, and chew, but with no mystery ingredients.
Homemade is better, and I’ll prove it!
Why do Granola Bars Need To be Baked?
While some granola bars are no-bake, like my No-Bake Granola Bars recipe, my Homemade Granola Bars are the opposite.
The reason I chose to make a baked granola bar recipe is not just because I absolutely love the toothy crunch and toasty flavor of the oats, but because the baking process helps the granola bars hold together without the use of too much liquid sweetener.
These bars start by combining a bit of honey, maple syrup, and brown sugar in a pan with butter. This forms a little bit of a sticky syrup that goes a long way. After making the syrup in a large deep pot, I go right in with lost of oats, shredded coconut, chewy dried cranberries, and chopped almonds. From there, this mixture gets pressed into a small sheet tray and baked until golden brown.
After coming out of the oven, I cut these into perfectly portioned bars — but it doesn’t stop there. In true Big and Bold fashion, I dip the granola bars in chocolate. If these don’t get you through a snack attack or an extra long afternoon, then I don’t know what will!
Why are My Granola Bars Sticky?
This can happen if you don’t allow the syrup base of the bars to properly come together. To avoid this, I suggest letting the butter melt all the way, then add in the brown sugar, honey, and maple syrup. Don’t be tempted to over stir this mixture, either. Just allow the sugar to naturally dissolve.
After the sugar has dissolved, allow this to simmer over low heat for just a few minutes. This should yield the perfect result! If your granola bars are coming out a bit sticky, it may also mean they need to be baked longer, as after baking they should be crunchy on the outside and hold together on the inside.
Why are My Granola Bars Too Crunchy?
While on the one hand, you don’t want your granola bars to be too sticky, you also don’t want them to be too crunchy either. To make sure they come out just right, I suggest you bake them for the exact time in the middle rack of the oven, allowing them to toast up evenly.
Another trick to getting them to the perfect texture is to really press the oat mixture down into the lined pan before baking the bars. This will compact the oats and all the mix-ins, making sure that the whole mix bakes and toasts up evenly from corner to corner.
What can I Add to My Granola Bars?
I love the combination of coconut, dried cranberries, and almonds. All topped off with chocolate this is heavenly. However, my recipe is wonderful to get creative with, from raisins and other dried fruit to whatever mix of nuts you have on hand, you really can’t go wrong here. If you are looking to make a slightly less sweet granola bar, feel free to leave out the chocolate too!
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My Homemade Granola Bars recipe results in the perfect portable snack packed with flavor, crunch, and chew — with no mystery ingredients.
- 6 tablespoons (3oz/85g) butter, melted
- 1/3 cup (5oz/142g) honey
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 cups (9oz/255g) rolled oats
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 ½oz/43g) coconut, shredded and unsweetened
- 1/2 cup (2 ½oz/71g) dried cranberries, or raisins
- 1/2 cup (2 ½oz/71g) almonds, chopped
- 1 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate, melted
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Pre-heat your oven to 350°F (180°C), then line a 9 x 12 inch baking tray with parchment, set aside.
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In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the butter, honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
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Allow to simmer until the sugar has dissolved and a dark syrup has formed.
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Remove from the heat and fold in the oats, salt, coconut, dried cranberries and almonds. Using a spatula, continue to fold everything together until evenly coated in the syrup.
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Transfer the oat mixture to the prepared baking tray and press down using your spatula into one evenly packed layer.
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Bake the granola bars for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and toasted on top.
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Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before lifting the whole sheet out of the tray.
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Cut them in 1 1/2 x 4 inch bars. This will yield 18.
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Dip the bottom half of each bar in melted chocolate then allow to set, chocolate side up, on a rack. If your bars do not set up after 30 minutes to an hour, place them in the fridge until the chocolate has hardened.
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Once the chocolate has set, use the additional melted chocolate to drizzle over the top for garnish. Once the chocolate drizzle has set, enjoy!
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Cover and store the granola bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. They can also be kept in the freezer for longer.
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Hi Gemma, tried your recipe today. Looked beautiful when came out of the oven. I kept it in fridge when it was warm. Took out after2 hrs . The butter paper completely stuck to the base of bar then it got crumbled… I used every ingredient as you mentioned except maple syrup I used honey and used little less butter. Pls help. But tastes yum. Can I try Baking it again for little less time?
Hi Shweta,
I am wondering about the baking paper you used. That is too bad, I hate that you were disappointed.
There are two types of baking paper. One is a GREASRPROOF paper, which needs to be stuck down to the pan with butter or oil. The second is silicon coated. This one only needs to be held in place on the pan, and nothing can stick to this one!
Alternatively, butter your pan, then scatter on a little flour and distribute it by shaking the pan. This will give you a type of stick-resistant surface for all of your baking.
Then there is the issue of changing the ingredients. The honey will work really well in proportion to the maple syrup, but the butter is also important. This is the glue which holds these together as the sugar in the honey caramelizes with the butter.
I hope this will be of help to you,
Gemma 🙂
Thank you Gemma, it’s an honour to receive your response 😍🙏 yes your explanation is very helpful. Just to add. When granola came to room temperature after taking out of fridge butter paper was coming off easily. Seriously how can I forget to grease my pan😆would like to send the pic of my crumbled yet beautiful granola😍
Hi there, well we all make mistakes, and I do too every day!
