Crispy Honey Nut Granola Bars
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Crispy and not too sweet, these granola bars are loaded with oats, nuts, coconut, and dried fruit.
I’ve tried dozens of recipes for homemade granola bar recipes over the years. This crispy, crunchy version loaded with oats, nuts, coconut, and dried fruit is one of my favorites. Surprisingly, the secret ingredient is Rice Krispies, which lend the bars a light and airy crispiness. Imagine a delightful cross between a granola bar and a Rice Krispies Treat—that’s exactly what you get here.
Table of Contents
“Exactly what I was searching for- Crunchy and delicious, but not too sweet.”
What You’ll Need To Make Crispy Honey Nut Granola Bars
- Old Fashioned Rolled Oats: The base ingredient, adding bulk and texture.
- Chopped Walnuts: Add crunch and nutty flavor.
- Sliced Almonds: Introduce additional crunch and a delicate, slightly sweet taste.
- Shredded Unsweetened Coconut: Offers a hint of tropical flavor and nice texture contrast.
- Honey: Acts as a natural binder and adds subtle sweetness to the bars.
- Light Brown Sugar: Provides sweetness and helps with crispiness.
- Unsalted Butter: Contributes richness and aids in binding.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances flavor complexity.
- Crisp Rice Cereal: Adds crispiness and lightness to the bars.
- Dried Fruit: Offers bursts of natural sweetness and chewiness. Also provides a nice color contrast.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Ingredients
To begin, spread the oats, walnuts and almonds onto a foil-lined baking sheet. Place in the oven and toast for 7 minutes. Add the shredded coconut and toss well.
Place the pan back into the oven to cook for 4 to 5 minutes more. Keep an eye on it towards the end; you want the coconut to turn golden but not burn.
In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Whisk and bring to a rapid boil, then turn off the heat and set aside.
Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce heat to 300°F. Combine the oat mixture, honey mixture, rice cereal, and dried fruit in a large bowl.
Toss well to combine.
Turn the granola bar mixture out into a foil-lined baking dish.
Using a rubber spatula, spread and pat the mixture into an even layer.
Bake until lightly golden, 20 to 23 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely, 1 to 1½ hours. Use the foil overhang to transfer bars to cutting board.
Use a large, sharp knife to cut into rectangles.
Store the bars in a single layer in an airtight container for up to a week (do not stack the bars or they will stick together and fall apart).
Frequently Asked Questions
Store the bars in a single layer in an airtight container, or wrap them individually in aluminum foil, for up to a week at room temperature.
Definitely! These granola bars freeze nicely for up to 3 months. Ensure they’ve cooled completely, then store them in an airtight container with parchment paper or aluminum foil between layers. When you’re ready to enjoy, take them out of the container and let them thaw at room temperature.
Sure — as long as you keep the proportions of dry to wet ingredients the same, these are super versatile. You can switch up the nuts or dried fruits depending on your preferences or what you have on hand. Sometimes I’ll sprinkle some chocolate chips over top for the kids (you can’t mix them in or they’ll melt). Experiment and have fun with it!
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Crispy Honey Nut Granola Bars
Crispy and not too sweet, these granola bars are loaded with oats, nuts, coconut, and dried fruit.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- ⅔ cup shredded unsweetened coconut (available at Whole Foods or natural food markets)
- ½ cup honey
- 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon plus ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup crisp rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies
- ¾ cup dried fruit, such as cranberries, diced apricots, blueberries, currants, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil.
- Spread the oats, walnuts and almonds onto the prepared baking sheet. Place in the oven and toast for 7 minutes. Add the coconut and toss well with a rubber spatula, then place back in the oven to cook for 4 to 5 minutes more. Keep an eye on it towards the end; you want the coconut to turn golden but not burn.
- In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract and salt in a small saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Whisk and bring to a rapid boil, then turn off the heat and set aside.
- Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300°F. Combine the oat mixture, honey mixture, rice cereal, and dried fruit in a large bowl and toss well. (Reserve the aluminum foil.)
- Use the reserved foil to line a 9x13-inch baking dish, then spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray. Turn the granola bar mixture out into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly, patting down with a spatula. Be sure the heat is reduced to 300°F, then bake until lightly golden, 20 to 23 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely, 1 to 1½ hours. Use the foil overhang to transfer the bars to a cutting board, then use a large, sharp knife to cut into rectangles. Store the bars in a single layer in an airtight container, or wrap the bars individually in aluminum foil, for up to a week at room temperature.
