These homemade granola bars are soft! High in protein and nutrients, and so easy to customize with your favorite ingredients!
Homemade Granola Bars (chewy, vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free)
Everyone in my family loves grabbing homemade granola bars as we dash out the door.
In fact, we depend on them heavily to supplement lunches, especially those taken to school and work. But commercial bars can be expensive, full of the wrong ingredients for our needs, and we are forever running out!
So I decided this week to put together a super easy recipe for a homemade granola bar that can be made in an hour, uses pantry ingredients, and isn’t so hard it can break your teeth or give you a headache chewing, haha.
Enter these soft homemade granola bars that I made using as a primary ingredient Bob’s Red Mill‘s apple blueberry granola. Please feel free to use any granola.
Why These Homemade Granola Bars Are Low in Sugar
And another super plus about these homemade granola bars is they have no additional sugars – healthy or otherwise – beyond the granola. Because I used a granola slightly sweetened with plant-based sweeteners including pear and pineapple juice, I was able to keep this bar devoid of any other sweetener, even healthier plant-based sweeteners such as maple syrup and dates. So if you are looking to reduce your sugar intake, this bar is a great addition to your options!
Cutting this into eight bars, each bar has about 2 grams of sugar. That’s pretty low!
Keep it refrigerated to keep up the soft texture. I’m guessing they can keep in the refrigerator about a week or so before perhaps they should be eaten or frozen.
Obviously you can add a few more superfood seeds to this recipe too!
I added pumpkin seeds, but I bet the recipe texture could have held up with a 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed, 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, and perhaps some sunflower seeds. Just make sure the batter doesn’t become too dry with these additions.
Enjoy these soft homemade granola bars!
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Homemade Granola Bar (vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free)
These homemade granola bars are soft! High in protein and nutrients, and so easy to customize with your favorite ingredients!
Ingredients
Bar
- 1 cup Apple Blueberry Granola (I used a Bob's Red Mill granola, but you can use your own favorite or even a ceral)
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup nut butter (I used almond butter)
- 1/2 cup water
Chocolate Cover
- 2 3.5oz dark chocolate bar
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
Prep
-
Line an 8-inch by 4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper so it hangs off the side. I cut a conventional 16-inch by 12-inch long piece of parchment in half so I end with parchment sized 8-inches by 12-inches.
Make the Bars
-
Use a processor to blend up ingredients, just until combined. If you process too long, it becomes a creamy texture. I prefer to stop when the granola, pumpkin seeds, and chips are still a bit textured.
- Spread this sticky batter on to the bottom of the lined loaf pan.
-
Break up the chocolate bars into a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup, add a tablespoon of solid coconut oil, and microwave at 60 seconds. Stir the warm chocolate for a few minutes until all remaining chunks of chocolate are melted. Microwave another 30 seconds if needed to melt the chocolate further.
- Pour the melted chocolate over the bar batter.
- Freeze the loaf pan for 1-2 hours. I would stay closer to 1 hour. You don't want the bar to become brick hard or that would defeat the purpose of making a soft protein bar.
Cut the Bars
- Cut them into slices using a knife, heated in a pot of boiling water and wiped off between each slice.
- Refrigerate the bars to eat them regularly. Freeze them only for long-term storage.
Thank you Bob’s Red Mill for sponsoring this post. The recipe, ideas, content and opinions expressed here are all my own. I do recommend you try Bob’s Red Mill products, you will be so inspired by all their healthy unique products!
Dee Dine is the recipe developer and writer behind Green Smoothie Gourmet. She shares her super healthy wholesome recipes on her blog and her Instagram that she feeds her family and friends. She gravitates toward recipes that are fast to create, plant-based, nutritious, easy, and use familiar ingredients. And chocolate is always a good idea! More about Dee.
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