Homemade Granola Bars: Pack ’em, snack ’em, share ’em.
Regular occurrence: My mother clips a recipe, texts it to me, and says I should make it. And make it healthier. Homemade granola bars were the most recent. Easy, healthy, and way cheaper than the junk at the airport? Yessir.
I made these just my last trip to Lake Tahoe. Instead of apple sauce, I made my own in my Vitamix. Instead of sugar, I used stevia. Instead of paying $6 for a Kind Bar, I paid 56 cents each for these homemade granola bars.
I made an entire batch of these homemade granola bars before we left. We brought most, and paid some forward.
I left one for our cleaning lady. She texted me, “Awesome cake!” I laughed and said thanks. But also wondered if she knew this “cake” was gluten-free, dairy free (with no chocolate chips), no added sugar and completely (mostly) raw.
I brought two to my mother. One as a thank for the recipe. The other as thanks for watching Lucy.
I met this little guy on Mt. Tallac Summit.
He saw what I was snacking on and asked for a bite.
I obliged.
I will make these homemade granola bars again. And I will share them again. They’re incredible and very worth it.
Here’s a quick video from the Mt. Tallac Summit. Â Highly recommended, if you have the guts. Â And some homemade granola bars in your backpack.
Useful Tips
Pour the honey and the rest of the liquid into hot pan. Do this first.
Homemade apple sauce is 10x better than store-bought. The lack of hfcs is enough of a reason to make your own.
Get it nice and bubbly before adding dry stuff.
Don’t keep the almonds in the Vitamix for too long. The almond chunks were a nice addition to the finished bars. Â I used a Pro 300 in this photo.
Instant oats, seem to do the best. If you need true gluten free, maybe try cooking a batch of the steel-cut stuff.
Don’t over mix. Â Texture is a good thing.
With a normal 9 x 13 pan, these came out pretty thick. For thinner bars, use two pans.
Figured out a pizza cutter (a pizza wheel) is the best way to cut these babies. Use a knife for the half-inch on the ends.
For the record, if these granola bars hadn’t been such a big hit, the pizza wheel discovery would have been my favorite part of this post.
Make sure to wear a flannel shirt when eating these. Brings out the flavors.
Homemade Granola Bars
Homemade granola bars. Â Super satisfying and easy to make. Â Dirt cheap, too!
Ingredients:
- TOOLS
- blender - I used my Vitamix,
- FOODS
- apples - 2 whole, sliced & cored (i used organic fiji, but whatever's crispy)
- water - 1.5 cups
- stevia - a lot, like 10 or 15 packets
- raw almonds - 1 cup
- almond milk - 1/4 cup
- honey - 1 cup
- dried cranberries - 1 cup
- pumpkin seeds - 1/2 cup
- semi sweet chocolate chips - 3/4 cup (the darker the better!)
- rolled oats - 5 cups
- cinnamon - 1 t
- salt - dash
- extra virgin olive oil spray - for the pan
Instructions:
PREP:
- Preheat oven to 325.
- Spray 9 x 13 pan with e.v.o.o. spray
- Add water to your Vitamix.  Then add sliced and cored apples. (Liquid ingredients first!)
- Blend on low speed for 10 seconds. Â Use tamper as needed.
- Place apple sauce mix, honey and stevia in large pot over medium heat. Â 5 minutes.
- Throw raw almonds and almond milk in your Vitamix.
- Blend on low speed for 10 seconds. Â Use tamper as needed.
- Place ground almonds, cranberries, salt, chocolate chips, cinnamon, pumpkin seeds and oats in large bowl.
- Mix.
- Add (mostly) dry mixture to the pan with hot apple sauce stuff.
- Mix it all together.
- Gently press granola into the pan.
COOK:
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Throw pan in fridge to cool for a few hours.
- Slice ’em.
- Bag ’em.
- Be happy.
Useful tips for Homemade Granola Bars
Other notable homemade granola bars:
Inspired Taste:Â Soft and Chewy Granols Bars
A Beautiful Mess: Homemade Granola Bars
Gluten Free Fix: Oatless Homemade Granola Bars
I’m confused, Lenny. You say you made your own applesauce. Is this what the apples and honey were for? I just made applesauce using your recipe (chunky). Can I use that in place of some of the ingredients in this recipe? If so, what should I omit and in what amounts?
Thanks!
Never mind! I figured it out!
Yeah, for this one I used an “apple sauce mix”. But I HAVE made homemade apple sauce and it’s incredible (and worth it).
Homemade Apple Sauce Recipe
Prob gonna make some this week cause we went apple picking yesterday and have a zillion FRESH apples to consume. I can smell the apple sauce (plus cinnamon) now…
Sorry about the semi-duplicate posts. I had something weird happen when I submitted the first of these two, and I couldn’t see it. Feel free to delete.
What exactly happened when you submitted the first that seemed “weird?” I get several duplicate comment submissions for (seemingly) the same reason.
My page reload progress bar froze and seemed to die. Don’t know if it was my internet connection, a browser glitch, or a WordPress issue. Just hung. When I manually reloaded the page, my comment wasn’t there, but when I submitted the second comment, both appeared.
Thanks, Greg. I’ve submitted this to my developer and are looking into fixing this “glitch”.
Lenny, Coach’s has found [at least for me] the perfect balance between ease of use and taste. They taste great, better even than McCann’s to me [and my daughters], but they’re ready in 5 minutes. So, you get the convenience of Quaker, and the health and taste of Irish. See this admittedly self-serving chart: http://www.coachsoats.com/co_difference2.html
I think the real explanation is here though: http://www.coachsoats.com/co_difference1.html . Coach’s are toasted and cracked.
Anyway, I tried them in your granola bar recipe. My daughters and I like it. But I think I needed a bigger pan so they can be a little thinner. And I think that rolled oats might actually have a better texture in this bar. I will have to try. Haven’t bought Quaker in years, though there is a McCann’s instant oats, and I may try those. In the Inspired Taste Soft & Chewy granola bars, the Coach’s Oats are fantastic.
Both sets make great snacks. I just had my mid-morning bottle of water and granola square.
Can’t wait to try this recipe. But for anything with oats, I highly recommend Coach’s Oats. I used to be an Irish or steel-cut guy, but these changed my perspective entirely: http://www.coachsoats.com . Best tasting *and* easiest to prepare for eating, or in baking. Zero excuse for instant oatmeal.
Lenny: do you have a Stevia recommendation? I am seeing all sorts of stuff out there about “regular” and “real” and “complete” stevia.
I need to do some follow-up research on this.
I’ve had several questions about Stevia’s safety lately. And this is coming after I deemed it “all-good” for my fans. Stand by while I look into the “regular, real, and complete” question.
In the mean time, here’s the stevia I use: Trader Joe’s Brand stevia packets. They look like this image http://www.healthydivaeats.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/IMG_3542.jpg . I’ve been using this stuff for years and LOVE it. The only thing is that I find myself with half-used stevia packets laying around my cabinets like wounded soldiers. Hopefully I’ll have a version of it available in bulk that I can buy and share with my readers.
Long story short, let me get back to you on this. 🙂
I know, I know. Instant oatmeal is pretty pathetic. I have never found Irish or steel-cut to be worth the time required, though.
Tell me more about Coach’s Oats. I’m intrigued. What make’s ’em so easy to make?