Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
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.
You May Also Like
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
Powered by 
- 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.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
The most amazing granola bars I’ve ever made!!!!
Hello! I made a few adjustments to this recipe from some of the comments, and I substituted a 1/2 cup of the oats for 1/2 cup of whey protein powder as well as just using using 1/4 cup of honey and 2 tbsps of maple syrup as another commenter suggested. I patted and pressed them very firmly, left them in the fridge over 3 hours and cut them with a sharp knife; however, I found a few of them were breaking in half, or losing chunky pieces here and there while doing so. I know you have not done this, but should I add more honey, or some peanut butter next time? The mixture felt pretty dry when I mixed it almost like it was thirsty. It might be the whey powder sucking in the moisture and not allowing it to set properly. They still taste good though. What are your thoughts? I would like to try again next time, but I would love your, or anyone else’s, opinion on any adjustments you think I should make? Thank you!!
Hi Amy, Reading what you wrote, I suspect you’re right — that the protein powder may have absorbed some of the liquid that the honey and maple syrup contributed. I think that adding some peanut butter may be a good solution as it won’t easily get absorbed and will serve as some additional “glue” for the other ingredients. Please LMK how they turn out if you try it!
Will do! Think 1/4 or 1/2 cup of peanut butter would suffice for the extra “glue”? I will be using Jiff’s Creamy Peanut Butter. If that works, I bet Almond butter would be even more delicious!
Hi Amy, let’s try somewhere in the middle. Why don’t you try it with 1/3 cup. Please LMK how they turn out!
Hello! I love the Quaker, Annie and kodiak chewy chocolate chip granola bars. I have some whey protein powder, and I would love to make these have some higher protein to balance the fat. How much would you recommend I use? Thanks!
Hi Amy, I’d recommend anywhere between 1/2 cup to 1 cup (just reduce another dry ingredient in the recipe by that amount). I’d love to know how they turn out with the protein powder!
Thanks Jenn! They turned out very delicious. They are subtly sweet with a wonderful oat, nut and chocolate burst in your mouth. I calculated nutritionally on myfitnesspal that each bar had 12 grams of protein! Not bad for a light protein bar. I will let you know how the second round turns out once my husband and I finish these.
Licking the spoon right now. Didn’t have quick oats so subbed with 5 minute quick cook Irish oatmeal, used all maple syrup and subbed unsweetened coconut for the flax/wheat germ. I find it easier to use a piece of plastic wrap to tamp down the mix in the pan so I can press it into the corners evenly and get the chocolate chips into the mixture. Hardest part is waiting til it chills.
I am updating my review as I’ve been making this every week and I love it.
I found using all maple syrup didn’t hold it together well but the perfect combo is 1/4 cup of honey and 2Tbsp of maple syrup this lightens the honey flavour.
To make them nut free for the school lunch box I mix craisins, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds and coconut for a total of 3/4 of a cup.
I love extra chocolate so I mix milk and white chocolate chips to make a half cup to sprinkle on top. Perfect 👌. Will never buy store bought granola bars again.
Thank you 😊
Hi! Just wanted to check- did you omit the brown sugar altogether? As I too am looking for how to omit processed sugar.
thank you
My first time making home-made granola bars! Made them for my 10yr old picky eater who usually takes the packaged store bought ones as a snack. He has now delared he never wants me to BUY granola bars again….called them “EPIC!” The best part is I had these babies whipped up in less than 10 mins! A super recipe for busy moms!
These are amazing! I used to always buy the Cascadian Farms version of these, but when I saw this recipe, I knew I needed to try it. Easy, quick, delicious.
Jen, one question – the honey I have on hand is darker, and the flavor is really intense! I’ve gotten used to it, but I’m not really a huge honey fan. Any advice on how to substitute?
So glad you like them! You could replace the honey with maple syrup. Hope that helps!
This is the first recipe I ever made from this blog and ever since then, I’ve been hooked. I swap out the chocolate chips for gluten free, dairy free chocolate chips (white or regular or dark) and I use almond flour instead of sliced almonds and my family just loves it. The almond flour can be swapped with walnut flour or any nut flour. For a nut-free option, I omit it altogether. I use ground flaxseed or ground chia seed instead of flax meal or wheat germ. These are fantastic and a family favorite snack.
Made these for my son several times. Very easy and tasty! Had everything on hand except the flax meal. I like that I don’t have to turn the oven on! Instead of almonds, I add pepitas to make them nut-free.
I made these the other night. I used old fashioned oats, that’s all I had on hand. I also added some dried cranberries and raisins. Turned out yummy. They did crumble easily, not too sure if I spread it too thin in pan. Hardest part was waiting for it to set in the fridge. Will definitely be making again.