Chewy Granola Bars
This is the post where you find out how cheap I am when it comes to grocery shopping. Mike loves granola bars. He happily takes one in his lunch every day, and would probably eat more if I kept them in plain sight. However, granola bars are expensive, and he tends to go through them pretty quickly. When I found out my friend Katie (of Best Ever Banana Breadfame) was making her own granola bars, I knew I had to try it. And I’m definitely glad I did. These are amazing! They have a soft and chewy texture that’s very similar to the store bought version. They taste great, and they’re customizable – you can switch around the ingredients depending on what you have on hand. These have gotten rave reviews from everyone who’s tried them, and Mike looks forward to them in his lunch each day.
Chewy Granola Bars
Ingredients:
1 1/8 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup corn syrup
3/4 cup butter, melted
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup coconut
3/4 cup sunflower kernels
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, peanut butter, corn syrup, butter and vanilla. Combine the remaining ingredients; add to peanut butter mixture and stir to coat. Press into two greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pans. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Don't overbake or they will get crispy. When they come out of the oven, run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the pan a little. Cool on wire racks. Cut into bars. Yield: 3 dozen.
I individually wrap them in saran wrap and store them in a ziploc bag in the freezer. That makes it easy to grab one at a time for lunches, etc.
adapted from Taste of Home
Welcome! I'm Megan and it's my hope that here you'll find food that has been made with love and recipes that are shared with joy. Thanks for stopping by! 
Mmmm these look delicious! I love homemade granola bars!
Oh I love homemade granola bars so so much. Mmmmm…….
I posted granola today, will have to try these next time!
I'm a huge homemade granola fan, but I still haven't made it into bars yet!! I need to fix that 😀
Your granola bars look so professional!
I should try and make some, my boyfriend loves granola bars!
Oh wow! I've never had homemade granola bars before! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I use a similar recipe to this and they always turn out great! They're also a surprising sell-out at bake sales!
These look so good for yoU!
YES! I've been looking for a recipe for granola bars! My husband eats them all the time too and I've made granola but never into bars, so thanks! Ha, I also make my granola to save SOOO much money!!!!
i recently made granola bars similar to this and they were SO good–way better than store-bought! i'm going to add wheat germ like you did, great idea!
Natalie – I just checked out your granola bars and they look great as well! Isn't it wonderful how you can throw pretty much anything into a granola bar? 🙂
These would definitely be a big hit at our house! I've only attempted granola bars once, and they were the crunchy variety. These look perfect! Also, I just noticed your husband's rating scale in the sidebar….I do the EXACT same thing with my guy. It is nearly impossible to get a 5 from him (hence the name Picky Apple). Hope you're having better luck with yours!
Cara – Your comment made me smile 🙂 My husband is definitely picky as well, although I've noticed recently that either my cooking is improving or his expectations are lowering, because I've gotten higher ratings. Let's hope it's the former 😉
these look so good I am adding them to my to do list!
hey megan-
we made these today. it was a great recipe for the kids – so much dumping random stuff!
next time i think i'll just do craisins with the sunflower kernels. or just peanut butter. or just chips (we used vanilla ones and they were yummy!)
but all in all, we were very pleased. the kids ate the stuff piping hot out of the oven and went back for more.
i love the homemade version, cause it is much cheaper and because i know what's in it for me and the kiddos. (paul is anti-granola and so missing out!)
thanks for posting this!
Kristin – Glad you liked them! That's the great thing about granola bars, you can change what's in them to suit your tastes. Next time I want to use white chocolate 🙂 And how in the world can Paul be "anti-granola"??
I just made your granola bars. mmmm!! I may add coconut next time. mike
I was looking for a granola recipe and came across your blog. What a great blog. I am going to try this recipe but somehow i need to make is with less sugar. Any ideas?
These look very good. I have only made cereal bars from Post cereals, and couldn't find a recipe using oats that appealed to me. I think this one will be tried out as soon as I can make them. Thanks!
Yum – I make a similar one using honey instead of corn syrup.
Thank you! We are big granola bar fiends too and I hate the big price tag. I'm going to try these.
I've been making these since some time in the spring, and they get rave reviews from almost everybody (just not my kids, silly boys!). I posted my variation on my blog tonight.
Tricia – yay I'm so glad you liked these! Thanks so much for stopping back to let me know 🙂
I JUST made these! They are currently cooling. One thing I noticed is that they still seem a bit mushy? I baked them for exactly 25 minutes, and the only customizations I made were to use honey in place of corn syrup and I added coconut flakes. Are yours mushy until they cool completely?
Thanks for the recipe! Can't wait to try one for breakfast in the morning!
Alie – Yes, they should firm up a bit as they cool. If they are still too soft, just bake them longer next time. I always err on the chewier/softer side because that's the way my husband likes them. I hope you like them! 🙂
While I've made these many times and loved them every time, last night I wanted a really chewy and soft bar. I put the brown sugar, peanut butter (slightly more than called for), corn syrup, butter (slightly less than called for), and vanilla extract in a sauce pan and heated the mixture over medium heat just until it bubbled. I poured it over the other ingredients (I subbed in raisins for craisins), mixed, and squished into the pans. The chocolate chips melted and made a rich, fudgey coating. Let cool and set up in the fridge, and I had delicious, “no-bake” bars. So good! My husband didn't even wait for me to cut them before digging in.
Amanda – What a great idea! Thanks so much for sharing, I'm going to try that next time! 🙂
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Is it okay if you don’t put them in the freezer and they just get left individually wrapped in a large ziploc bag?
Yes, they will be fine for awhile. I’m not sure how long though, since I usually freeze mine after a few days.
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