I’ve been looking for this recipe forever. These Quaker granola bars
But have you noticed how expensive those granola bars are? Especially if you buy a box or two every week like I do. I’ve been on the look-out for a recipe, but haven’t found anything before now. All the recipes I saw were just granola, no rice cereal; they were hard, not chewy. That won’t do! But finally after some serious googling I found this recipe and it’s perfect. It’s exactly the same. In fact, it’s better because you know all the ingredients in it and there aren’t any preservatives and whatever else they put into pre-packaged food. Also? It’s about the simplest thing that ever was. No baking. It takes about 5 minutes to mix together and 15 minutes to firm up in the fridge.
These granola bars are so easy to make that I deviated from the original recipe to recreate my favorites: peanut butter/chocolate chip, s’more, and oatmeal raisin. There are endless possibilities for add-ins to these granola bars, so you can create your own favorite version.
Each recipe makes enough granola to fill a 9×13 11×7 inch pan, about 18 bars. Since I wanted to make all three kinds (and don’t have room to store 54 bars), I halved the recipes and made them in 9×5 inch loaf pans. I found these to be perfect as I could just cut straight across and get perfect sized bars, 6-8 depending on how wide you want them. I found it easier to remove the whole slab of granola from the pan first (run a knife around the sides and turn it upside-down on your counter and it should come out pretty easily) and then slice it.
I cut out strips of parchment and wrapped them up individually, which on second thought is pretty wasteful, but it looks cute if you wanted to give a bunch of these away as gifts or wrap them for your kid’s school lunch. Otherwise store in layers, in an airtight container with a sheet of wax/parchment between each layer.
Note about Granola: I had a really hard time finding plain granola. Maybe I wasn’t looking in the right place? I don’t know, I’ve never bought granola before. I wound up using this granola cereal
Update #1: I’ve started making my own low fat granola for the granola bars instead of buying it. I’ve included the recipe at the bottom of this post.
Update #2: I’ve now tested these using Brown Rice Syrup
- It’s healthier than sugar.
- It’s not as sweet as brown sugar, so it’s great if you thought these bars were too sweet.
- It’s a syrup already, so it’s much stickier and a lot less temperamental to cook with than sugar. If you ever had issues with the bars being too hard or not sticking together this will solve both problems.
- The bars are even chewier when using brown rice syrup than when using sugar.
The one change to the recipe if you use brown rice syrup is that the bars should be placed in the fridge to harden and possibly stored there as well. I’ve noticed that on particularly hot days the bars may be too sticky and soft to hold together completely.
Other Possible Substitutions: Some people have asked about substitutions for certain ingredients. So far, I have tested all of these excerpt for the Golden Syrup. In all cases, use the same amount called for:
- Instead of butter, try coconut oil.
- Instead of honey, try Lyles Golden Syrup
.
- Instead of rice cereal try Gluten Free Rice Krispies
or a low sugar brown rice cereal like Erewhon
.
Lower Sugar Version: After some testing, I have added an even lower-sugar version. They’re a bit softer and will crumble easier than the normal version but still taste great. I think they work best cut into smaller pieces rather than long bars. See the chocolate chip granola bar recipe for more info.
These have 20-30 more calories and 1-2 more grams of fat than the store-bought version, but I think they’re still worth it since you’re removing the unnecessary chemicals and preservatives.
Tips for perfect granola bars:
1. Start with a plain, low-fat, low sugar, granola for best results. If your granola is large or has a lot of big clusters, crush it up. Softer, chewy granola is best. Hard granola will lead to hard bars. This is why I like to make granola from scratch since I can reduce the cooking time to make it softer.
2. Basic Clover honey is best. Other varieties, especially raw honey, may wind up being overpowering.
3. No bake desserts can be quite temperamental. How long you cook the sugar mixture is very important and will be the difference between bars that stick together and ones that don’t. If you don’t cook it long enough the bars will be too soft, if you cook it too long they could be too hard. Set a timer for 2 minutes so you don’t over/under cook it. Stoves will vary, so if your bars come out too soft cook the sugar mixture a bit longer the next time. The goal is to cook it just long enough that all the sugar is dissolved but no more than that.
4. Make sure the dry ingredients are well coated with the sugar mixture. If you add in more ingredients than the recipe calls for (extra nuts, seeds, etc.) reduce the amount of granola and rice cereal to compensate. Everything should start sticking together as soon as you add the sugar mixture to the dry ingredients.
5. Use a sturdy spatula to spread the mixture into the pan and press down firmly to make sure the ingredients will sufficiently stick together. The bars should always be pressed to about 1/2 – 3/4 inch thick. You don’t want them thinner or they could be too soft. I always use two 9×5 loaf pans which are the perfect size and also makes them easier to cut up. I’ve been told the 13×9 pan that the original recipe called for is too large, so if you are using that size pan I would recommend increasing the ingredients by 1 1/2 or even doubling the recipe.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars
adapted from Rachel Ray
Snack, Dessert | Servings: 18 servings
Prep time: 0 | Cook time: 5 min | Total time: 25 min
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter or coconut oil
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar or brown rice syrup
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 cups plain granola
- 1 cup rice cereal (Rice Krispies, etc.)
- 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup peanut butter chips
Process
- Line two 9×5 loaf pans or one 11×7 inch baking pan (see tip #4 above if you want to use 9×13) with foil or parchment. Lightly butter or spray the foil.
- Combine butter, honey and brown sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the butter is melted.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Add the granola and rice cereal into the saucepan and fold them into the sauce until evenly coated.
- Spread the mixture into the prepared pans and press firmly with a spatula to evenly fill. Sprinkle the chocolate and peanut butter chips onto the top of the granola and gently press them down with the spatula.
- Let sit for 15-20 minutes or until mostly cooled and set*; lift out of the pan and cut into bars.
*Recipe Note: If the bars are sticky but not quite holding together, place them in the fridge to harden for 10-15 minutes. I’ve noticed that on very warm days, the bars don’t always harden at room temperature, this is especially true if you use brown rice syrup.
Nutrition info:
All values are calculated using the Applesauce granola recipe below.
Serving size: 1 bar
Calories: 121
Fat: 5
Carbohydrates: 18g
Fiber: 1g
Protein: 2g
Lower sugar version: Use low-sugar granola (see applesauce granola recipe below) and low-sugar brown rice cereal (found online and in health food stores). Reduce brown sugar and honey to 2 tablespoons each. If possible, replace brown sugar with brown rice syrup. Omit 2 tbsp. granola. Omit peanut butter chips, use 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips instead of regular size.
Serving size: 1 bar
Calories: 96
Fat: 4
Carbohydrates: 14g
Fiber: 1g
Protein: 1g
S’mores Chewy Granola Bars
adapted from Rachel Ray
Snack, Dessert | Servings: 18 servings
Prep time: 0 | Cook time: 5 min | Total time: 25 min
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter or coconut oil
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar or brown rice syrup
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 cups plain granola
- 1 cup rice cereal (Rice Krispies, etc.)
- 2 tbsp. graham cracker crumbs (optional)
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Process
- Line two 9×5 loaf pans or one 11×7 inch baking pan (see tip #4 above if you want to use 9×13) with foil or parchment. Lightly butter or spray the foil.
- Combine butter, honey and brown sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the butter is melted.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Add the granola, rice cereal and graham cracker crumbs into the saucepan and fold them into the sauce until evenly coated. Very gently fold in the marshmallows.
- Spread the mixture into the prepared pans and press firmly with a spatula to evenly fill. Sprinkle the chocolate chips onto the top of the granola and gently press them down.
- Let sit for 15-20 minutes or until mostly cooled and set*; lift out of the pan and cut into bars.
*Recipe Note: If the bars are sticky but not quite holding together, place them in the fridge to harden for 10-15 minutes. I’ve noticed that on very warm days, the bars don’t always harden at room temperature, this is especially true if you use brown rice syrup.
Nutrition info:
All values are calculated using the Applesauce granola recipe below.
Serving size: 1 bar
Calories: 131
Fat: 5
Carbohydrates: 21g
Fiber: 1g
Protein: 1.5g
Oatmeal Raisin Chewy Granola Bars
adapted from Rachel Ray
Snack, Dessert | Servings: 18 servings
Prep time: 0 | Cook time: 5 min | Total time: 25 min
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter or coconut oil
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar or brown rice syrup
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 2 cups plain granola
- 1 cup rice cereal (Rice Krispies, etc.)
