These No-Bake Granola Bars, made with peanut butter and chocolate, are chewy and delicious. They only require a few minutes to cook down a quick syrup, and some time in the fridge to set. You'll crave these over the store-bought stuff every time!
With ingredients that you most likely already have in your kitchen, you can make your own super tasty granola bars! They can be customized with your favorite mix-ins and toppings, and you can even get the kids involved. Make a few batches of these for breakfast, a snack, or a sweet treat after dinner.
The Coined Breakdown
- Total Cost per bar: $0.30
- Total Cost (12 bars): $3.64
- Those Other Guys: $3.71 per box
Ingredients
- Quick Oats - Most granola recipes start with oats, right? I wouldn't recommend the steel-cut kind - quick oats work very well.
- Crispy Rice Cereal - To add a bit of variety in the texture, we're going to stir in some crispy rice cereal!
- Sweeteners - Brown sugar (as well as maple syrup) provide the sweetness for the bars.
- Peanut Butter - Peanut butter helps act as a "glue" to keep the bars stable. Plus, it tastes so good when paired with chocolate. You can sub this for any nut butter.
- Coconut Oil - Coconut oil helps create the toffee-like liquid that pulls the granola bars together. You won't taste the coconut, promise!
- Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips - We're adding chocolate chips into the bars themselves as well as a layer on the bottom, and a drizzle on top! Grab the mini ones; that size helps the bars stay more in tact.
Variations and Substitutions
Homemade Granola: You can also just break the completed pan into pieces to make homemade granola instead of bars. I also have a Maple-Vanilla Granola recipe on my site!
Peanut Butter: For less calories and fat, you can use peanut butter powder and rehydrate with a little water.
Mix-In Ideas: Try dried cranberries, mini M&Ms, mini Reeses Pieces, toffee chips, or crushed pretzels.
Coconut Oil: If you're allergic to coconut oil, any other mild-tasting oil like canola, vegetable, or avocado oil will work.
How to Make No-Bake Granola Bars at Home
The big problem with a lot of homemade granola bar recipes is getting them to stick together. Using the method below helps to get that perfect consistency before they set in the refrigerator.
Step 1: To begin, we make a sort of toffee-type mixture to act as the "glue" for our bars.
That's melting together brown sugar, pure maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, salt, and peanut butter. No corn syrup needed here!
Step 2: Once the syrup begins to bubble, pour it over your oats and cereal in a large mixing bowl and stir.
Use a silicone spatula to avoid a lot of stickiness.
Step 3: You'll notice that I put in the recipe to freeze the mini chocolate chips at the very start.
Stir in the frozen chocolate and unsweetened shredded coconut.
Step 4: Press the mix into a parchment-lined brownie pan and let set in the refrigerator.
Slice into bars using a sharp knife, and then dip the bottoms in melted chocolate. Drizzle any extra on top, and that's it!
Recipe Pro Tips
- Freeze the mini chocolate chips. To keep the mini chocolate chips whole in the bars, you want to freeze them well. This is because the oat and syrup mixture will be hot right after combining.
- Slice the right way. Use a sharp knife and make small, decisive cuts when slicing these into bars. Using a sawing motion tends to make them fall apart.
Recipe FAQs
Although they have structure - they are still nice and chewy. If you pull them out from the refrigerator, let them cool for a couple of minutes to get the optimal texture.
These can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Simply place in a sealed container or an airtight storage bag.
Other Oat-Based Recipes You'll Love!
If you tried this No-Bake Granola Bars Recipe, or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Thanks for visiting!
No-Bake Granola Bars
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Saucepot
- Silicone Spatula
- Parchment Paper
- 9x9 Metal Baking Pan
- Chef's Knife
- Small Mixing Bowl
- Sheet Pan
- Pastry Bag
Ingredients
Granola Bars
- 2 cups quick oats
- 1 ½ cups crispy rice cereal
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup smooth peanut butter
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup mini chocolate chips frozen
- ⅓ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
Chocolate Dip and Drizzle
- ¾ cup mini chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
Instructions
- Before starting this recipe - make sure you freeze the ⅔ cup of mini chocolate chips. This helps to prevent them from melting while mixing into the warm oats!
- Line a 9x9 brownie pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix together the oats and cereal. Set aside.2 cups quick oats, 1 ½ cups crispy rice cereal
- Add the brown sugar, maple syrup, peanut butter, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and salt to a saucepan.⅓ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup pure maple syrup, ¼ cup smooth peanut butter, ¼ cup coconut oil, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon salt
- Melt this mixture on low heat, stirring constantly, until it's silky smooth.It will begin gently bubbling; this is okay.
- Pour the warmed sauce over your oats and cereal. Stir well until the mixture is moist.
- Time to work fast!Stir in the frozen chocolate chips and shredded coconut.⅔ cup mini chocolate chips, ⅓ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- Pour the granola mix into the lined brownie pan, and press it into an even layer using another sheet of parchment paper so your hands don't stick.
- Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes. The bar will be solid.
- Lift the parchment paper and granola block out of the pan, then carefully cut the block into 12 even rectangular pieces.See recipe notes for tips and tricks on how to cut without breaking too many bars!
- Pop the cut bars back into the fridge to set (if needed), while you melt the remaining chocolate chips and coconut oil together in a microwave.Use 20-second intervals so you don't burn the chocolate. Stir after each time.¾ cup mini chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- Dip the bottom of each bar into the chocolate and place on a parchment-lined sheet tray.
- Add the remaining melted chocolate to a pastry bag or plastic storage bag, snip the corner, and drizzle onto the tops of the bars.
- Set the finished granola bars into the fridge once more to fully set.
- Store them in the refrigerator in a sealed container. Enjoy!
Jennifer says
Surprisingly soft! I left out the coconut (not a fan) but loved the addition of adding rice krispys to the mixture. Will make again for the family.
Shani H. says
Thank you so much for trying and leaving a comment Jennifer!