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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THank you for this recipe! I am SICK of spending $3.00 a box for Cascadian Farm chocolate chip granola bars! These look exactly like those! I love how I can sneak in some flax or other flavors, too. I can’t wait to try these!
You called it, Julie. Those are exactly the ones that I buy. Only problem is, once you try these, it’s hard to go back to the boxed stuff!
Excellent base recipe … my kids really enjoy these bars. Just a couple of tweaks that went over well with my girls. First, I added two tablespoons of peanut butter to the pan along with the honey, brown sugar, and butter. Gave it a subtle peanut butter flavor and a little extra protein. Second, I substituted mini-M&M’s for the chocolate chips. Adds some fun colors and they also don’t melt quite as quickly on little fingers. Lastly, I used wheat germ as recommended in the recipe, but also added a couple tablespoons of ground flax seed besides. Always looking for ways to add healthy ingredients to everyday meals/snacks, and I found that the kids don’t notice it. I also tried using waxed paper in place of the tin foil. It was easy to remove the bars from the pan for cutting, but the waxed paper is non-stick without having to spritz with cooking spray.
Great suggestions. Thank you!
Question do the bars have to stay cold because I made them for my 9 year old daughter and she loved them but once they came to room temp the bars fell apart .
Hi Stefan, The bars don’t need to stay cold. Did you use quick 1-minute oats? If you use regular rolled oats, the bars will fall apart. Also, be sure to press down on the mixture very firmly with a spatula when you put it in the pan.
I have wanted a homemade granola bar recipe for ages – thanks for this! Is there a way to make them slightly less sweet? I tried using a little more butter and a little less honey, but now they fall apart unless I keep them in the frige. I’m using agave instead of the brown sugar, which may be part of the problem. If you have suggestions for how to keep the wet/dry ratio while reducing some of the sweetness, I’d appreciate it!
Hi Talia, You know, I tried reducing the sweetness as well and had the same issues. I think, keeping all other ingredients the same, you could probably reduce the brown sugar or honey by a few tablespoons, but any more than that the bars will completely fall apart. Unfortunately, it’s the sweet ingredients that make the sticky “goo” that holds them together. Wish I could be more helpful!
You could probably use a nut butter or nut-free butter (peanut, almond, soy, etc.); I have seen that used in other recipes. Unsweetened nut/nut-free butter might also help hold the bars together even when not trying to reduce the sweetness (like if you go a little crazy with the dry ingredients, just melt some PB in the microwave and add it to the mix as needed).
These are amazing! For anyone who is on Weight Watchers I did the calculations and 1 bar is 4 points.
Made these yesterday and so far everyone likes them. I shared a few with friends too. I used milled fax seed with blueberries (finely ground) I found at Trader Joes. I will try adding dried fruit in the next batch and no chocolate chips.
Yummy stuff as my kids would say. Made these for my adult son and his fellow travelers who are making a roadtrip from Bismarck ND to Louisville KY later this week. A couple changes I made included toasting the oatmeal and almonds til lightly brown (about 12 minutes) and replacing the 2 tblsp of honey with molasses as my brown sugar was the light brown variety – lovely flavors! Also, I didn’t have the wheat germ or flax and the result was still satisfactory. I look forward to finding some dried fruit and nut combinations in the bulk section of the grocery store for other flavor combinations – today there were golden raisins and Craisins in the pantry. We also want to try them with coconut. Thanks for adding something new to my recipe box!!
I was able to make these gluten free by purchasing the Crisp Cereal at Whole Foods. My kids have been begging for more all day. A new staple in our house!
Making these made my day, and eating them will get me through what’s destined to be a long week. Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe! I look forward to mixing it up with some different mix-ins and sharing your recipe with friends and family (those who aren’t already getting your email, but soon will after this recipe finds them). Delicious!
Thanks, Katie. So glad you enjoyed!
These granola bars were GREAT !!!
This was my first visit to your site and I just had to make these as soon as I saw them. Looking forward to more recipes 🙂