- 1/2 cup raisins
Process
- Line two 9×5 loaf pans or one 11×7 inch baking pan (see tip #4 above if you want to use 9×13) with foil or parchment. Lightly butter or spray the foil.
- Combine butter, honey, brown sugar and cinnamon in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the butter is melted.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Add the granola, rice cereal and raisins into the saucepan and fold them into the sauce until evenly coated.
- Spread the mixture into the prepared pans and press firmly with a spatula to evenly fill.
- Let sit for 15-20 minutes or until mostly cooled and set*; lift out of the pan and cut into bars.
*Recipe Note: If the bars are sticky but not quite holding together, place them in the fridge to harden for 10-15 minutes. I’ve noticed that on very warm days, the bars don’t always harden at room temperature, this is especially true if you use brown rice syrup.
Nutrition info:
All values are calculated using the Applesauce granola recipe below.
Serving size: 1 bar
Calories: 111
Fat: 3.5
Carbohydrates: 19g
Fiber: 1g
Protein: 1.5g
Applesauce Granola
adapted from Fake Ginger
Snack | Yield: 3 cups
Prep time: 10 min | Cook time: 45 min | Total time: 55 min
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar* (optional)
- 1 tbsp. honey
- 1 tbsp. olive oil or coconut oil
- 3 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees (F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small saucepan, warm the applesauce, brown sugar (if using), honey, and oil over low heat.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl stir together oats, cinnamon and salt.
- Stir the applesauce mixture into the oats, making sure everything is evenly coated.
- Spread onto baking sheet in a thin, even layer. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
*Recipe Note: If you’re using this granola exclusively for granola bars and want to reduce the amount of sugar in them, omit the brown sugar. This will help if you find the bars too sweet otherwise.
These images are beautiful! I love the idea of being able to make my own homemade granola bars — especially since these are chewy! I’m all about chewy snacks.
.-= Erin´s last blog ..An Unpacked Kitchen =-.
I love this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing. I too love the Quaker bars and eat just as many as you.
Bear Naked has a pretty good granola but I’m not sure if they have plain. They make a Heavenly Chocolate variety and it’s awesome!! Here’s the site. https://www.bearnaked.com/ Thanks for the recipe.
.-= Michelle @ 5 Forks´s last blog ..My Favorite Blogs…Food, Photography and more =-.
i am SO impressed! they look exactly like the ‘real thing’!
.-= tia @ buttercreambarbie´s last blog ..Crispy Vegetable Spring Rolls =-.
Thank you so much for posting this. I have been on the hunt for a good granola bar recipe. And Rachael was the last place I would have looked.
.-= leslie´s last blog ..Sponge Bob Cake =-.
I like all of them!
.-= Maria´s last blog ..2peas3-0 =-.
Do you think you could just use old fashioned oatmeal instead of granola?
I had thought about using oatmeal, but I’m not sure. It seems like it wouldn’t have the taste or crunch of granola if you just used oatmeal by itself? After I posted this recipe I found several recipes for homemade granola, and they are basically just oatmeal baked with a few other ingredients, so I’m going to try that next time. This recipe is for low-fat granola, so I’m going to make a plain version of it without the nuts and seeds.
I have been searching for this recipe for so long! I’m going to make this for my kids over the weekend. Thank you for sharing!
Perfect, as always!
WHAT! They taste exactly the same!?! I have to try them now. Those ones with the chocolate and marshmellow look so darn good…
I just discovered your blog from either FoodGawker or TasteSpotting, I can’t remember which now, the other day when I saw a photo there of these granola bars. The fact that they are no-bake and they look great drew me in! I am not a Rachel Ray fan, but gave these a go today – the S’mores ones, and they are FANTASTIC! I’ve made granola bars in the oven before and they were just so-so, but these are great, I will definitely be making them again and again! Great blog, I love the design, I’ll definitely be back again! 🙂
Oh those look amazing!
Thanks for this recipe! We go through a lot of granola bars at our house – my daughter has at least two a day and you’re right, the expense adds up. It seems like they’re making them smaller and smaller recently, or packaging six in a box instead of eight! If you figure out the recipe for the Caramel Nut Chewy Dipps, don’t be shy about sharing it too 🙂
The chewy bars actually don’t have HFCS in them, but I was just at the grocery store to buy the ingredients for these, and all the rice cereal I found DOES have HFCS in it.
These might be more economic, but considering the ingredients, they aren’t much healthier.
There’s a new kind of Rice Krispies made from brown rice…no HFCS.
If you look at the organic and “natural” brands, you should be able to find crispy brown rice cereal without HFCS. I’ve found it at Whole Foods and a few other stores.
WOW! Can’t get much easier than this recipe!! They look great and my husband LOVES granola bars!! I can’t wait to try it. I just bought some Special K Granola cereal..I think it’s new on the market…I’ll use that and see how it works out 🙂
Thanks!
diane~
these are so so great!!! i’m definitely making my own granola to use in them- and like a previous poster mentioned- to avoid HFCS you have to buy all natural brown rice cereal and NOT rice krispies (they sell it at places like whole foods) thanks for this!
For those that can’t find granola, I used Kashi Go Lean Cereal (not Go Lean Crunch) and it worked GREAT! Not too sweet + added fiber and protein.
your blog is gorgeous! i can’t wait to try these out. i’ve been looking for a crispy light granola recipe
What a great idea, I’m definitely going to try it. Have you tried to lower the sugar content and was it successful? there is sugar in the granola, and yet more in the bars. I’m wondering if you can eliminate the sugar in the granola altogether, then use the sugar for making the bars (which makes them chewy). Any thoughts?
I haven’t made a low sugar version, but I do make my own granola using the low-fat granola recipe that I linked to at the bottom of the post and in the comments. Since that granola is made with applesauce, I imagine it has less sugar than store bought granola. Maybe you can even find lower sugar applesauce to use?
Emily, again thanks for the recipe. I have a much-too-deep love of granola bars, now I can make them and know what’s in them. I thought I would report back on trying a lower sugar recipe. It worked! Here’s what I did:
I used the recipe you linked to, except I omitted the brown sugar. I wanted to start with a not-very-sweet granola. I also added one teaspoon of vanilla (it could use a little more I think). I also used my own home made applesauce that has very little sugar in it.
Then I used your recipe above for the bars. I halved the brown sugar but used the entirety of honey. It all worked. They are still sweet and chewy but with much less sugar.
Awesome! Thanks for posting your version, Beth. I updated the post with a link to your comment for others looking for a low-sugar version.
I love this recipe! I modified it just a tad, though, because I wanted to make no-bakes instead of bars, and the only no-bake recipes I could find were with oats when I only had granola. I used crushed Frosted Flakes with 1 cup of BearNaked vanilla granola mix, and upped the chocolate chips a little. I also just kind of added all the ingredients in together at the same time, and they turned out great 🙂
So I made the PB/Choc Chip Granola Bars and they did NOT turn out chewy…I couldn’t even cut them into bars. I cannot figure out what I might have done wrong. I followed the recipe. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The flavor is good!!
Hmm, what kind of granola did you use? Store bought? I’ve had one or two other people tell me theirs came out really hard and the only thing I can think that could be the difference would be the granola since that’s the only real variable in the recipe. I wonder if you use a granola that has a lot of sugar (or maybe fat?) in it, if that makes the honey and brown sugar harden instead of staying chewy?
I do know that if your granola is in large clusters it should be crushed beforehand because large clusters of it would definitely stay hard. But other than that, I can only say what works for me which is to start with a low fat/sugar granola like that applesauce granola I linked to and see if that works for you.
I made a half a batch of the chocolate peanut butter and mine came out hard as a rock too. I even made the homemade granola as well – I’ll try cutting back on the sugar as well.
That happened to me once before and I’m pretty sure it has to do with cooking the sugar mixture for too long.
I cook over low heat until the butter is melted and everything is mixed well. Then I turn it up to medium and let it cook, stirring frequently, for 1 or 2 minutes, just enough time to make sure all the sugar is dissolved.
Hope that helps! I find the bars are easier to cut into when still a little warm. I wonder if you put them in the microwave for a few seconds if it would help soften the sugar a bit?
Strange, I’m having the opposite problem, mine won’t harden! I used the amount called for in the recipe. I ended up refridgerating for 10 minutes, still too soft to cut. So I repacked them down and stuck them back in. Will see what happens.
