Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
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These chewy, crispy no-bake chocolate chip granola bars are easy to make — and they put all those store-bought bars to shame.
Chocolate chip granola bars are a staple in my pantry, but between my husband, my kids, and my kids’ hungry friends, I can’t seem to keep enough of them in the house. So I figured it was time to try and make them from scratch, and maybe even sneak in some health food. After many trials, I finally cracked the code and came up with a version that puts all those store-bought bars to shame. What’s more, they’re no-bake and take only ten minutes to make.
Table of Contents
“My kids rated these infinity out of ten. And my husband, the man who once left a 3 Michelin star restaurant proclaiming he’s ‘had better’ said these were delicious!”
What You’ll Need To Make Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
- Butter: Adds richness and helps bind the ingredients together.
- Brown Sugar: Provides sweetness and contributes to the chewy texture.
- Honey: Acts as a natural binder and adds sweetness.
- Vanilla: Enhances the flavor profile with its aromatic essence.
- Quick-Cooking/Instant Oats: Serve as the base for texture and substance.
- Crispy Rice Cereal: Adds crispiness and lightness to the bars.
- Sliced Almonds: Introduce nuttiness and extra crunch.
- Flax Meal or Wheat Germ: Offers additional nutritional value and helps with binding.
- Mini Chocolate Chips: Provide little pockets of chocolatey goodness throughout the bars.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by combining the butter, brown sugar, and honey in a large pan.
Bring it to a boil, then let it bubble over low heat for a few minutes to thicken slightly.
Off the heat, stir in the salt and vanilla extract.
Then add the oats, crispy rice cereal, almonds, and flax meal (or wheat germ).
Fold the mixture with a rubber spatula until evenly combined.
Transfer the granola bar mixture to a 9 x 13-inch pan lined with aluminum foil.
Press the mixture lightly with a rubber spatula to flatten, then sprinkle the chocolate chips over top. Use the spatula to press the chips firmly into place and compact the mixture into the pan as much as possible. (The reason you don’t mix the chips in is that they’ll melt.)
Place the pan in the refrigerator for 1-1/2 -2 hours, until the bars are cool. Then use the foil overhang to lift the bars out of the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut into rectangles.
Keep the bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator; if you have to stack them, be sure to use parchment paper or foil in between the layers, otherwise, they’ll crumble and stick. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s important to stick with quick-cooking oats which are rolled oats that have been coarsely chopped. Regular old-fashioned oats are too coarse and chewy for this recipe and cause the bars to fall apart. If you don’t have any quick-cooking oats in your pantry, you can make your own by pulsing regular oatmeal in the food processor a few times.
Sure! Store the bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. If you have to stack the granola bars, be sure to use parchment paper or foil in between the layers; otherwise, they’ll stick together and fall apart. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Before serving, move them to the refrigerator to thaw.
Yes, these bars offer great versatility. If chocolate chips aren’t your thing, you can opt for raisins or cranberries. Similarly, if almonds aren’t to your taste or if you are dealing with a nut allergy, swap them out for unsalted sunflower seeds. While oats and rice cereal are essential, you have plenty of freedom to substitute other ingredients as long as you maintain the wet-to-dry ingredient ratio.
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Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
These chewy, crispy no-bake chocolate chip granola bars are easy to make — and they put all those store-bought bars to shame.
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons honey
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Heaping ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups quick-cooking/instant oats, such as Quaker Quick 1-Minute Oats (do not use regular old-fashioned oats)
- 1¾ cups crispy rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- ¼ cup flax meal or wheat germ
- ⅓ cup mini chocolate chips (or to taste)
Instructions
- Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Spray the foil lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large pot, combine the butter, brown sugar and honey. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and simmer until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.
- Add the oats, rice cereal, almonds and flax meal (or wheat germ) to the pan and fold with a rubber spatula until well combined.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and press down lightly with a rubber spatula to even out. Sprinkle the miniature chocolate chips over top, adding more or less to suit your taste, and press down firmly with the spatula so the chips stick.The mixture should be tightly compacted in the pan. Place the pan in the refrigerator for 1½ - 2 hours to cool.
