Chewy Granola Bars

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Chewy Granola Bars are packed full of flavor. The combination of peanut butter, chocolate, oats, and peanuts satisfies hunger and sweet tooth cravings. This no bake recipe is easily adapted to whatever cereal and add-ins you have on hand.

Granola bars surrounded by peanut butter, honey, oats, corn flakes, and cranberries.

Why you'll love this recipe

When you buy a packaged bar, you have to choose from the flavor combinations on the shelf. That can be very limiting, especially if you have food sensitivities or allergies.

With this easy, no bake recipe you can make homemade granola bars with your preferred flavors and none of the ingredients you don't like or can't eat.

This is a chewy bar with crunchy ingredients. The flavors and texture continue to improve after a few days, which makes them ideal for care packages, lunch boxes, and as grab-and-go snacks.

Consider this recipe a granola bar blueprint. Following the quantities indicated in the recipe, you can make these bars with whatever nut/seed butter, cereals and add-ins you like.

Bars lined up on a square white serving plate.

Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.

Step by step image collage cooking wet ingredients in sauce pan until combined.

Combine the quick cooking oats and cereal in a large bowl.
In a sauce pan over medium heat, mix together the honey, golden syrup, and brown sugar until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat.
Stir in the nut butter, until melted and smooth.

Step by step image collage combining granola mixture.

Pour the mixture into the bowl with the oat mixture and stir until combined.
Mix in all add-ins such as chocolate chips and nuts.

Step by step images pressing mixture into the pan.

Spread the granola bar mixture evenly in a greased baking pan.
Cover with a sheet of wax paper and press down very firmly to compress the ingredients. Using a smaller baking pan on top to press is helpful.
Allow the mixture to cool and firm before cutting into bars with a sharp knife.

Storage

Store the bars at room temperature in an airtight container in layers separated by wax paper.

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For great grab-and-go packaging, wrap each bar in wax paper and place in a ziplock plastic bag or wrap individually in plastic wrap.

Granola bars will stay fresh for up to 10 days.

Granola bars, wrapped in wax paper then cellophane bags, packed for shipping in a cookie tin.

Tips and variations

Golden syrup is sugar syrup with a caramel flavor that is very popular in the United Kingdom. In the US it is available at some supermarkets (usually in the pancake syrup or baking aisle), World Market, and online. Though it can be replaced in this recipe with corn syrup or honey, the flavor of golden syrup is especially good.
For the ½ cup total of liquid sweetener, you can substitute any combination of corn syrup, Golden Syrup, and/or honey.
Use 2 cups of your choice of cereal. One batch of the bars in the photographs were made with rice krispies cereal and another batch was made with corn flakes. Other possibilities include Cheerios, Chex, corn puffs, or quinoa puffs.
The ½ cup of nut butter can be varied with peanut butter, tree nut butter, sunflower seed butter, soy butter, or Biscoff butter.
Variations for the ½ cup of add-ins include: chopped or slivered nuts, dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, chopped fruit bits), pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, or shredded coconut.
Use your favorite flavor for the ½ cup of chips or mini chips, such as dark/semisweet/milk chocolate, white chocolate, butterscotch, or peanut butter.
This is the glass baking dish that I use when making these bars. I use glass so that I can easily cut the bars directly in the dish without scratching the pan.

Stack of granola bars showing the cut edges .

Frequently asked questions

How do you get granola bars to stick together?

The honey, golden syrup, and nut butter are the glue that holds this bar together. The recipe amount are balanced so that the correct amount of "glue" can hold the dry ingredients together.
It is essential to press the mixture very firmly into the pan to compress the ingredients into bars that stick together.

Can I use rolled oats instead of quick cook oats in granola bars?

Quick oats are cut in smaller pieces and steamed longer than rolled oats (old-fashioned oats) during processing. This creates a softer oat that is best for no bake recipes. Rolled oats would be overly chewy no bake granola bars.

More no-bake treats

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies are bite sized cookies with just 4 ingredients!

Chocolate Peanut Butter and Banana Cookies are chewy treats with crunchy bits of freeze dried banana.

Peanut Butter Krispie Bars are cereal bars speckled with chocolate candy and sprinkles.

If you love breakfast bars with oats, next time try these baked Oatmeal Fruit Bars!

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