I made these again this weekend and for the first time ever I wound up with hard bars like you described. So weird! After making another batch to try to figure out where I went wrong I think the problem was the ratio of sweetener to granola/rice. If there’s too much sugar and not enough stuff for it to grab on to, it can harden together instead of coating the granola/rice lightly and staying chewy.
In the second batch I reduced the brown sugar to 1/4 cup and used a heaping cupfuls of the granola and rice cereal and that seemed to make all the difference because the second batch came out soft and chewy like it was supposed to. I also let them set at room temperature instead of putting them in the fridge and I cut them when they were still slightly warm (after about 10-15 minutes). I accidentally left that first batch in the fridge too long, so it’s possible that cooling the sugar too fast makes it too hard.
I’ve updated all recipes with the new brown sugar amount and instructions. I also added a few tips right above the recipes.
Hi! Love these and have been looking for them for ages – as in Australia we cant get the quakers and they are by far the tastiest! BUT i had a problem making them – opposite to your last problem – mine seem to be too soft so just crumble (but taste amazing) and the seems to be too thin over the pan (i even measured the pan to make sure it was the right size afterwards) but basically mine didnt harden!!! any suggestions?
Cheers xx
Well, I’ll be honest and say I’ve never actually made these in a 13×9 pan that the original recommends. I’ve always used two 9×5 loaf pans and that works well. A smaller size pan (10×10?) may work better.
As for them being too soft, I think any issues with hardness or softness all has to do with the amount of brown sugar and size of the granola/rice cereal. Did you use 1/2 cup or 1/4 cup? The kind of granola that is used is a big variable and can be really different size/texture depending on the brand you buy or if you make it yourself. I think this may just be a recipe that you have to experiment with the amount of brown sugar and find what’s best for the kind of granola you have. You may just need to increase the brown sugar by 1/4 cup.
But if they’re spread too thin then all the brown sugar in the world isn’t going to help much because all the ingredients need to be packed together to give it structure, so you may just need to make them in a smaller pan. They should be about 3/4 inch thick.
Emily, thank you for the feedback. I am going to make another batch now with the 1/4 cup brown sugar and see how it turns out. I used a recipe for Plain Granola…I don’t think it has too much sugar. Can’t wait to get this mystery solved 🙂 Thanks again.
thanks emily will try making them again (and i made the granola from the link you posted! yum!!) and report back! xx
I made these tonight, but used white choc chips and added dried cherries, sunflower seeds, almond slices, and chopped up pretzel pieces. They are awesome!!! Perfect consistency, too! I will never buy granola bars again!
Could the trouble with too hard bars be relates to allowing to sugar honey mixture to cook to a too hot of a temperature? that makes a difference with things like no bake cookies.
Yeah, that’s a good point, Janet. I’m not an expert, but I know there’s lots of chemistry going on when it comes to heating up sugar, so I definitely think it can cause issues if:
A) you don’t heat it up enough so that the all the brown sugar has dissolved or
B) heat it for too long or at too high a temperature.
I always set the timer for 2 minutes like instructed and that works for me on my electric stove, but I know the actual temperature of “medium-high” and “medium-low” can be different depending on the stove so you have to be careful. I’d say to err on the side of boiling/cooking at a lower temp. for a bit longer rather than letting the sugar get too hot for too long.
Has anyone tried freezing these ?would these freeze ok? just would like to make a bunch up at a time and wondered if I froze some how they would be when thawed?
Hmm, I honestly don’t know since I’ve never tried freezing them before. I do know they keep pretty well if you store them in an airtight container, up to a week and maybe longer. I would try freezing a couple and see how they come out.
It seems to me like they’d be ok as long as you give them plenty of time to thaw (and maybe even blast them in the microwave for a few seconds to melt the sugar a bit?), but it’s possible freezing them could make them too hard.
mmmmm I can’t wait to make these!! Granola bars like this are my favorite!!
We made the s’more granola bars tonight — while they have great flavor, they are overly sweet. I used 1/4 C honey and 1/4 C brown sugar along with the granola recipe you linked to above. We’ll definitely make them again, but I’ll reduce the sugar to 1/8 or less!
Hi Emily,
Thank you for posting this recipe – I have been looking for a granola bar recipe for awhile now. I made the oatmeal raisin recipe today using the Apple Sauce Granola (delicious!) and I have to say they were a little sweet for me. They also didn’t stick together very well – not bad if I keep them in the fridge, but fall apart if kept at room temp. I am looking for a way to get them harder without adding any more sugar 🙁 Any suggestions?
Hmm, I wonder if maybe you used a bit too much granola/cereal? The sugar mixture should be fairly thick and sticky and it should coat all the dry ingredients completely.
As far as reducing the sugar, I already edited the recipe to reduce the amount of brown sugar by half. You could try reducing the amount even further, but I’d be worried that could create more issues with the bars not sticking together. I haven’t tested so maybe it would be just fine as long as you keep the honey the same. Or you could try using a bit more honey and bit less brown sugar? One commenter said she started with the applesauce granola, but omitted the brown sugar from it so that it would be almost totally unsweetened. Maybe the unsweetened base would make enough a difference in the bars that you don’t need to reduce the sugar anywhere else?
holy smokes! I made the pb & choc chip version today!! YUMMY & my girls (6&3) were over the moon with them! thanks so much for sharing!! 🙂 Cannot wait to try the other 2 versions!
I may just have to try these gluten free and peanut/tree nut free! Enjoy life makes a great gfree/peanut/treenut free granola as well as safe chocolate chips. And the Rice Krispies Jennalee was referring to are gluten free as well. Sounds like a great project for this afternoon!
These look great and since my husband takes one everyday in his lunch, I’d love to try this homemade version since I will know what’s going into them!
My question is about cost: With all the ingredients going into them, do they cost any less than at the store? I pay $2.18 for a box of 8 bars.
Thanks again for the recipe. I just found your site and I can’t wait to explore it
I’ve never actually added up the cost but I’d be interested to know if anyone wanted to do that! I don’t see how they couldn’t be cheaper, though. You get at least double the granola bars in one batch and you’re only using a handful of ingredients.
I think the key would be to make your own granola. The store bought kind can be quite expensive compared to just buying a large box of storebrand rolled oats and baking it with a few things that you probably already have in your pantry.
I cannot wait to make these into a gluten/dairy/peanut free version. They sound delicious!
Made these with the applesauce granole–and while my consistency was fine, they were DEFINITELY too sweet–heavy on the honey taste, even at 1/4 C. I will make these again, for sure, but think I will cut that amount in half. Thanks for sharing!
When I made these they didn’t stick together well. We ate them with a spoon, and they were still yummy! I didn’t hear one complaint about the lack of “bar” form. I think the next time I make them I’ll also use less brown sugar. I used 1/4 cup. (I made chocolate chip bars rather than putting in raisins.) They were a little too sweet for my taste with the choc. chips, but I don’t usually cook with very much sugar. Thank you for sharing!! 🙂
For everyone who has found these bars to be too sweet, I HIGHLY recommend that you start with a low or no sugar granola. Store bought granola can be super high in sugar, so I recommend you start with the low-fat granola recipe I linked to at the bottom of the post. You may even want to omit the brown sugar in that recipe all together so you have a very low sugar base for your bars.
I don’t really recommend reducing the brown sugar much more than 1/4 cup because then you’re going to start having trouble with the bars sticking together. Starting with a low/no sugar granola is your best bet!
This is a great recipe. I made them for my family and they were a huge hit. Thanks! I did a post about them on my blog here: https://www.mycrazybliss.com/2011/08/chewy-granola-bars.html
Made these this morning just cut then took a taste test. Yummy. I seen your post on Mmoney Saving Mom. Thank you so very much for sharing. I did a double batch of the raisin. Will make then over and over.
I love these recipes! Thank you!
I love the oatmeal raisin. However, I buy cinnamon chips from the local store and add 1/2 cup to the top like the S’mores recipe.
This looks like a wonderful recipe for my kids to do this fall!!
I need some advice from the author or other readers….
I need to substitute oil for the butter (or applesauce). Either would be fine. I can’t use butter or margarine because i have a serious condition and I cannot consume products w/ added Vitamin D, including butter/margarine. Hope that someone can tell me how much oil to use. I can’t tell, from here, because the measurement is for the solid butter, before melting. I’d be grateful for some advice.
I love, love, the Quaker bars. Please let me know – I’m dying to make these. It would save a lot. I buy at least, at least, three boxes per week. It’s a necessity around my home but money is really tight. Please, let me know.
S.
