I love a good snack. One that’s sweet and chewy and wrapped in bakery twine. I’ve wanted to develop a recipe for homemade granola bars for the longest time, but I also wanted them to be somewhat healthy. My latest infatuation with coconut oil helped me bring all the components together (quite literally) – for a sweet and tasty bite. Wrap these chewy guys up in parchment paper, and throw them in your bag for the perfect healthy snack on the go.
Chewy Date Granola Bars
3/4 c white whole wheat flour
3/4 c oats
1/3 c shredded coconut
1/3 c ground flaxseed
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
5 tbsp pure maple syrup
3/4 c brown sugar
4 tbsp solidified coconut oil
1/2 c sliced almonds
8 medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
Method:
Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix with your hands to form a dough. Grease an 8″x8″ baking dish with coconut oil and add the mixture, pressing down on it to condense. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until browned around the edges. Cool and cut into bars. For a crunchier texture, bake an additional 15-20 minutes.
VARIATION: For no-bake, raw granola bars, you may substitute 3/4 cup oat flour for the whole wheat (just add oats to the food processor and blend until flour consistency). Toast the nuts and oats in the oven at 350 degrees and set aside to cool. Press ingredients into the baking dish and slice. No baking required.
1 year ago: roasted chickpeas
2 years ago: healthy baked pumpkin oatmeal
Looks amazing! Would love to try. Are the oats whole oats or quick oats?
You can use either. If you use whole oats, crumble them with your hands a bit before adding.
I am also obsessed with coconut oil. These look fabulous. I refrigerated the coconut oil for a while to solidify it, but next time will do it in small portions because it took quite a while for what was left in the jar to get back to room temp.
These sound like a great thing to put in my kids lunchboxes! I love that they can be made gluten-free.
they look fab! can’t wait to try them:)
Looks super easy! Great idea for a quick energy packed snack.
I love how you wrapped these.
What a great idea. I’m always looking for ways to eat raw. I’d love to add chocolate chips or maybe some cocoa (you can tell where my heads at).
I love that you used white whole wheat flour for these!
These look fantastic for a quick snack or breakfast!
Will these work if I took out all the coconut. I’m highly allergic to coconut..
Thanks
Surina
You can take out the coconut and use butter instead of the coconut oil.
Can I use olive oil instead of coconut oil?
Hi Rina, you would need something with the consistency of butter, margarine or solidified coconut oil. Olive oil oil is in liquid form, but you are welcome to try if you’d like.
I love these granola bars!!! This weekend I made my first of what will be a household staple I’m sure. I also referenced your blog and recipe on my latest blog post “Best Homemade Granola Bars”. Thank you for the great recipe!
Thanks Amy! So glad you like them!
adjusted my recipe to the following: brown sugar(omitted),oats(omitted) wheat flour (replaced with almond flour) almonds, replaced with walnuts. added currants
I hope it was as good as the original!