When I’m looking for a snack, I want it to be wholesome. These Homemade Granola Bars are delicious and free of all the junk and preservatives you can’t pronounce on most boxes of affordable store-bought granola bars. Instead, I loaded mine with quick rolled oats, Medjool dates, peanut butter, walnuts, and chocolate chips. They still taste amazing and are much healthier with whole food ingredients.
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I’m not ashamed to say that I’m a bit crunchy… the kind of “crunchy” who left the city for the county, lives on a farm, grows their own vegetables, and makes their own Granola Bars. Guilty as charged! I love a hearty, chewy granola bar with a variety of textures, and this recipe is all of that and more! Marsha and I break these out of the freezer at the Budget Bytes studio on a regular basis; they make one heck of a snack.
Bonus: Because there’s no heat involved, these homemade granola bars are also fun to make with kids! They can mold the dough into fun shapes and help you in the kitchen!
Are Granola Bars Healthy?
That depends on a lot of factors. In general, granola bars are a good source of fiber (and sometimes protein, too!). However, many times, they also contain as much sugar and calories as candy bars. As a general rule, if I check the ingredient label on something and I can’t recognize or pronounce the majority of the ingredients, I usually put it back.
My homemade bars are made with Medjool dates and honey as the primary sweeteners, which are both lower on the glycemic index, making these bars more nutrient-dense and healthier than ones made with straight up sugar or corn syrup. The peanut butter and walnuts add a good bit of protein, and the oats up the fiber content. Overall, these homemade granola bars are much healthier than store-bought, but taste even better!
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make granola bars:
- Medjool Dates: Sweeten the bars and help bind them together.
- Chunky Peanut Butter: Adds creaminess and crunch, and also helps bind everything together.
- Walnuts: Add extra crunch and protein.
- Cinnamon: Adds a touch of warmth to the bars that enhances their overall flavor.
- Sea Salt: Enhances the flavors of these bars.
- Quick Rolled Oats: These are cut into smaller pieces than traditional rolled oats, making for a more cohesive bar.
- Honey: Adds a little extra sweetness and helps the bars harden.
- Chocolate Chips: Add a pop of rich chocolate flavor!
Is it cheaper to make your own granola bars?
Sometimes! I like to buy peanut butter and oats in bulk whenever they’re on sale since they keep well for a long time unopened. This really helps me cut down on costs. Some value-sized packs of store-bought granola bars are cheaper than my homemade recipe, but I can guarantee the ingredients aren’t nearly as wholesome. At just $0.72 per bar, these healthy homemade granola bars are good for your wallet and better for your body!
What Else Can I Add?
These bars are a great base for all kinds of mix-ins. Try:
- White chocolate chips
- Dried or freeze-dried fruits
- Nuts or seeds
- Mini marshmallows
- Crushed pretzels
Do you have a peanut allergy? Try swapping peanut butter and peanuts for almond butter. If you’re allergic to all tree nuts, try tahini and pumpkin seeds instead!
Granola Bars
Servings 10 (1 bar each)Ingredients
- 1 cup Medjool dates, pitted ($2.99)
- 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter ($0.29)
- 1/4 cup walnuts ($0.87)
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp sea salt ($0.01)
- 1 1/2 cups quick rolled oats ($2.23)
- 1/4 cup honey ($0.78)
- 2 Tbsp dark chocolate chips ($0.20)
Instructions
- Gather ingredients. In a food processor, process dates (make sure all of them are pitted!) until they form a big ball of “dough”
- In a mixing bowl, combine Medjool date "dough", chunky peanut butter, walnuts, ground cinnamon, sea salt, cups quick rolled oats, honey, and dark chocolate chips and mix together by hand (it’s going to be sticky!)
- Spread granola bar batter into a lined baking dish and freeze for 1-2 hours until firm but not completely solid.
- Remove from freezer. Cut bars into the size and shape you want. These will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to one month!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Food Processor
Nutrition
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how to make Granola Bars – step by step photos
Gather ingredients. In a food processor, process 1 cup pitted Medjool dates (make sure all of them are pitted!) until they form a big ball of “dough”
In a mixing bowl, combine Medjool date “dough”, 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter, 1/4 cup walnuts, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp sea salt, 1 1/2 cups quick rolled oats, 1/4 cup honey, and 2 Tbsp dark chocolate chips and mix together by hand (it’s going to be sticky!)
Spread the granola bar batter into a lined baking dish and freeze for 1-2 hours until firm but not completely solid.
Remove from freezer. Cut bars into the size and shape you want. These will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to one month!
You’ll never buy store-bought granola bars again!
If making this recipe in bulk can you store some in the freezer and pull out when you are ready to use them?
Absolutely! We had a bunch leftover at the test kitchen, so Marsha and I would take a few out and thaw them for breakfast often!
These sound great! Is it possible to add protein powder somewhere to make them like a little protein bar? Wasn’t sure if blending them with the dates first or just adding them in dry would work. Thanks!
You could give it a try. I haven’t tested it with protein powder, but let us know how it goes!
Absolutely love these! They are so delicious. We started making them a few weeks ago as a breakfast prep, and just pull one out to eat each morning. It is so easy to make these – the only difficult part is when everything is being mixed together, it’s very sticky and can be difficult to mix. But even that only takes 5-10 minutes. We love these and will continue to make them.
Hey Terry! I’m so glad you made these as part of your weekly meal prep! Marsha and I are STILL eating them in the studio. We take a few out of the freezer every week. I love this recipe and I’m glad you do, too.
Can you sub something else for the walnuts?
You could try pecans!
Yum, pecans would be amazing.
These sound delicious! Sounds like a perfect snack to have while I’m golfing. Will it stay “firm” in the heat for a few hours until I’m ready to eat it?
Would natural, sugar-free peanut butter work in the recipe? We’re a diabetic household & don’t use sugary PB.
These look delicious. Instead of quick oats, would i be able to use regular oats in this recipe?
That will work fine!
Sorry. Just saw the “what else you add section”. I’ll try almond butter.
Almond butter or even tahini would be great substitutes! Make sure you mix in or strain off any oil that settles on top of your nut/seed butters so your granola bars don’t turn out too soft or oily.
I’m allergic to peanuts. Is there something I could use instead of peanut butter?
We used Sunbutter and they came out tasty!
These look so yummy, but I’m not a fan of dates. Is there anything I could substitute for them? Maybe raisins?
We did a lot of testing to make sure the taste and texture of these were top notch and the dates were a big part of that! They help a lot to hold the bars together and add a lovely caramel flavor. You’re welcome to try a dried fruit, like raisins but I can’t guarantee how well it would work!
What size pan? Thanks
I used an 8×8″ pan. Thanks for this question, I will add to the recipe.
I love the crunchy granola bars. You can put so many of your favorite flavors in them too! Also, awesome that these are easy to make with kids!
Yes, kids love to get messy, don’t they?! It’s nice when the ingredients they are licking off their fingers are healthy, too!
What a neat little recipe! I do have one question tho! Can cinnamon be substituted with something else (allspice?) or outright removed from this recipe?
Hey, Sam! You can omit it altogether if you’re not a fan.
You can definitely try another warm spice like allspice if you like! You may want to try a little less though because it’s pretty strong. You can also omit but it is a pretty big flavor source!