It looks like the accepted oil to butter substitution is to use 7/8 cup of oil for every 1 cup of butter that the recipe calls. I am soooo not a math person, so if you can covert that formula for the 1/4 cup of butter that is called for to get the exact amount, go for it. But since 7/8 is only slightly less than a cup, then I would just use slightly less than 4 tbsp. of oil, like 3 1/2 tbsp. Or maybe just 3 tbsp. since the butter evaporates a bit as it melts in the pan?
Hopefully it shouldn’t make a difference, but I’m not quite sure if oil acts differently than butter when you boil it with sugar… If you have problems with the bars holding together you can try using less oil next time and maybe increasing the sugar or honey a little. The good thing is that these bars are super easy to make so you should have no problem experimenting until you find the perfect formula. Most of the time I half the recipe and make it in one loaf pan instead of two, that lasts me about a week and I can use different add-ins depending on what’s in my pantry that week.
Just wanted to let you know this recipe is a new regular in our house. My boys love it. Thanks!
Do you have to use rice cereal? I am allergic to rice. I have a recipe that is all oats will that work?
I’ve seen other granola bar recipes that only use oats, so I’m sure they would taste fine, but they probably won’t have the same kind of chewy texture without the rice cereal. I’m wondering if you could substitute another puffed grain, like puffed wheat cereal, to help add that chewy texture? It might be worth a try!
No Bake, Chewy Granola Bars – Back to the Cutting Board https://t.co/8V3WX0GB via @Emiline220
I just made these and I found it easier to use a rolling pin or a glass to mash it all together (I tripled the recipe and used a 13×18 cake sheet pan). My hand started cramping trying to mash it with a spatula, so I laid a piece of wax paper down and rolled away 🙂 hope this is helpful. I CANNOT wait until they are done.
Hi,
Thanks for this recipe, I love Granola bars especially chewy ones and was looking for one that had Rice Krispies in it! Just made these this morning using the homemade applesauce granola recipe (also delicious!!), turned out great! I used dried Cranberries in 1 loaf pan and dried cranberries with chocolate chips – which melted and created a delicious thin layer of chocolate in the other (I actually only have 1 loaf pan so I just pressed down and stacked them each wrapped in parchment paper.) Fantastic taste and texture but they didn’t hold together and fell apart :(!! I pressed down firmly and even put them in the fridge for 10 minutes. I’m a bit hesitant to increase the brown sugar because actually I’d like to reduce the sweetness a bit and found them a little sticky to handle…so although they still taste wonderful they’re not portable which is the point really. Maybe I need to add salt or cinnamon? Yours look perfect – are yours sticky? Any tips on how to make mine stick together without making them sweeter? Thanks for all those helpful tips!
– Kate
Hi Kate,
If they don’t stick together, I think that could be either because the sugar mixture wasn’t cooked until all the sugar was dissolved or because the granola/cereal wasn’t coated well enough. In my experience all the ingredients should start sticking together as soon as you mix the dry ingredients into the hot sugar mixture. To make sure everything is coated, you may want to start by mixing in about 3/4 of the dry ingredients. Only add the rest of the cereal if there’s still liquid left in there.
Hi Emily, Thanks a lot for your prompt response and for those helpful tips, I’ll try it out.
– Kate
how many calories do these have?
I haven’t calculated the calories of these, Melissa. It would be tough because it’s going to depend heavily on the type of granola you use. Some of that store bought granola is filled with tons of extra sugar. But there are lots of places around the internet where you can plug in the ingredients and find out how many calories something is. I use Nutrition Data most of the time. If you’re looking to keep these as healthy as possible, you should definitely start with that applesauce granola. I would even recommend omitting or decreasing the brown sugar in that granola recipe since the bars are more than sweet enough by themselves.
I usually get granola from our food coop. Its a way to buy bulk and split between others:) cuts out the middle man.
I thought these were great! I didn’t have any problem with them not sticking together. I’ve made them a couple of times too. The first batch I made with commercial honey and it was too much for my taste. I think raw local honey would have been better but I had tapioca syrup and used it instead. It has less sugar per tbsp than honey and has a really mellow taste. My husband and my kids loved them with the tapioca syrup. I did make the applesauce granola to use as well. Thank you so much for such a great recipe!!!
I just made your oatmeal raisin version and they were a hit! I’m on to the other versions today. Thank you so much for sharing! I did want to add that the chewiness relates to how long the sugar mixture cooks usually, but the amount you use could make it drier. The longer you cook it, the harder your bar should get(you could check it with a candy thermometer and see when it hits soft ball stage, hard ball, etc. to get more exact on how long to cook it probably), it could also depend on what kind of sugar you use. I use rapadura or succanat and they are drier than brown sugar from the store, so I don’t think they need to cook as long as the stuff from the store would. Just wanted to throw that out there in case it helped anyone. Thanks again for your recipe versions!
I just made the chocolate and peanut butter ones and they are soooooo good! My girls are LOVING them! hehe well me too! Being the genius I am I added the chocolate and the peanut butter chips to the dry mix and then poured the hot liquid over it. For some reason I didn’t read the instructions first. They actually turned out awesome! The chips melted when i was mixing it so it did take longer to harden and set. I ended up putting them in the fridge. i cut them into little squares in an attempt to make them last longer. It might be making them go faster!
Thanks so much!
Just found your recipe and am working on making the applesauce granola right now. I made one batch of bars already using a commercial raspberry vanilla granola – all I did was add the rice cereal and the syrup mixture and they turned out perfectly. Yes, they are a bit sweet – but that suits my family perfectly. I’m trying making my own as so many of the commercially made bars now include sugar alcohols – my daughter has IBS and sugar alcohols are terrible for her system.
I do have a question – has anyone tried adding in some peanut butter? I’ve found several granola bar recipes that use peanut butter but they all have to be baked and I’ve read several comments about them being hard and/or crumbly.
Glad you like them! I haven’t heard of anyone trying peanut butter on this particular recipe. But it’s an interesting idea. I wonder if you could substitute peanut butter for the honey?
I don’t think you can cook these, though. Another person told me that she put hers in the oven to try to melt some chocolate on top and they came out really hard. But I’ve seen plenty of no-bake stuff with peanut butter, so it may not be necessary. I might have to try that! I’ll let you know you if I do. 🙂
I just made these today (THANK YOU, PINTEREST!) and they are delicious, but they are not sticking together very well. I followed the recipe exactly. Any ideas or suggestions??
There’s lots of tips in the previous comments as well as above the recipe, Michelle. I think sticking issues have to do with either the dry ingredients not being coated well enough or cooking the sugar/honey for too long/not long enough. Watch the cooking time and try using bit less granola so you can make sure everything is covered. Ideally, it will all stick together immediately as you pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients.
Thank you for your quick response! I did go through the previous posts before I commented, was thinking maybe there was something else besides cooking time to tweak. I will try less granola I guess. I bought the brand you said was recommended which is low sugar. I cooked for 2 minutes exactly. I let it cool. Oh well, it’s still a great recipe. 🙂
You might try making your own granola. Honestly, I haven’t made these with store bought granola since that very first time and people seem to have varying results with store-bought. I think maybe even the low-sugar granola really isn’t that low sugar? The homemade applesauce granola always works great for me, though. 🙂
Where do I find the recipe for applesauce granola?? WOuld love to make that 🙂
Hi Linda,
I got the applesauce granola recipe from Amanda at Fake Ginger, here’s the recipe: https://fakeginger.com/2010/04/07/applesauce-granola/
I made the smores ones the other day, and while they are delicious, I was very shocked when I entered in the recipe at https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp to find out these have twice the calories and nearly 10 times the amount of fat as the Quaker bars!! Wowzers! They sure do taste good, though lol
Well, this recipe is super flexible, so it can definitely be made to be less fat/calories if you want. What granola did you use? A lot of the store bought granolas can be full of extra fat and calories which is why I like to start with that applesauce granola recipe I linked to. You can even make that without sugar to cut the calories even more. And obviously, any version with chocolate chips and marshmallows is going to be worse than if you just use raisins or dried fruit but sometimes you just want chocolate! 🙂 I still think they are worth it to make at home since the store bought ones are full of chemicals and who knows what else. Glad you liked them!
