Name: Oats & Honey Granola Bars
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 3 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats; 3/4 cups crispy rice cereal; 2/3 cups oat flour (see Notes below) (OR whole wheat pastry flour); 3 tablespoons brown sugar; 3/4 teaspoon baking soda; 3/4 teaspoon salt; 2/3 cup honey; 1/3 cup coconut oil (melted ); 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

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These homemade, all-natural Oats and Honey Granola Bars are baked until slightly crunchy, making them perfect for breakfast on-the-go or as a wholesome, portable snack.

I’m so excited to share this recipe with y’all today! Awhile back, I posted my beloved No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars, which my family adores and which went on to become a reader favorite. After all, they’re easy to make, customizable, and downright delicious. The only downside to that recipe, however, is that they get pretty soft if they’re not kept chilled. This makes them great for eating straight out of the fridge but not-so-great for throwing in your purse or diaper bag as a convenient snack.

The Oats & Honey Granola Bars that I’m sharing today, though, don’t need to be refrigerated. More along the lines of crunchy Nature’s Valley-type granola bars, these baked treats not only travel beautifully, but they’re loaded with oats and pure honey goodness!

These snacks are not soft and chewy, but they’re not rock-hard crunchy either. Rather, I would consider them to be firm and moderately crunchy. Don’t mistake that for crumbly, though…I’ve actually been extremely pleased with how well they hold together, even in the backpacks of my rough-and-tumble kids. They take them to school for snacks and request them for breakfast on busy mornings. I may enjoy one here or there as well… 😉

Granola Bar Ingredients

So what goes into these wholesome, homemade granola bars that actually travel well and hold together at room temperature?

Rolled oats. The star ingredient.
Crispy rice cereal. It doesn’t take much, but this ingredient prevents the bars from becoming too packed down…AKA, rock-hard.
Oat flour. By using oat flour, this recipe can be made GLUTEN-FREE (assuming that the oats you use throughout the recipe are all gluten-free). That being said, you may opt to use whole wheat pastry flour in place of oat flour.
Brown sugar. But just a tad!
Baking soda. For the slightest rise.
Salt. To balance the sweet.
Honey. This helps hold the bars together and acts as the primary sweetener in the recipe.
Coconut oil. You may substitute another neutral flavored vegetable oil (such as sunflower oil) if you wish.
Pure vanilla extract. Because…flavor.

How to Make Granola Bars…a Tip!

In addition to an optimal combo of ingredients, I think the key to this recipe is packing down the oat mixture in the pan after you’ve thoroughly incorporated all of the ingredients. And I mean you really need to pack it down.

Rather than using a Pyrex 9- by 13-inch baking dish (which would work just fine, mind you), I decided to make these granola bars in my metal baking pan with perfectly square corners. Consequently, I searched my cabinets and found a mini bread pan that also boasts perfectly square corners. I then used it to press down the granola bar mixture as firmly as possible.

I did this before baking and again immediately after baking and, as a result, I ended up with firm, crunchy-ish, non-crumbly granola bars. Success!

So if you love granola bars but don’t care for the artificial additives in store-bought ones…or if you splurge on all-natural/organic granola bars but could do without the high price tag…or if you’re looking for a wholesome, homemade, portable breakfast or snack…these Oats & Honey Granola Bars are for you! I’m happy to have a crunchy version to alternate with my aforementioned favorite chewy recipe, and I hope that you have a chance to try them (and love them!) both. 🙂