I am happy to hear that you resolved this. Do post a pic, we love to see them and it encourages other Bold Bakers to give it a go. We learn more from experience than we do from instruction.
Thank you for your kind words,
Gemma 🙂
Hi Gemma,
I’m looking at making your granola bars for an up coming trip and would like to up the protein level. What would you suggest, Almond butter maybe?
Thanks for the help,
Mark
Hi Mark,
almond butter for sure. A tablespoon of almond butter or peanut butter will contain about 4g of protein. Chia seeds too, 2 tablespoons of milled chia seeds will contain about 5g of protein. Whey protein powders also are useful, and they vary a lot in protein content, according to how they are processed. These can, of course, be added to drinks.
I suppose it is about what is found in the foods you eat too, things like eggs, for instance, hard-boiled and eaten from the hand with a little salt, a useful thing to have on a trip.
I hope you enjoy your outing, I love to get out in nature too,
Gemma 🙂
Hi Gemma, let me first accept that I have yet to try your recipe. However, in our Indian ancient science called “Ayurveda” , they have asked not to heat up ‘honey’! As per them it turns into poison. Do we necessarily have to heat honey along with butter? Will it work if I add honey at room temperature?
Hi there,
I would not disrespect the ancient science of Ayurveda and understand that it has many benefits. Honey has been heated and caramelized in western society for eons and as far as I understand has never been found to be a poison. Here, in this recipe, that is what happens, the honey caramelizes to form a glue to hold the bars together. So, whether you heat it separately or not it will be heated in the bake.
Agave syrup may be available to you too, and this I think will not have issues for you, and it will also caramelize.
This recipe too (https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/no-bake-granola-bars/) will work well for you, you could try that, no baking involved!
Gemma 🙂
Super nice recipe! But next time ( because I’m definitely going to make them again) I will bake them 20/25 min not 30. I added some bittesweet chocolate chips, yummy! I’ve submitted a photo ^_^
I’m thrilled to hear that! Thanks so much for trying this recipe out.
I’ll check out your photo now.
Best,
Gemma.
Can I just add more honey instead of maple syrup since maple syrup is not really something that is readily available in my country?
yes absolutely use the same amount of honey instead of maple syrup.
Best,
Gemma.
Hi Gemma
I tried your recipe today and it turn out very nice. I added Chia seeds, flex seed, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. Oh ya I used quick cook oat.
When I cut it (while it’s still hot), it’s fall apart. May I know where I have done wrong?
Thanks.
Hi Connie,
This needs to set up before you cut it, that means that it should not be cut when it is hot, it will fall apart. You can mark it in the tray when it is warm, but it is not meant to be eaten hot. here is what I tell you in the recipe instructions:
Bake the granola bars for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and toasted on top.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before lifting the whole sheet out of the tray.
At this point, you will be able to cut them.
I hope this is of help,
Gemma 🙂
hi gemma
i made this granola bar , only substituted the brown sugar with coco sugar , followed the directions to a ‘T’
but it didn’t hold together, what do you think went wrong? pls help, i wanna try doing it again.
Hi Lisa. This can happen if they were underbaked or need a little more of the honey. Let them go a little longer in the oven. Let me hear how you get along. Gemma 😊
Hi Gemma. It’s the 1st time I made crunchy granola. Used salted butter, substituted dried cranberries with organic shredded unsweetened coconut. 15F lower for 9minutes more. It turned out amazing! Just like store bought ones. Even butter! Crunchy but not burnt. Love the caramel taste from the brown sugar. Thank you for your another awesome recipe!
Yes!
I am delighted with this lovely review of this recipe. We love this one too in our house, I am happy that it worked so well for you,
Gemma 🙂
I made more today for my stepdaughter who just came back from LA. Because she loves it! We both think it tastes like the Lotus Biscoff cookies. I baked it at 10F lower for 25minutes then left it in the oven with door slightly open to cool down. So the remaining heat dried it without overcooking. Together with your recipe’s yogurt and jam, so yummy! Thank you!
Thank you, Rachel, that is a great tip, about leaving it in the oven to cool, I am going to try that one!
Thank you too for always letting us see the results, I love to see the pics, and so do other bold bakers, it is encouraging for them.
hope your daughter had a good trip too!
Gemma 🙂
Hi there
I followed the recipe but they did not form 😳
Not sure what i did incorrectly
Hi Jackie,
I do not have enough information to respond to this. Can you tell me about the sugar you used, this is what binds this recipe.
Gemma 🙂
Hi
Can I use regular white sugar instead of brown sugar?
I really want to try the recipe but I don’t have brown sugar.
Thanks
Ujjaval
Hi Ujjaval. You can or you can try to make your own brown sugar too https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/make-brown-sugar/
Do I swop equal quanties of butter for coconut oil? You said we can use coconut oil for a “healthier version
Hi Michelle,
you can do that, it is more or less a straight swap, but perhaps about 20% less coconut oil as it is pure oil, butter has a little more to it.
I hope this helps,
Gemma 🙂