Since I’m allergic to raisins (bummer!), I substituted dried blueberries in the Oatmeal Raisin recipe-delicious!. My next batch will have some white chocolate chips and chopped almonds along with the blueberries.
can’t wait to try. Been looking for recipe similar to the Quaker bars forever. One of the most appealing things about the quarker bars is the calorie content. What is the nutritional info for your bars? Thanks
Hi Wendy,
I have calculated the nutrition info for each of the granola bars and added it to the bottom of the post. If you use a plain, low-sugar homemade granola these only have slightly more fat and calories than the store bought version. See my note above the nutrition info for the recipe I use.
Do you have any idea of the calorie/fat count per bar. Thank you Can’t wait ti try
Hi Debra,
These bars are around 120 calories and 5g of fat. I’ve updated the post and added the nutrition info for each of the bars at the bottom so check that out for the exact values and for my note on what kind of granola to use. Store bought can have tons of extra fat and calories, so I recommend making it at home instead.
When you make the applesauce granola for the bars, you said you don’t put in all the nuts and seeds. My family would not like them either….do you add more oats or adjust the other ingredients to compensate for not adding the 1 3/4 cups of seed and nuts you don’t add? Made your granola bars today and loved them!
Hi DeAnn,
I increase the oats a little bit to 3 cups, but otherwise I just omit the all the nuts and seeds. You can also omit the brown sugar in the granola to save some calories. The brown sugar and honey added to bars are more than enough to make them sweet. Glad you liked them!
It think Deann meant:Do you increase the other ingredients like the salt, cinnamon, and oil? to match with the 3 cups of added oatmeal.
Nope, I leave all the other ingredients the same. I just increased the oats to compensate for leaving out the nuts and seeds.
If you look on Beprepared.com, they sell #10 cans of granola, which is what I’m fixing to use to make these granola bars. Thanks for the recipe!
You can up the fiber and the fullness feeling by using brown rice cereal, which is available at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, if not your regular grocery store.
Hello
I tried the pb and choc chip ones and they won’t stick together and form. They are soft but crumbly. I followed the recipe, and thoughts? I used a 9×13 pan as well.
Thanks
Hi Crystal,
Yeah, I mentioned in the tips above the recipe that I don’t recommend making these in a 13×9 pan unless you increase the ingredients by 1 1/2 or even double them. I think the recipe winds up being too thin and spread out in a 13×9, which would make them not stick together so well. The ingredients should be packed in really tight and more than 1/2-inch thick. Loaf pans work best, but an 11×7 pan should be ok, too.
You’ll also want to watch how long you cook the sugar/honey mixture. That seems to be the most temperamental part of this recipe. Cooking it too long can result in bars that are too hard and I think not cooking long enough can result in bars that don’t stick together as well. 2 minutes always works for me. I’ve just edited the recipe because I think the original instruction to start with medium-high heat is too high. Medium heat or lower seems to work best.
Once you add the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture and they are coated, everything should immediately start to stick together. Decreasing the dry ingredients slightly might help if they weren’t sufficiently coated last time.
Mine wouldn’t stick together..I don’t know what I can do for next time.
Hi Gabrielle,
I answered the same question for a previous commenter a few days ago, so check out the comment right above yours. Just make sure to watch the sugar mixture carefully as it cooks. You want to cook it long enough that all the sugar dissolves, but not too long. 2-3 minutes should do it. All the ingredients should stick together as soon as they’re coated with the hot sugar mixture, so mix really well and then press them together in the pan as much as you can.
Applesauce Granola
5.0 from 2 reviews
Print
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup honey to < another tbs
(find your own medium)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Optional: may be prefered but not essentail,
1/4 cup of wheat bran , better when tossed in a coffee bean grinder first. = hearty taste
1 tablespoon honey & 1/4 cup brown sugar, instead of honey
1 teaspoon cinnamon, or Pumpkin spice (Num!)
Nuts make granola tasty, filling and boost health kudos I have never tired recipe without, but im sure itès possible to master the subtituted oat requirements
1/3 cup raisins or other dried fruits is all the better for granola, except do NOT add until taking out of the oven. It's absolutely fine for the oats to still be hot while adding
I never forget to add the flaxseeds ! I replace 1 tbs of sesame for 1 tbs
What to doo,,
Preheat oven to 300F.
In a large bowl, mix together oats, nuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, (brown sugar), (Spice), and salt. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, warm the applesauce with the honey and oil over low heat.
Mix the applesauce mixture into the oat mixture and stir to coat everything. Spread the mixture onto a 9 x 13 baking pan.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, stirring every 15 or so minutes, until the granola is a deep brown. Remove from oven and stir in raisins. Cool completely before munchèndown.
-Enjoy =^l
Thnx for the your scumtious recipe .
@vtknitboy I’m going to healthy up this one… https://t.co/ejthaLqu
I just made these and just used plain oats and they are wonderful!
These are fantastic! I doubled the raisin version, but used dried berries (cranberry, blueberry, cherry) instead of raisins. The first batch I brought to work and it’s pretty much gone. Thanks!
OH MY GOODNESS! I’ve been looking for a recipe JUST LIKE THIS! With prices going up, the Fiber bars I buy are 6 for $3.00 now! REDICULOUS! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! 🙂
First I have to say a big Thanks for this recipe!! I have been looking for something like this for so long! I tried it using the applesauce granola recipe and I cut the butter to 3 Tbs…the flavor is good, but the texture isn’t quite right…they were almost too chewy…they didn’t stick together quite like I would want…each bar when cut fell into 2 or 3 pieces. Any suggestions for next time?
I forgot I also added 1/4 cup of peanut butter when melting honey & sugar (instead of peanut butter chips)
Oh, that’s definitely the issue then. I experimented with using peanut butter with this recipe, too, and the bars wouldn’t stick together at all. You’d think peanut butter would make them extra sticky, but it seems to counteract or cover up the stickiness of the honey/sugar. I even tried baking the bars but that just made it worse. Peanut butter chips are the way to go for these granola bars. 🙂
Good to know. I didn’t have any peanut butter chips in the house, and like you said I thought it would only add to the stickiness. Thanks for your help!!
WISH this recipe could be PRINTED OUT! Any chance of you getting that little gadget on here???? It would be SOOO helpful! Recipe SOUNDS WONDERFUL!!!!!! Thanks! 🙂
Hey Becky,
I was wondering what you meant since all my recipes have a print function, but then I checked the post again and somehow that had gotten removed! No idea how that happened. Thanks so much for letting me know, I’ve added it back to the page again!
THANK YOU EMILY!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 Can’t wait to try these on my family!!!!!!! 🙂 THANK YOU again!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
I really like your pages they easy to read and easy to print. I have been to other rescipe pages and could not find a way to print out rescipes. Thanks so much.
I blogged about these here –
https://jamesandleighann.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=64sxFTcBAAA.bFVdWiqONPGCVxvddFr14g.NFTfyH8UrR7YW94KI3vWHg&postId=2169300468884564688&type=POST
https://t.co/C3ckQtOF bake granola bars.
No-bake Chewy Granola Bars! https://t.co/aXPqK2wt #Recipe
Homemade granola bars: https://t.co/NwV163LE https://t.co/Gi16AFBx
I found these on Pinterest and made the Oatmeal Raisin bars yesterday. Next time I think I’ll omit the brown sugar from the homemade granola because they turned out a bit too sweet for my taste. In addition, I’ll make sure to time the 2 min to let the sugar dissolve more because my mixture didn’t stick together very well. However, very easy to make and yummo 😉 Not exactly sure how the cost compares to store bought granola bars but I have 2 1/2 year old twins who can eat one box in a day so in my opinion these HAVE to be more budget friendly 😉
I press my granola “bars” into mini muffin pans. I don’t need to grease them. Prss the granola in very tightly and place in the refrigerator. About 5 minutes later,pull the pan out and use a knife to pop them out. They also freeze really well. I pull out about 4 at a time and keep them in a zip lock bag at room temp every few days. Delicious!
Thank you for doing the nutrition info. I like to make things homemade for my family. My son is a diabetic and I have to count carbs for his meal/snacks. It is such a pain to do it myself with 5 kids to take care of.
Great post! I like being able to have some control over the ingredients in things like this and saving money is always good too. 🙂 I’ve pinned this recipe and I’ll be sharing a link to your post on my Facebook page tomorrow.
Okay, so I made this about a month ago with granola I bought at the store. The only ingredient was honey. But it was just a little to sweet for me with the rest of the ingredients. So I had the bright idea to make my own plain granola and cut back on the honey and then try this again. The flavor was super good not too sweet, but they wouldnt stick together. So, I just tried this again, I made a new batch of granola and up’d the honey on the granola and kept the bars recipe the same, still wont stick, any suggestions?