- Note: You can swap in your favorite nuts and seeds as long as you keep the proportions of dry to wet ingredients the same. On occasion, I’ll sprinkle some chocolate chips over top for the kids (you can't mix them in or they'll melt).
- Note: Be sure your oven is fully preheated before toasting nuts; the initial blast of heat to preheat the oven can burn them.
- 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, remove them from the container and let them come to room temperature.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (16 servings)
- Serving size: 1 bar
- Calories: 140
- Fat: 7g
- Saturated fat: 3g
- Carbohydrates: 19g
- Sugar: 12g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 2g
- Sodium: 60mg
- Cholesterol: 4mg
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, can coconut oil be substituted for the butter?
Hi Marni, I’ve never made these with coconut oil, but another reader commented that they did and were happy with the results. Hope you enjoy!
Hi am curious on what I could swap out the butter for as well besides coconut oil. Any suggestions?
Hi Jo, you could try replacing the butter with nut butter, but I’m not 100% sure how that will affect the texture of the bars.
Hi jenn,
These are delicious! I did want to ask you if the heating time of the honey mixture might be a variable? My bars didnt hold together as well as I would like, could boiling the honey help? I’ve seen a few other recipes that use a candy thermometer…….
Glad you like them! The hotter you get the honey mixture, the better the bars will hold together. Just be careful not to cook for mixture for too long or the granola bars will be too hard.
Ok, confession time….if you just let them cool COMPLETELY, instead of scarfing them up too soon, they hold together perfectly. Just the right amount of chewy and crunchy!
I guess patience really is a virtue :).
Is it ok to leave out the coconut if you don’t like it or will the quantities of the other ingredients have to be altered too?
Hi Hannah, You can replace any of the add-ins, as long as you keep the proportions the same. You can just use more oats or rice cereal or add in something different like chia seeds. Hope you enjoy!
Just delicious. I stopped buying commercial bars years ago when I realised how much sugar and junk were in them. With these, a few tablespoons of brown sugar and a half cup of honey to 1-1/2 cups of oats plus added ingredients is really not too bad, in my opinion. I can’t wait to experiment with different fruit and nuts – a pistachio cranberry version will be a hit at Christmas, and when my son starts school in a few years I will make a nut-free version with sunflower seeds and dried fruit. Your recipes are no-fail, Jenn! I haven’t made one that I didn’t love.
We live on an island where it’s difficult to find good cereal bars. I therefore wanted to try making my own cereal bars. Best granola recipe I found.
I substitute the oat and rice crisps for more nuts and dried fruits. I also only use honey and a bit of vanilla extract and they are absolutely delicious.
Hey Jen,
what a great recipe and what a great site. I converted your recipe into baked apricot coconut wheat pop bars and they were a huge hit with all my friends and fellow students! Easy student food that takes the wheat pops up one level (or 10) 🙂
Greetings from the student kitchen,
Johanna
These look delicious, but my daughter has a tree nut allergy and doesn’t like coconut. Can you suggest any replacements that would work, i.e. sunflower seeds? Would chia seeds work?? Thanks so much for all of your recipes. I’m a big fan of your website!
Hi Katherine, You can replace any of the add-ins, as long as you keep the proportions the same. I think a combination of sunflower seeds and chia seeds would work (or even more oats and rice cereal). Hope you all enjoy them, and please let me know how they turn out! 🙂
I would really like to make these but I am in Europe – do you know metric quantities I should use?
Hi Cathy, I’ve just updated the recipe with metric quantities. Just look for the little toggle switch under the recipe name. Sorry for the delay and hope you enjoy them!
These taste delicious, but turned out very hard cooked at the exact temp & time noted in the recipe. I could not cut them with the knife after cooling. I finally decided to break the mixture up & use as granola!
Sorry to hear they were so hard, but sounds like you got some tasty granola out of it! Next time, try cooking them for a slightly shorter period of time (maybe your oven runs a bit hot).
You also may have overcooked the syrup before coating the nut and oat mix and baking….
Very nice! They hold together BUT they are not too hard. I have some puffed grain cereal I may try in a future batch. I added pepitas and a bit more coconut without adjusting the liquid amount and they turned out fine. Quite tasty, probably don’t have to worry about them going stale…
OK – these are SO good. Making double batches now and it lasts mere days!