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Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

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By Jenn Segal
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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.

Granola bars on parchment paper.

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!”

Dianna

What You’ll Need To Make Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Granola bar ingredients including Rice Krispies, oats, and honey.
  • 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.

Butter, brown sugar, and honey in a pan.

Bring it to a boil, then let it bubble over low heat for a few minutes to thicken slightly.

Butter mixture boiling in a pan.

Off the heat, stir in the salt and vanilla extract.

Salt and vanilla extract in a pan with a butter mixture.

Then add the oats, crispy rice cereal, almonds, and flax meal (or wheat germ).

Oats and other ingredients in a pan with a butter mixture.

Fold the mixture with a rubber spatula until evenly combined.

Granola mixture in a pan.

Transfer the granola bar mixture to a 9 x 13-inch pan lined with aluminum foil.

Granola bar mixture in a lined baking pan.

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.)

Granola bar mixture topped with chocolate chips.

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.

Partially-sliced granola bar mixture.

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

Can I use regular old-fashioned oats in place of quick-cooking oats?

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.

Can I make the granola bars ahead of time?

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.

Are there any variations or substitutions I can try?

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.

Granola bars on parchment paper.

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Print

Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Metric Cup Measures
By Jenn Segal

These chewy, crispy no-bake chocolate chip granola bars are easy to make — and they put all those store-bought bars to shame.

Servings: 18 bars
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Total Time: 2 Hours

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

  1. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Spray the foil lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. 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.
  3. Add the oats, rice cereal, almonds and flax meal (or wheat germ) to the pan and fold with a rubber spatula until well combined.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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 Edamam

  • Serving size: 1 bar
  • Calories: 187
  • Fat: 8g
  • Saturated fat: 3g
  • Carbohydrates: 26g
  • Sugar: 12g
  • Fiber: 3g
  • Protein: 4g
  • Sodium: 21mg
  • Cholesterol: 11mg
Nutritional Data Disclaimer

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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  • Hi – I’ve made this recipe twice exactly as stated and my family LOVES it! But, unless I keep them refrigerated, the granola bars fall apart and don’t stick together. Which is a problem because I want to send them to school with the kids. Any idea what I can do to make them stick together more?

    • Hi Alena, Yes, these bars do need to be refrigerated. You could try adding a few tablespoons of peanut butter to the wet mixture, and they will hold together much better.

  • I am sorry to say that these have completely fallen apart and I am not sure what to do with the rice crispy/outmeal loose mixture, I have to eat it as a regular cereal, I guess. Followed the recipe exactly, the only thing I can think of is that I did not boil the hot mixture long enough for it to be gluey. I made quite a few no-cook granola bars before and the mixture to flatten was always a LOT stickier.

    • Hi Natalia, I am so sorry the bars fell apart. I’m curious, were you able to form the bars and then they fell apart or was the mixture too loose to even cut the mixture into bars? Also, did you refrigerate them? These bars definitely need to be refrigerated.

      • it just came out as a slightly moist cereal, I will have to eat it with a spoon. 🙂

        Because the liquid was still pretty runny when I poured it in, rice crispies absorbed it all, and there was nothing left to bind the dry ingredients together. Still I was very surprised on how little liquid the recipe asked for, usually for no-bake granola bars there is a lot of honey/maple syrup/peanutbutter/sticky dry fruit is required and even then it’s tricky sometimes to keep them together. Hmm. Still confused!

        UPDATE: after a night in the fridge things have improved! They can now be cut up and have become a messy bar rather than a pile of crumbs. 🙂

  • These are fantastic!!! I will make these over and over again (I made the recipe exactly as stated yesterday, today I’m going to switch it up a bit and do cranberries and pecans).

    Thanks you for posting such a great recipe. Now I’m going to have to go through the rest of your site and see what other yummy recipes you have!!

    • Today is 5 days since I made the first batch and I am now on the 4th batch (just went into the fridge). We LOVE these! BTW, we haven’t finished all the others yet, but my favorite was gone by the next day-cranberry & pecan!! Those are divine!! My daughter’s favorite are the original chocolate chip, my husband likes them all, and my son and I love the cranberry & pecan! Thanks again for posting this great recipe!! I definitely will not be buying store-bought again.

      BTW, my husband took one in his lunch the other day and he said it held up fine (was still in bar form). I keep them stored in the fridge all other times.

      Not sure what combination I’ll try next-maybe peanut butter and chocolate chips. I will tell people, if you’re going to try different variations, I recommend keeping the additions the same size as the original recipe. When I made white chocolate, toasted coconut and almond, I only had regular size white chocolate chips. They’re a bit overpowering in taste in the individual bars. I’ve checked the price of buying white chocolate mini chips and it’s ridiculous, so I think next time I’ll just chop ’em up myself a bit. I do chop my dried cranberries before adding ’em to the mix.

  • Just made these granola bars . They were awesome!

  • Why can’t regular oats be used? I have so many if those I was hoping to use them up making granola bars!
    Do you have any suggestions on what I can use regular old fashioned oats for?

    Thank you!

  • Hi,
    I live in France and here Quaker Quick 1min oats doesn’t exist 🙁 I can only buy the Original one… Do you have idea for I can make this awesome granola bar ?
    Thanks 🙂

    • Hi Jeanne, Do you have a food processor? You can turn them into quick oats by pulsing 5-6 times, until they are coarsely chopped (but not powdery).

  • My family loved these! I found keeping them refrigerated held their shape better. Will be making them again and again… Thanks!

    • — Shereen from Tweet and Eats
    • Reply

  • Great recipe! The bars are absolutely delish! Everyone in my house loves them!

  • Could I substitute coconut oil for the butter? Thank you!

    • Hi Jennifer, Yes, that should work just fine.

  • I love this recipe and your site! What I was wondering was whether or not I could use becel instead of butter as my husband as high cholesterol. Thanks Sharon

    • Hi Sharon, Yes, that should work just fine.

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