Hi Lisa,
Others have commented with similar problems and I’ve given suggestions, so you should check those out. All my responses are in yellow so they stand out. The dry ingredients really should stick together as soon as you add them to the sugar/honey mixture, so if that’s not happening then you just need to be extra careful with the timing to make sure you’re not over or undercooking the sugar mixture.
I found this from Pinterest and I’m so so so glad I did! My kiddo and I made a batch today and they were fantastic.
I just used rolled oats instead of granola because that’s what we had on hand and they still turned out great. I also wrapped them individually and froze the ones we didn’t eat right away so I can pop them in my kiddo’s lunchbox when school starts back up in a few weeks (even though I’m currently in denial about it already being August – where the heck does Summer go so fast?).
Actually, they turned out so good that I’m sharing a little blurb and link to this page on my blog tomorrow. I hope that’s okay.
here is a recipe i found on penterest for granola
2 c old fashioned oats
1 1/2 c nuts and seeds
1/3 c oil
1 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg and ginger
1/3 c honey or maple syrup
1/2 t vanilla
mix spread on parchment bake at 350 for 35-40 min stir every 15 min
This looks amazing, can’t wait to try it!
Something I thought of for the marshmallows, as I can imagine it might get a little messy with them, maybe try replacing regular marshmallows with the small freeze dried ones, like the ones that come in your hot cocoa. They should be available at most stores in containers that look like seasoning containers.
Seems like it would be easier to use these, and possibly less calories too, although I’m not sure of the caloric content for freeze dried marshmallows. Also, I believe that those are what quaker uses in their granola bars.
Thanks for the recipe. I made the granola recipe you linked to in your recipe. I cut out the brown sugar and added a scoop of protein powder. I used my granola in this recipe and can’t to try them. This is a super easy recipe and I will making a bunch for school lunches .
I love practical and fun ideas like this. https://t.co/ImR0ngaV
Making these today! Yum! No Bake, Chewy Granola Bars – Back to the Cutting Board https://t.co/cDqk17Ms
Hi
I love your recipes and I really wanna try them out!! but can you please tell me which type of granola you use in these recipes? Like which company! Because I am new to this so I don’t know which one to buy! Can anyone please guide me!!
Thank you!
Also, if i want to make only oatmeal and chocolate chip bars, when do I add the chocolate chips, because if I add them right away to the sugar mixture, they’re going to melt!
Thanks
I actually recommend making your own granola for this recipe. It’s really easy and it’s healthier for you, too. This is the recipe I like best: https://fakeginger.com/2010/04/07/applesauce-granola/. (I increase the oats to 3 cups and omit the nuts, seeds and raisins.) If you do want to buy granola just try to find a brand that is low fat/low sugar, I linked to a few different brands at the end of the post.
The chocolate chips get added in very last. I don’t mix them in with the bars, I just sprinkle them on top after I’ve pressed the bars into the pan. It’s all in the recipe instructions. 🙂
Here’s another healthy Granola bar recipe
6 cups Rice Cereal (I used Koala Kids but now you could use Rice krispies brown rice)
6.5 cups quick cooking oats
2 cups bran flakes (crush a little)
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup whole ground flaxseed
1 cup bran buds (All bran)
2 pkg (1-16oz, 1-10oz) mini marshmallows
1 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup honey
Flavorings:
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dried cherries
In a LARGE bowl, combine the cereal, oats, bran flakes, wheat germ, flaxseed and bran buds. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, melt butter, then marshmallows over low head until melted and smooth. Stir in honey. Pour over cereal mixture. Stir until coated. Cool for 5 minutes.
Stir in chocolate chips, raisins, dried cherries. Press into 2 greased 15x10x1 in pans. Cool 30 minutes before cutting.
My alterations are in the “flavorings” Use 2 cups of whatever you want to add to them (cinnamon and raisings, m&ms etc)
It makes heaps but they freeze well! We call them one a day bars cuz if you eat more than 2 you will be in the bathroom for a while 🙂 Great alternative to Fiber 1 bars.
I made these the other day and it was a revelation. I am on the band wagon for sure! Instead of the nuts I added a few tablespoons of wheat germ and flaxseeds. They were nutty tasting without actually having nuts. My kids are loving them! (they don’t even know they are getting the extra fiber and nutrition. I love that there isn’t too much sugar too. Thanks for the fabulous recipe. I will be checking back often to see what other yummy bits you come up with.
Hey there! Just wanted to let you know we featured you in our Favorite Find Fridays post over at Whimsically Homemade. We used one of your pictures and linked back to you. If that’s a problem let us know and we’ll remove it immediately. Thanks for your great inspiration!
Anyone have suggestions for a replacement for the honey? We have honey allergies in our house AND we love quaker granola bars so this recipe would be awesome!
I’ve tried the agave nectar and the whole batch was tossed because everyone hated the flavor.
Would maple syrup work instead of honey?
I tried the recipe with maple syrup instead of honey but it didn’t work for me. Instead of staying sticky like the honey does, the maple syrup dried up as soon as I added it to the granola and nothing would stick together. I’m unsure about the science there, it may have had something to do with boiling it or with the addition of the brown sugar or butter? I believe at least one person has commented and said it worked for them, though, so it may be worth some experimentation?
Serve your kids a healthy snack with these homemade granola bars: https://t.co/qfgA5dcx #healthykids #granolabars
Can these be frozen? How long are the good for on the counter? Thank you for sharing your ideas and recipes
I have no idea about freezing these granola bars since I haven’t tried it. Refrigerating them can make them kind of hard, though, so you’d have to make sure they have plenty of time to come back to room temperature if you did freeze them. It’s worth a try! As long as you store them in a covered container or plastic wrap they should be good for at least 5 days. They might even last longer but I always wind up eating them all within a week. 🙂
Tayler and the boys made chewy granola bars (https://t.co/XXaJo7CC – thanks, @pinterest!), modifying w/ some PB, PB chips, choc chips. YUM.
I made the chocolate peanut butter ones last night and they turned out GREAT. So much more delicious than the store bought ones and so fast and easy to make. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Just made a batch of these and they turned out amazing!!! I’ve tried numerous kinds and they always fall apart on me, but theses ones were perfect – Thanks so much 🙂
Is it possible to substitute something for the honey since honey is not safe for young children?
I’m not sure there’s a good replacement for this recipe specifically because the honey is a very important factor in how they taste. I have tried using maple syrup and that didn’t turn out well (the bars didn’t hold together at all). Someone commented and said they tried agave nectar but that the bars tasted terrible in the end so that doesn’t sound like it will work. Molasses is valid substitute for honey but it has such a strong flavor that it may not work either. It could be worth a try, but the bars would definitely taste different. I did some googling and found that rice syrup and barley malt syrup can work as substitutes for honey but I haven’t worked with either so I’m sure about how they taste.
I haven’t tried it myself, but I’m wondering if you could just omit the honey and replace it with more brown sugar? It’s possible the bars wouldn’t stick together without the honey but check out Kathryn’s comment below yours because she has a trick that involves cooking the sugar mixture until it’s more syrupy which could compensate for the loss of the honey.
Honey is safe for kids over 1 year old, and I can’t imagine giving a granola bar to a kid under 1!
For anyone who is having trouble with this recipe I may have a solution. This is a great starter recipe, and I have tried it a handful of time, with each one being a fail as the mixture would not form right and it would fall apart. I used oats, not granola which worked out great! Also, to fix the issue of the bars not forming I boiled the sugar and butter (i used coconut oil) for much longer, until it reach a hardening point. You can test this by spooning a bit of the mixture into cold water, if it forms or clumps together you can take it off the stove. After I combined the sugar mixture with the dry ingredients I formed it in my pan and placed the whole thing in the freezer for about ten minutes. After I took it out I had perfectly formed chewy bars that didn’t fall apart when i tried to eat them! I am very happy I finally got this recipe to work, because it requires little ingredients and I don’t feel guilty after eating one. I was able to make 15 bars at 130 calories each, while using regular oats and coconut oil instead of butter. They turned out great 🙂
So I know your comment is several months old, but can you tell me if you omitted the honey altogether? You just mention boiling the sugar and butter together. I’m curious because I just made these and thought the honey taste was super overwhelming, so I’m hoping to find a way to cut down on it. Thanks!
