Chewy granola bars made from scratch. If you love Quaker granola bars, this recipe is just what you need. Perfect for lunch boxes, after school, or even breakfast on the run.
The classic chewy texture we all love. Made with ingredients you can pronounce! I even have a great no-bake granola bar recipe too.
No need to buy boxed snack bars when you can easily make homemade healthy bars instead. Did you know you can make homemade muesli too?
RECIPE and INSTRUCTIONS for these healthy homemade granola bars can be found at the bottom of this post.
Haven’t you always wondered about ingredients? The mysterious scientific names are on labels. Do you ask yourself ‘how good is this for me”?
When I was a kid Tang was the popular drink at the time. In fact, even the astronauts drank it in space. At least that is what they told us in the commercials.
If it’s good for the astronauts it’s good for us right? It was like a science experiment in a glass. You add this orange powder to water, give it a mix, and viola, you have orange juice. Who needs fresh oranges when you can have this?
Ingredients For Chewy Granola Bars
I promise you can pronounce all of these!
- wheat berries
- flaxseed
- oatmeal
- almonds
- quinoa flakes
- cocoa
- applesauce
- vanilla
- spices
- dried cranberries
- unsweetened shredded coconut
Be sure to read the suggestions/recipe tips I have listed below.
Once you give this recipe a try, you will want to make more great granola recipes. Here are a few to try:
- Holiday Granola makes the perfect food gift for the holidays.
- This Artisan Granola Dust is the perfect topping for yogurt and more.
Making Homemade Granola Bars From Scratch
If you have never made granola bars from scratch, let me tell you they are super easy. Whether you choose the baked or no-bake versions, you will have healthy snacks in no time. Homemade does not mean hard.
My mom and baba made everything from scratch. Perhaps it was because when I was a kid, there were not as many options in the grocery stores. Yes, there were cookies, cereals, chocolate bars, and potato chips. Certainly not to the extent they are today.
My philosophy is “Food doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does have to taste good”. Pure, simple ingredients create wonderful, tasty results.
The rundown of this making this recipe is:
- Prepare your baking pan.
- Dry ingredients in one bowl.
- Wet ingredients in another bowl.
- Combine the ingredients together.
- Place in a baking pan, and bake.
- Cool and cut into bars.
Full instructions are in the recipe card below.
Suggestion/Recipe Tips
Take this granola bar recipe and change it to what you have to work with, or what you like to eat. Whatever you have, just use it.
- Swap out the flaxseed for chia seeds or hemp hearts.
- Change the almonds to walnuts, or any nut you like. Pumpkin seeds are an excellent choice.
- Use raisins instead of cranberries. Dried blueberries are wonderful too. Chocolate chips always work for me.
- I used large flake oatmeal, but regular oatmeal will work.
- Applesauce can be plain or flavoured, homemade or store-bought. I used sweetened since I have not added any additional sugar to this recipe.
- For the spice, I used a chai blend, but use cinnamon, nutmeg, or your favorite blend.
I like unsweetened shredded coconut. Feel free to use sweetened if you like. Both will give you that chewy texture. If you love chewy coconut recipes, you need to give these easy no-bake chocolate coconut drop cookies a try.
If you like things sweeter, add a bit of honey or maple syrup to the mixture. You can decide on the amount.
Wheat berries can be replaced with whole wheat flour, especially if you are not combining the dry ingredients with a blender.
Quinoa flakes can be replaced with oat bran or additional oatmeal.
I placed all my dry ingredients in a blender. This creates a finer texture. You can mix everything by hand. The texture will be a little different, but the taste will be the same.
You might consider chopping the nuts and dried by hand before adding them to the mixture. If the ingredients are too large, the bars tend to fall apart.
Store in the fridge. They will last for about a week. You can also freeze these bars. Thaw before eating. Just leave them on the counter for about 20 minutes.
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Looking for more healthy snack ideas? Give these a try:
Homemade Chewy Granola Bars
Ingredients
For the Dry mix:
- ¼ cup wheat berries (you can use whole wheat flour if you wish)
- ¼ cup flaxseeds
- ¾ cup old fashioned oats
- ½ cup whole almonds
- ¼ cup quinoa flakes
- 2 tablespoons cocoa
For the Wet mix:
- 1 ⅓ cups applesauce (I used strawberry flavoured) (homemade or bought)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon chai seasoning blend spice (you can add any spice you like here)
Add Ins:
- ½ cup cranberries (and a bit to sprinkle on top)
- ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut (and a bit to sprinkle on top)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F.Spray an 8×8 inch baking dish with cooking spray, and line with parchment.
- Using a blender, combine the dry ingredients (wheat berries, cocoa, oats, quinoa flakes, flaxseeds and almonds). Blitz until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Place this mixture in a bowl.
- In a bowl combine the wet ingredients (applesauce, vanilla, & chai spice).
- Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, and combine well.
- Add the cranberries and coconut, and mix to combine.
- Pour the mixture into the baking dish, and spread evenly in the dish.
- Sprinkle with additional cranberries and coconut.
- Bake for approximately 25 minutes.
- Remove from oven, and let cool in pan.
- Once cool, remove from pan and place on a cutting board. Cut into 12 (or whatever size you like).
Mindy
Tried this and loved it. Followed the recipe exactly except that I also added chia seeds. Definitely making this again!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Chia seeds are a great addition to these chewy granola bars.
Evi
This is a great granola bar recipe! My family loves these bars, and I can’t believe how easy they are to make. So much better than buying them in the store.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Yes they are easy and delicious. Enjoy!
Moop Brown
I’m a big fan of granola bars but have never made my own from scratch looking I’m looking forward to trying this.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
These homemade chewy granola bars are easy and so much better than store bought.
Lori | The Kitchen Whisperer
Quinoa flakes! Genius! Such a great granola bar recipe! So flavorful and scrumptious!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I know right? These homemade granola bars are full of nutritious ingredients.
Katie Crenshaw
I loved how these granola bars turned out. They were so tasty and make the perfect healthy snack to have on hand.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I agree, I can eat these all day long.
Lisa
Such a much better option than boxed granola bars. So good!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Oh yes, homemade granola bars are the best ever.
David
I’ve never tried making my own granola bars before but I can see it’s much healthier! And you make it pretty simple, too.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Healthy, nutritious and so easy to make. Hope you give them a try soon.
Mikayla
We love homemade snacks and breakfast bars, we loved these and they did not last long after I got them cut up!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
These chewy granola bars do not last long in our house either.
Amy Liu Dong
It looks delicious, and I am so excited to make this for myself today. Yum!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Enjoy, these are so addictively delicious.
Jamie
Wow! These chewy granola bars are just so perfect! Looks incredibly delicious and yummy! Perfect treats for this coming Thanksgiving festivity! Loved it!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
So glad you enjoyed these chewy granola bars. We do too.
Zhen
Love this granola bar recipe! The wheat flour substitute is very handy for me as I’ve never seen wheat berries in the store! Love how this has quinoa to make it healthier!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
These chewy granola bars are so easy and so delicious. You won’t buy them from the store again.
Julie
I’ve been looking for a kid friendly homemade granola bar to make for my kids and I”m so glad I found this one! Such a great recipe- everyone asked for seconds.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
My grandkids love this chewy granola bar recipe too.
Ann
I love making homemade granola bars! I have not tried adding quinoa flakes to my bars before. Sounds like a great idea!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Quinioa flakes are such a great igredient. Hope you give these homemade granola bars a try soon.
Angela
I love making homemade granola bars so always on the hunt for a good recipe. This was amazing, my kids loved them too.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
So glad you and your family loved these homemade granola bars.