One of the snacks I find myself frequently giving my son are granola bars. They’re so convenient and tend to keep him satisfied for longer. However, I found myself getting frustrated this past week looking at the ingredients that these granola bars contain. Now, I’m not saying I feed my child all healthy food 100% of the time. There’s definitely times where he gets chips and cookies. But, with that being said, I still like to try and give him mindful foods most of the time. I’m hoping to create healthy habits that he will continue one day when he’s older.
The main goal with these bars are to be more healthy while also being easy to make. (Parents, you get it. We don’t have as much time on our hands as we used to!) These no bake granola bars seem to do the trick!
The best thing about these granola bars is how much fun you can have with the mix-ins! You can easily add dried fruit, nuts, or coconut flakes in place of the pretzels or chocolate chips. (I’m a total sucker for salty and sweet ingredients mixed together so I’ll be sticking with this for a while).
Ingredients
Old fashioned oats
If you need these granola bars to be gluten free, that’s no problem! Make these with oats that are specifically labeled as “gluten free”.
Honey
Instead of honey, you can use maple syrup. However, the mixture may not stick together as nicely.
Natural creamy peanut butter
A lot of peanut butter you buy from the store contains more sugar than you realize. Look for the peanut butter that only contains peanuts and salt. You can also substitute with almond butter, cashew butter, or even sunflower butter.
Vanilla
Stick to the pure vanilla extract!
Pretzels
Measure a cup of whole pretzels before crushing for the recipe.
Mini chocolate chips
Mini chips seem to be the best size for granola bars. You can use regular sized chips as long as you chop them up before adding. Really any kind of chocolate chips would be delicious!
How to
Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper and set aside.
Fill a large mixing bowl with old fashioned oats.
You can also use rolled oats or quick oats for this. I just happened to have old fashioned oats on hand.
Put pretzels in a food processor to chop up into small pieces. Set aside.
You can also crush the pretzels by hand if you do not have a food processor available for use.
Make the pretzels about the same size as the mini chocolate chips.
In a microwavable bowl, add honey. Microwave for 20 seconds.
Microwaving the honey makes the mixing process much easier!
Add peanut butter and vanilla to warmed honey and mix.
Mix until you get a smooth and creamy consistency.
Add the peanut butter, vanilla, honey mixture to oats and mix.
Mix until just incorporated.
Add pretzels and mini chocolate chips.
Mix until fully incorporated
Add granola bar mixture to pan. Press firmly down to pack the mixture together.
It’s important to press firmly down so the bars stay together and don’t instantly crumble apart.
Put parchment paper over the granola bars before pressing down so the mixture won’t get stuck on your hands!
Cover and set granola bars in the freezer. Leave for at least an hour to set.
You can also let it set overnight.
Remove bars from the freezer and allow to warm slightly before cutting.
Bars will be too difficult to cut if you don’t let them warm a bit before cutting.
Remove the parchment paper from the pan and set on a cutting board. Cut with a sharp kitchen knife.
Once bars are cut you have the option to wrap each separate bar in parchment paper or put in sandwich baggies for on the go. Place the wrapped or bagged granola bars in a large plastic bag in the freezer or in the refrigerator.
Bars will stick together if they are not individually wrapped.
These granola bars will keep in the refrigerator for about a week. In the freezer, they will last for about two months.
Homemade Granola Bars For Kids
Ingredients
- 2 cups Old fashioned oats
- ½ cup Honey
- ½ cup Natural peanut butter
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1 cup Pretzels
- ½ cup Mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Fill a large mixing bowl with the old fashioned oats.
- Put pretzels in a food processor to chop up into small pieces. (You can also do this by hand). Set aside.
- In a microwavable bowl, add honey. Microwave for 20 seconds.
- Add peanut butter and vanilla to warmed honey and mix until creamy.
- Add the peanut butter, vanilla, honey mixture to oats and mix.
- Add crushed pretzels and mini chocolate chips.
- Add mixture to the lined pan. Press firmly down to pack the mixture together.
- Cover and set granola bars in the freezer for at least 1 hour.
- Remove bars from freezer and allow to warm slightly before cutting.
I hope you and your littles enjoy these delicious homemade granola bars!
Kayla
These look so easy and delicious! I’ll definitely be trying these!
perfectingmama
I’m so glad you think so!! You’ll have to let me know when you do!