Description
The perfect base recipe for perfect soft granola bars! These chewy homemade granola bars are perfect for snacks or school lunches. (Naturally sweetened, gluten free, vegan friendly)
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats (gluten free, if needed)
- 1 cup crisp rice cereal (gluten free, if needed)
- pinch salt
- 1/3 cup brown rice syrup**
- 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup (or honey, if not vegan)
- 4 Tbsp coconut oil (can sub butter/vegan butter)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup add-ins (Mix and match! See notes below for ideas)
Instructions
- Line an 8×8″ or 9×9″ baking dish with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the oats, crisp rice, and salt. Stir to combine well.
- In a small saucepan, combine brown rice syrup, honey, and coconut oil. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring regularly. Boil 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla extract (or any other extracts you’re using).
- Pour wet mixture over the oat mixture. Add your mix-ins (nuts, fruit, chocolate chips, etc.) and stir to combine really well. Press into an 8×8″ baking dish and press down with a spatula as hard as possible to flatten and compact it into the pan. The more compact, the better.
- Refrigerate about 1 hour before slicing into bars or squares, and enjoy!
- Store extra granola bars in a zip top bag in the refrigerator for a week or the freezer for up to a month.
Notes
**If you can’t find brown rice syrup, you can substitute 1/4 cup coconut oil, 1/4 cup coconut or brown sugar, and 1/4 cup pure maple syrup for the amounts of brown rice syrup/coconut oil/pure maple syrup above. Follow the boiling instructions and keep the rest of the directions the same.Â
ADD-IN IDEAS
- NUTS & SEEDS (macadamia nuts, almonds, pecans, cashews, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, peanuts, etc.)
- DRIED FRUITS. (raisins, cranberries, apricots, cherries, goji berries, pineapple, mango, coconut, etc.)
- FREEZE-DRIED FRUITS. (strawberries, raspberries, & blueberries, mango, peach, pineapple, etc.)
- CHOCOLATE + CANDIES + EXTRAS. Chocolate chips, candy-coated chocolate pieces (like M&Ms), mini marshmallows, crushed pretzels, etc.
- EXTRACTS. 1/2-1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1/4-1/2 tsp. almond extract, and 1/4 tsp. coconut extract are regular faves at our house.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Snacks, Desserts
- Method: No-Bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: soft granola bars, soft chewy granola bars, chewy granola bars, no bake granola bars, gluten free granola bars, vegan granola bars, naturally sweetened granola bars