This looks like a very great recipe and I can’t wait to try it! But I have a question: For the plain applesauce granola recipe,when you increased oatmeal to 3 cups do you increase the other measurements of ingredients as-well? Because I’m wondering if there will be enough liquid to coat the oatmeal.
It winds up being about the same amount of dry ingredients since the extra oats are just replacing stuff that I took out. It’s always seemed enough to coat everything to me but it’s a really forgiving recipe, so you can always add a bit more oil or applesauce if you think it looks too dry.
Hey! Thanks for the great recipes n info. I added shredded coconut just a little to the chocolate chip recipe n left out the peanut butter chips. I also used “ideal no calorie sweetener-Brown” instead of reg brown sugar n they came out great. My kids love them! Thank u so much for this!
I just made these and they stuck together great, very simple to make. The Granola Cereal I found was Quaker Natural Granola with Apples, Cranberries and almonds, I followed the directions for the raisin ones and it worked perfectly, thank you so much for the recipes it is always great to know exactly what is in our food.
The recipe calls for 2 cups plain granola. Is this the same as oats? I’m having a hard time finding the difference. If not, would it be fine to substitute 2 cups of granola for 2 cups of quick cooking oats?
Granola is just oats that have been baked, usually along with some sweetener, oil and other add-ins like spices and nuts. I wouldn’t recommend using raw oats in these bars since they are already no-bake, it would effect the taste and texture too much. But it’s really easy to make your own granola with oats and a few other ingredients. At the bottom of the post (the first Update) I linked to a recipe for low fat granola which is what I use in these bars.
I think I want to make these with my gluten-free granola! What do you think? https://t.co/LGLgtK7B #glutenfree #gfreelove
Hey
Thanks so much for this recipe, I made it for some friends over Christmas and they loved it!!
https://lalangostaymi.blogspot.com.es/2012/12/christmas-cereal-bars.html
Thanks x
I love this recipe set. I’ve probably made these a dozen times with different variations, including dried cranberries & strawberries instead of raisins, chocolate granola, chocolate rice cereal and added cinnamon. Everyone at work loves them and so do I. I’ve also use some agave syrup in place of some of the honey.
I just tried these out and they are delicious!!! I am looking forward to making more!
Something I loved as a child… Chewy Granola Bars… and they are easy to make! https://t.co/qlXdYiEz
I made regular chocolate chip ones and they were a hit in my house! I have 3 boys, ages 7, 4, and 19 months and they all loved them! I’m usually not a big granola bar eater, but these are so delicious! I really love the honey flavor they have, which is funny because I’m usually not a fan of honey either. HaHa. I will definitely be making some again and trying out different flavors. Awesome recipe, thanks!!
I made this recipe last week. I made the granola using your suggested recipe and had no problem with the bars sticking together– in fact they were better than store bought. My 2 and 4-year-old boys loved them and so did my husband. I didn’t love the sugar mixture flavor and in general thought they were too sweet (I followed your suggestion for the lower sugar version). I really wanted to add some peanut butter in but after reading some of these comments I’m thinking that’s not a great idea. I think I’ll just go a little bit less on the sugar… at least everyone else loved them.
Thank You, I have been looking to make my own granola bars and you saved the day! I already make my own granola so this was exactly what I have searching for. I did not have rice krispies so I used Cheerios. They taste great.
for the oatmeal raisin bars, you list cinnamon in the ingredients but in the instructions, I don’t see where you added it. Can you tell me what step I should add the cinnamon please?
Oh, you’re right. Sorry about that. The cinnamon goes in with the butter, sugar and honey. I’ve updated the instructions. Thanks for letting me know!
thanks! That’s what I thought but didn’t want to mess anything up by doing it at the wrong time.
sorry, one more question regarding the plain granola; a couple times I’ve seen you say that you increased the oats to 3 cups and omitted the nuts, seeds and raisins but in the nutritional info you said “I increased the oats to 3 cups and omitted the nuts, seeds, raisins and brown sugar.” Just wondering if I should omit the brown sugar as well. Thanks for your help 🙂
It’s up to you. Personally, I don’t omit the brown sugar. But some people have commented that they find the granola bars to be too sweet so if you don’t like things to be really sweet it’s probably best to start with plain granola without the extra sugar. But if you have a sweet tooth like me, definitely leave in the brown sugar. 🙂 I don’t think the granola is that sweet even with the brown sugar in it, which is why I like that recipe as a base for these granola bars but if you’re sensitive to sugar, omitting it should help cut down on the sweetness a bit.
Just made these using the homemade applesauce granola—delicious!!! I made chocolate chip ones. They are almost gone and I can’t wait to make more. The texture was great!
These no bake, chewy granola bars look DELICIOUS! https://t.co/rFJS2IXQ
@kulaklips Here’s a few variations .https://t.co/zDrpsqSL Hope you find what you need.
HI, Can you use plain dry oatmeal instead of granola? Isn’t that what granola is? Or is it oatmeal toasted? If you really want to make it homemade……
No, you need to use granola. Since this recipe is no bake, then you would just be eating raw oats which aren’t going to taste very good on their own and wouldn’t have the correct chewy texture. But making granola is really easy. It’s just oats that are baked along with a little oil and sweetener. I highly recommend using the applesauce granola recipe I linked to in the post, it’s super easy to make and healthier than most store-bought granola.
barritas de avena caseras #nutricion https://t.co/NmhKTZ9I
Hi there. Just a guy here who wanted to share hos granola recipe. Been making my own granola bars for the past 2 months or so and love that I found a no bake recipe.. But i do bake my own granola:
2cups of oatmeal
1cup of gr. flax seed
1/2 cup of non-sweet shredded coconut
1 cup of sliced natural almonds
Bake at 350 for 15 mins, mix it halfway through.
Afterwards I add 1/2 cup of dried cranberries, the butter/sugar and honey mixture from your recipe. Sometimes I’ll had some chocolate chips like I did tonight 😉
These turn out great every time and are healthy and packed with goodness of natural foods. I eat a bar an hour or so before the gym and it gives me all the energy I need 🙂
Dave, Thanks for the suggestion they are fabulous!!
Oh and also had 1/2 cup of natural sunflower seeds.
Totally excited to try these! I’ll get back to you!
These cound SOOO yummy. And so good for you. How can I figure out how much cholesterol, if any, these have?
@MikeSBarresi here! I like these (u can use this as base for any add ins) https://t.co/51STV9kN4h
So I was super excited about these, but disappointed in the end result. The texture was fine, but the taste of honey was overpowering. So much so that they were inedible to me. Fortunately my husband can still eat them (although he mentioned the overwhelming honey taste as well, and he is super easy to please). Is there any way to use less honey and still have them be chewy? Does it depend on the type of honey your using? On a positive note, I did discover a delicious granola recipe because of this over at theperfectchocolatechipcookie.com, and I’m not usually a big fan of granola. But I want to perfect this recipe for the bars. Help!
The type of honey you use definitely makes a difference. I’ve made these with raw honey a few times and the honey flavor was a lot more prominent. Clover honey is probably your best bet for the mildest honey taste. Or if you just don’t like the taste of honey you can try reducing it and increasing the brown sugar by that same amount. I haven’t tried it, so I can’t guarantee they will stick together as well, but it may be worth a try.
You could probaby substitute agave nectar and get similar results, right? You may have to play with the amounts a bit, but agave doesn’t have too strong of a taste. I’ve been making this recipe for over a year (with my own homemade granola) and my husband…the brand snob….actually prefers these to the Quaker bars. Sometimes they fall apart a bit, which just means I didn’t eyeball it well! 😉
Where is the Chocolate Chip Granola Bars? That is the one that I wanted!
Hi Stephanie,
It’s all basically the same recipe with different add-ins. Follow the instructions for the first recipe but omit the PB chips and double the amount of chocolate chips. 🙂
I want to Make like these w the addition of protien powder
How long did these granola bars last?? I have tried making homemade ones before and within about three days of making them, they were break your teeth hard. In the end it was worth the time and money because they didn’t last! I’m hoping yours have a better result, I really want to try them!
Hi Hannah,
To be honest, these granola bars have never lasted more than 4 or 5 days in my house because we eat them so fast, but I’ve never had a problem with them being too hard. Just don’t put them in the fridge because that will make them hard.
I was so excited when I found this recipe, because my son cannot have anything with Milk in it and I thought I could make my own that he could have. Because he can not have butter either I tryed making this recipe three time using “smart balance with flax seed” spread instead. I can not get the bars to stick. I don’t know if I am not cooking the sugar long enough or if I just can not make this recipe using this spread or if I just need to cook it longer, what do you thing. My kids have at least love the “granola crumble” as they call it with there fingers and spoons.
