Crunchy Granola Bars are a distinctively crunchy, delicious homemade snack. This granola bar recipe makes a wholesome snack on the go, with its healthy oats, seeds, and a touch of honey and chocolate on top for sweetness.
This post is sponsored by Milk Means More and the United Dairy Industry of Michigan. All thoughts are my own.
Fact: food allergies stink. Life threatening food allergies are even worse.
Five-sixths of the Comfortably Domestic family is severely allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. Although we’ve been walking this path for well over a decade, I’d be lying if I said that we didn’t initially struggle as each kid was diagnosed. Nuts are seemingly in everything! Many household and convenience food items are not safe for us. Packaged food often contains nuts, traces of nuts, or are manufactured in a facility with nuts. We initially had a hard time switching the focus from what we couldn’t eat and shifting it to what we could eat.
In the grand scheme of life, avoiding nuts isn’t all that difficult anymore because we’ve found our label reading groove. We read every label, every time we buy absolutely anything. Thankfully, we’ve been managing our allergies long enough that trips to the emergency room are few and far between. Just for kicks, pay attention to the labels of your favorite grab and go snacks next time you shop. The amount of things containing traces of nuts might surprise you.
Food allergies do have an upside, in that having them has challenged me to making many things at home that I may not have otherwise thought to try. Chocolate syrup, homemade toaster pies (pop tarts), baked Boston Cream doughnuts, and a nut free version of Reese’s peanut butter filling are some of the allergy-friendly treats.
One of the things that I miss the most are (or rather, were) crunchy granola bars.
Finding a box of granola bars that doesn’t contain some form of nuts is exceedingly difficult. After longing for that buttery, honey kissed crunch of a crunchy granola bar for so many years, making them at home is necessary!
Many granola bar recipes yield a soft bar that is tasty, but yields a texture more reminiscent of a cake or muffin. The soft bars were seriously lacking in the protein department, completely falling apart when attempting to transport them anywhere. I mean, what are granola bars if not a convenient snack on-the-go? Crumbling to nothingness is not an desirable trait.
After much experimentation, I came up with a Crunchy Granola Bar with the right amount of sweetness that still packed a good amount of protein. Plenty of crunch to satisfy, and it holds up well in transport.
Crunchy Granola Bars are a wholesome, homemade snack for home or on the go.
Kirsten Kubert
Yields 16
Crunchy granola bars are a healthy and wholesome portable snack.
20 minPrep Time
50 minCook Time
1 hr, 10 Total Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- For the Bars:
- 4 Tbs. (1/4 C.) unsalted butter, melted
- 3 C. old fashioned rolled oats
- 1/4 C. lightly salted sunflower seed kernels
- 1/4 C. lightly salted pumpkin seed kernels
- 2 Tbs. golden flax seeds
- 1/3 C. toasted wheat germ
- 1/2 C. brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 C. plus 1 Tbs. honey
- 1/4 C. milk
- 2 Tbs. canola oil
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1-2 tsp. softened butter for preparing the baking pan
- Topping:
- 1/2 C. miniature chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 13” x 9” x 2” baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving a 1-inch overhang all around. Smear the foil well with butter; set it aside.
- Toss the oats with the melted butter, stirring well to coat. Spread the buttery oats in a single layer on a rimmed half sheet pan. Toast the oats for 10 minutes in the oven, shaking the oats around in the pan half way through. Remove the oats from the oven and let cool while measuring the seeds, and wheat germ into a large bowl. Add the cooled oats to the bowl, tossing together to combine. Set the bowl aside while tending to the remaining ingredients.
- Warm the brown sugar, honey, milk, canola oil, salt, and cinnamon in a small sauce pan set over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the brown sugar is melted and all is blended. Do not allow the mixture to boil. Remove the syrup from the heat. Pour the hot liquid over the oat mixture, stirring well with a wooden spoon, while also pressing the mixture with the back of the spoon to ensure that the dry ingredients are evenly coated.
- Press the mixture firmly and evenly into the prepared baking pan with the back of a spatula. Bake the granola for 20 minutes or until medium brown in color. Set the baking sheet on a wire rack. Depress the granola again with the back of a spatula. Allow to cool completely before proceeding. While the granola is cooling, melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or a bowl set over simmering water) or in the microwave on half power; whisk until smooth.
- Once the granola has cooled, transfer it to a large cutting board by gently lifting it out of the pan by the foil overhang. Peel the foil away from the sides. Use a very sharp knife to cut the granola into bars. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a plastic sandwich bag. Use scissors to snip a tiny corner from the bag, and then squeeze the chocolate to drizzle over the cooled bars. Let the bars stand until the chocolate is set.
- Store granola bars wrapped in aluminum foil for up to two weeks.
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