No Bake Granola Bars are going to be your favorite step by step recipe to make this delicious healthy snack that everyone will love.
We have all seen granola bars in the market. They are one of those snacks that you can usually just pick up at the store, and grab on your way out the door or pack in your kid’s lunch box. However, if you start to read the ingredients in most of these bars, it isn’t pretty. They are loaded with mystery ingredients or packed with so much sugar, it’s hard to consider it a “healthy” snack.
So we decided to make our own. It may sound like a hassle, but they are so easy to do and you are going to love them. These No Bake Granola Bars are wholesome and delicious packed with dried cherries and nuts. While they are soft and chewy, you get great texture from the nuts and seeds. The oats are the foundation of the bar, and they are bound together with honey and almond butter.
Our Tips for These Easy No Bake Granola Bars
While making your own granola bars is definitely a healthier choice, it is also going to be way cheaper. The best part is you can customize it and add in what you like best.
We decided to use a combination of dried cherries, almonds and pistachios for the taste and color they bring to the bars. However this is a recipe you can play with. What kind of swaps would work?
- Dried cranberries, diced dates, or apricots could be swapped in for the cherries.
- Nuts can be replaced with other nuts or pumpkin seeds.
- Almond butter can be swapped out for peanut or cashew butter
- The healthy seeds can be omitted or reduced if they aren’t your sort of thing.
Our biggest tip is to let them rest. Because they are homemade it’s important to let them rest in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours, or they will crumble.
Once they are cut we recommend cutting them into 1 ½ inch rectangles so they hold together. You want to keep them on the smaller side, if they are too big they will fall apart.
If you are meal prepping them for the week be sure to wrap them in parchment paper or plastic wrap to ensure they hold their shape.
If you want to make them a little more indulgent, you can top the bars with Nutella or dip them in melted chocolate.
What Goes With our No Bake Granola Bars?
They are the perfect breakfast or snack. They are perfect as the healthy offering paired in a brunch or breakfast buffet alongside:
No Bake Granola Bars
Course: Brunch, SnacksCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy12
servings15
minutesIngredients
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
¼ cup almond flour
½ cup almonds, roughly chopped
½ cup pistachios, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons of hemp seeds
3 tablespoons of ground flax seed
3 tablespoons of chia seeds
1/3 cup almond butter
2/3 cup honey, we like orange blossom honey
½ cup coconut oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup dried cherries
¼ cup of golden raisins
Non stick spray. We like using coconut oil or avocado spray.
Maldon salt
optional – sprinkle with flaky maldon sea salt and drizzle with Nutella
Directions
- Line a 8*8 glass or metal pan with parchment paper. Be sure there is enough paper that hangs off the sides, which will help you remove the bars once they are ready. Spray the parchment paper with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a large sauce pot, add the nuts and granola. Toast for 3-5 minutes on medium low just to get them slightly golden. Remove from the pot and add it into a large bowl. Set aside.
- In the same sauce pot, add the coconut oil, almond butter and honey. Heat on medium and use a rubber spatula to incorporate everything. Once it starts to bubble up drop the temperature to low and cook for another minute.
- Remove the sauce pot from the heat. Stir in the vanilla then add the dried fruit. Mix together.
- Then add the granola, nuts, almond flour into the honey mixture. Mix until totally combined.
- Pour the granola mixture to the greased parchment and firmly press down. You want to really pack it tightly so they bars stick together.
- Refrigerate for 2-3 hours so they have a chance to set up firmly. Once they are set you can cut them and portion them out into individual bars.