Thanks Holly
P.S. Sometime I use shorting mixed with water to make it like butter, do you think that would work any better.
I haven’t tried it with this recipe, but I’ve had great luck baking with the Earth Balance Soy Garden spread (it’s non-dairy). I’ve never tried the sticks, but I think it comes in sticks, too. Hope this helps!
We are also obsessed with those granola bars and I kept searching for a inexpensive way to make our own and found this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
I made the s’mores bars this morning and when I went to taste them, the butter and honey were pretty over powering. Any ideas to fix that on the next batch?
Hmm, I’ve never heard from anyone about there being too much butter. What kind of granola did you use? I wonder if you could be tasting some of the oil or butter from that? I really like that applesauce granola I linked to because it has very little oil in it. Otherwise, you could use coconut oil instead of butter.
As for the honey, try decreasing it by 1 to 2 tbsp. and increasing the brown sugar by the same amount. I haven’t tested that, so I can’t guarantee the texture will be the same, but I can’t imagine it would affect it that much. You could also try the low sugar version I posted which reduces both honey and sugar by half. That may actually work better for the s’mores version since it already has the added sweetness of the marshmallows.
It could also be the type of honey you are using since some varieties are more flavorful than others. I’ve found raw honey to be pretty overpowering in this bars. Basic clover honey is your best bet.
Hope this helps!
I remade the smores bars (per your suggestion and they were much better. I switched honey types and that seemed to help. The first time I made the bars I waited until after I had already pushed the granola mixture down in the pan and made it flat to add the chocolate chips, so they didn’t stick very well. This time, once I poured the granola mix in the pan I was going to use I poured the chocolate chips right on top and pressed them in as I was pushing the granola mix flat and that worked like a charm and the chocolate chips even got a little melty.
All I have to say to these bars,
Come to momma!
Do you have any suggestions to increase the protein value in these bars?
Just made these this am. When I went to cut them, they fell apart. Now my girls have to eat their granola bars with a spoon. 😉
What did I do wrong?
Thnx so much for this recipe! I love how simple and quick it was to make. Wasn’t quite sure about when the sugar would be dissolved but I think I did it ok in the end. Forgot to time it 🙂 My picky 5 yr old even loved them. I made the smores ones, so yummy!
I make my own granola. here is a link to my recipe. Way easier then store bought anything. :)Thanks for the recipes!
https://fortheloveofcooking-vanessa.blogspot.com/2010/12/honey-granola.html
Thanks for these recipes. I don’t like eating cereal for breakfast so these granola bars would be a very nice alternative. The recipes look quite easy too!
I would like to make caramel granola bars. I remember eating them when I was a kid. I think they were made by quaker. Do you have a recipe for them. thanks bunches.
I was so excited to find your post, as I have also been searching for a recipe that imitated Quaker chewy granola bars, however I was disappointed in the end. The texture is (FINALLY) exactly what I was looking for, but these are put-you-in-diabetic-shock too sweet! Still searching for the perfect chewy granola bar recipe 🙁
If you add only liquid syrup.. Without heating or boling will it still combined?
Thank you for this recipe. The taste is great but it wont stick together to make bars : ( Any thoughts on what I might have done wrong?
Hi Hildur,
Check my tips right above the recipe. If they don’t stick together it’s usually a problem with the sugar. You either cooked it too long or not long enough. Setting a timer helps. I’ve found that using brown rice syrup is much easier and less temperamental than brown sugar if you continue to have issues.
I just made these last night. Let me say that I will have a hard time ever eating a store-bought granola bar EVER again! I’m amazed at how good they are, but the most amazing thing of all…my picky picky picky kids LOVE them! I actually made up some granola about 3 days ago – oats, rice krispie cereal, mini chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. To coat it, I used coconut oil and honey. Just the granola was very tasty. My brown rice syrup finally arrived from Amazon yesterday so that I could make the bars. I think that I didn’t use enough of the syrup/honey/butter mixture for the amount of granola that I had because after 20-30 minutes of sitting they still wouldn’t stick together. Soooooo I put my pans in the fridge overnight (because it was really late when I made them last night) and this morning they were perfect! They cut up beautifully and I quickly wolfed one down for breakfast! I used regular clover honey and did not notice any overwhelming taste at all. I’m so happy that these are so darn good! Who would think that granola would be so exiting???! 🙂 Thank you for a great recipe. I can’t wait to try out different versions, too!
Really great recipe! Very easy and taste delicious!
Amazing! Made these last night with the coconut oil and brown sugar syrup. I was happily surprised our Giant Eagle had the products. I actually think these taste just as good or even better than the store bought granola bars. I could not find plain soft granola, so I bought a soft high energy with nuts/cranberry and it turned out great. They did fall apart so I placed them in the refrigerator which worked perfect. However, they have to stay in there because even after refrigeration they are still falling apart. Thanks for posting this recipe. It’s a keeper!
These ROCK! Did them exactly like the recipe and they turned out great! Love them and thank you so much for these recipes!
Just thought I’d say if anyone has problems with sweetness drop the sugar. If you are using honey or golden syrup there is no need to also add sugar. They are still yummy just not sickly sweet and a few less calories.
Your link to the applesauce granola isn’t working, but I am hoping it’s something like this recipe as I am making it right now in hopes to make the granola bars tomorrow. Fingers crossed that they turn out well, cause I am always looking for homemade snack foods since my kids ask to eat all. day. long!
https://www.macaroniandcheesecake.com/2013/01/homemade-applesauce-granola.html
Yep, that is the exact same recipe. Thanks for letting me know that link isn’t there anymore. Looks like maybe she took her site down. I’ll fix the link or maybe repost her recipe.
Thank you!! Will be making these soon. 🙂
I found this recipe about a year ago and absolutely LOVE it. I usually make the first version, with trader joes granola, and cut up pieces of chocolate covered pretzels in place of chocolate chips.
You can adapt it anyway you want and it’s soooo good. I try not to make it often because every time I do, my family eats ALL of it.
Thank you for the great recipe.
These taske amazing with just oatmeal. I did two and 1/4 cups of oatmeal for the chocolate chip bars. No p.b. and they turned out amazing. I will definitely be doing these again.
I miss the old recipe, it worked great for me (9×13). I use dried cranberries instead of raisins and I replace a little of the honey with agave syrup. I’ve also made a chocolate version using chocolate granola and cocoa krispies (they’re evil!)
Have you ever tried to make these using just plain oats instead of granola? Seems like it might work – and make it less sweet.
I l-o-v-e chewy granola bars! I used to eat them all the time when I lived in Singapore. However I cannot get them here in norway so this is perfect for me! I have to try some of these recipes soon! 🙂
How much sugar are in those bars? I am on a sugar-free (doctor) recommended. I’ve figured I can have up to 3g of sugar at a time without any problems. Brown sugar tends to have a higher sugar value + rice crispies. I plan on substituting the chocolate chips with sugar free ones.
Thanks,
Alyse
Have you tried drying them out in a warm oven to get them to hold their shape? I’m not sure what effect it would have but it’s a thought…
I am trying to eat healthy, so this is something I should try. But there is a lot of sugar in it. Would you think the syrup is more healthy?
Oatmeal is not in the oatmeal bars. I assume oats are in place of the granola?
Thanks
I found this recipe when I was bored and just surfing around. I always loved the raisin oatmeal bars so I thought I’d try to make them. I’ve tried other granola bar recipes before but they were not very good and for some reason I never thought to google “Quaker Chewy Bars”. Sooooo easy and they taste just the same as the Quaker and best of all have the same texture that I love. I probably shouldn’t be thanking you too much since I ate ALL OF THEM by myself in less than 2 days and went to the store to pick up more ingredients to make more.
I don’t normally give feedback on a recipe but my bars turned out superb and I’ve never been a fan of muesli bars so that says something! I added dried cranberries to them just cos I like them and they taste super yummy! Had no problem with them sticking and no overpowering honey taste too. Scoffed down 3/4 of the batch for breakfast and snacks today. Thanks for this recipe!!
can I replace the corn syrup with dark corn syrup?
Hi Nicole,
It’s actually brown rice syrup which is a different thing than corn syrup. Brown rice syrup may be hard to find at some grocery stores so you can just use brown sugar if you don’t have any. But you should be able to find it at stores like Whole Foods or online at Amazon if you want to get some.