- Use the foil overhang to transfer the uncut bars to a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut into rectangles. Store the bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If you have to stack them, be sure to use parchment paper or foil in between the layers, otherwise they'll stick together and fall apart.
- Note: If you are substituting dried fruit for the chocolate chips, mix it in along with the other ingredients as opposed to sprinkling over top.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The granola bars can be frozen for up to 3 months. Let them cool completely and store in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, move them to the refrigerator and store there.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 1 bar
- Calories: 187
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated fat: 3g
- Carbohydrates: 26g
- Sugar: 12g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 4g
- Sodium: 21mg
- Cholesterol: 11mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I made them last night. But I left them in the fridge for two hours took them out to try one and my bar crumbled out of my hand. Any tips you can give me so they don’t crumble for next time? Otherwise they were delishious!
Hi Chelsea, Happy to help troubleshoot. That’s strange that they crumbled right out of the fridge…did you make any substitutions by chance?
Mine crumble as well it’s just the recipe you’ve made. It’s not a good one. Too much honey won’t help it stick together.
Hi, how long could I keep these bars for in an airtight container?
Hi Rhea, I’d say they keep very well for about a week.
While these taste great, they remind me more of rice krispies treats than of actual granola bars… I think next time I will try omitting the rice krispies and replacing them by oats.
I just made these this morning, haven’t cut them into bars nor tasted them yet, but I found one very important step was left out of the recipe: the granola needs to be cooled down before springkling the chocolate chips. I’m thinking 30 minutes in the fridge, maybe. My chocolate chips melted and I could not compact the granola all that much because the melted chocolate adhered to the spatula and made a big mess. I wonder why no one mentionned this, how did everyone get their chocolate chips to not melt???
Hi Isabelle, Did you use chocolate chips or chopped semi-sweet chocolate?
I used HERSHEY’S Chipits Pure Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips.
Holy moly! So delicious. My 8 yr old voluntarily put away her Trader Joe cookie that she had just bought for dessert and asked to eat this instead. My 4 yr, a big fan of store bought chewy granola bars, stared in disbelief when I told her I made them.
I followed the recipe exactly (but did add unsweetened coconut because I add that to everything). Didn’t have quick oats so I quickly pulsed old fashion in the blender.
DELICIOUS! My then 5 year old threw a temper tantrum because we got Target brand granola bars instead of Quaker. I never bought another granola bar, almost 3 years later I tried this recipe, something to keep the kids busy making and a snack they could grab for themselves while i garden. I LOVE LOVE this recipe. it’s easy and DELICIOUS! Both boys love the taste, texture and how fun it was to make from scratch.
Can coconut oil be substituted for the butter?
Hi Gina, Yes, that should work fine.
This was a huge hit with kids and adults in my house! Also, something that is increasingly important: while these are called “granola” bars, they do not contain granola. Granola contains gluten. My oldest step-daughter is gluten intolerant. Anyone out there who is wondering if these are gluten free or not– they ARE GLUTEN FREE. Also, if you leave the chocolate chips out they can be completely lactose free. These can very easily be made very hypoallergenic for anyone with food allergies in their household, as the almonds are not a necessity either.
Followed the recipe but I also added shredded coconut to the top. I left them out for over an hour and they never hardened. I placed them in the fridge and the freezer afterwards and they were still crumbly. Also, can I leave out the butter? The bars tasted good but was too buttery. As a healthy snack can I substitute the butter or just leave it out because the butter/honey/sugar mixture settled to the bottom of the bar and was too sticky.
Hi Arielle, That’s strange that they never came together — even in the fridge. Did you make any substitutions? I’ve never made them without butter — they might be too dry.
These are wonderful, but the honey taste is a little bit too much for us. What can I do to reduce or replace the honey in these?
Hi Melissa, You can replace some of the honey with brown sugar.