Imagine yourself eating your favorite granola…
Are you picturing it?
Now imagine eating your favorite granola… in the form of a yummy granola bar!
Nature Valley Granola Bars
Do you know the ones I’m talking about?
Those crunchy bars in the green wrappers? My friend Sarah calls them “horse food” because they’re made up of oats and sugar—things that horses like to eat. But the following granola bar recipe is much too good to share with horses. Sorry, horses.
Soccer Fuel
When I was in high school (it seems like a lifetime ago!), I played on the varsity soccer team, and our daily practices fell right after school. So I got in the habit of grabbing a bar—often a Nature Valley granola bar—to munch in the locker room while dressing out.
I’d completely forgotten about my past with Nature Valley until a few days ago, when I tasted an attempt at what was supposed to be a chewy granola bar.
“Woah, these taste exactly like Nature Valley oats-n-honey bars,” my roommate proclaimed after trying a bite. “Except, maybe these are even better!”
(She quickly proceeded to eat two whole bars.)
Copycat Nature Valley Granola Bars
Can be a gluten-free recipe.
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup rice crispies (I used brown rice crispies)
- 3 T oat flour (You can make your own by grinding oats in a food processor*.)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 T virgin coconut oil (or veg oil)
- 3 T agave (or other liquid sweetener)
- 1 packet stevia (or 1 T dry sweetener)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine dry ingredients, then mix in wet. Transfer to a baking dish (lined with parchment paper), and press down. Squish HARD. Hard hard hard. Then cook for around 18 minutes. Wait at least 20 minutes before trying to cut into bars.
Click to see the granola bars’ Calories and Nutrition Facts.
*If making oat flour, measure the 3T after grinding.
Other bars I’ve done:
What should be next?
What are some of your favorite snack bars?
Larabars? Clif Bars? Mine are definitely Chocolate Wild Bars.
I just wish they weren’t so darn expensive!
{ 158 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome! We used to buy these a lot and they were so crunchy they’d displace teeth – but so yummy. I love the idea of making my own – maybe dip the bottom into some chocolate or a peanut butter coating. Yum Yum!
We have the Sam’s Club sized box of those bars in our pantry b/c my husband is obsessed and takes 2 to work every day. It’s one of those things I feel bad having on hand so maybe I’ll have to try making these at the beginning of the week instead!
Katie this looks so easy and delicious. I would much rather make my own bars than buy them from the store… and all these ingredients are 99% of the time in my kitchen. Perfect for weekday snacking, nice post!
I used to love the peanut butter version of these nature valley bars! I’m usually more into a chewy bar/ snack but something about the crunch of these was so great.
I’m another person that was obsessed with these in high school! I hated the school lunches and would often bring a granola bar and an apple instead. I’ve stopped buying them because they’re so sugary, so I’ll have to give these a try!
Nature Valley = <3
I ate these all through high school, but now they're a bit sweet for me. I opt for the Kashi granola bars when they're not too expensive!
Nature Valley = <3
I ate these all through high school, but now they're a bit sweet for me. I opt for the Kashi granola bars when they're not too expensive
Haha the funny part about your friend calling them horse food is that the oats-n-honey bars are exactly what my friend and I feed our horses as treats! We always have, since they come conveniently two to a packet. We eat one, and then our horses do xD I’m excited to try these out…though you’re probably right, they won’t make it to share with my horse
Ha! What horses eat! That is too funny! ….I do like your recipe quite a bit and think it would be worth a try for sure!
I JUST made a recipe like this one the other day, trying purposefully to copy the nature valley bars. I love this post! How ironic!
You reciepe sounds so amazing I have to try to make them. I was wondering do you use quick cooking oats or regular oats or does it not matter?
Thank you.
No idea if they’d work with quick oats… maybe… But I used regular
.
Ah wonderful! I love these bars and to think that I could make a healthier version myself is great. Also I made your healthy sugar cookies last night for my housemates and every time a new person bit into one they looked like they were going to cry from happiness. SOOOO SOFT! I am a stickler when it comes to my desserts…and they were so much better than normal sugar cookies in my opinion.
My favorite bars are probars! They’re so expensive though, ranging from 2.29-3.29 each! I mean they are pretty nutrient dense, so its like eating an entire meal. So i guess its worth the price.
I think you should make a home made probar!
http://theprobar.com/products/
What size of pan did you use? I made your fudge recipe the other day and noticed you didn’t have a pan size or quantity it makes, and the size I used was too big. My fudge was very flat. Want to get the right size so they cook properly. Thanks
I used an 8×8… but if you want them thicker/thinner, you can use a different size
.
I just bought some vanilla stevia drops for making your chocolate bars. Could I use that in place of the agave?
I don’t think so… but I haven’t tried it.
Amazing! I will definetly be trying these out
These look awesome! And sweet photography…the shoe lace dealio is pretty.
These are going on my weekly foodie favorites! I’ve been looking for granola recipes.. granola bars are even better.
As for my favorite bars..I like the fiber one chocolate chip bars and there are these new Special K chocolate and pretzel bars that are the perfect salty and sweet. Yum.
These look wonderful! We really like all the varieties of KIND bars in our household. They have the good crunch we like and are chock full of healthy nuts and dried fruits. Have you ever attempted to recreate those? Our favorite is the almond cherry with dark chocolate!
I’ve never actually had a Kind bar! I really should try them someday
.
Are these hard like the nature valley? We buy the clif bars now, because they are the only ones I can find vegan, but I absolutely miss my favorite genisoy bars the chocolate mint ones! have you ever tried to come up with a vegan marshmallow?
It depends on how long you cook them. Cook them longer for crispiness, and store in a glass container (as opposed to plastic).
LOL I would have no idea where to begin in making vegan marshmallows!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-marshmallows-recipe/index.html
This is the best marshmallow recipe I’ve found that doesn’t have anything to do with eggs. The best part is he tells you how to make mini-marshmallows! I sat there after I read it and couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of that.
Gelatin in NOT vegan though. You would need a vegan replacement for that.
I’ve always wanted to try a marshmallow recipe, subbing agar (or the one brand of vegan “gelatin” they sell at whole foods) for the gelatin. Someday!
Hey Katie,
I can’t have oils because of a lot of things, but is there anything I could substitute in for the coconut oil? Thanks
Sorry, I don’t know.
Do I get a gold star? I have already made these, and they’re in my oven right now! I of course tasted some of the raw dough and it was DELISH!
I like Nature Valley granola bars, especially the PB, the vanilla, the cinnamon, and the new chocolate chunk versions.
What size pan? I make nomeatathletes.com quite a bit. They are chewy tho. These look great too…. I wanna make these too. Your recipes are great. I made your single mocha cake a few times this weekend
I used an 8×8 pan… but if you want them thicker/thinner, you can use a different size
.
Thx I use to love kind bars but they aren’t Vegan so no more for me
so impressed you could copycat these.. they seem hard to get all crispy!
how many bars would this recipe make??
It depends on how big you cut them. I got 8 bars.
Hi Katie!
These look so amazing! I can’t wait to try them.
How long can they be stored for?? My husband likes to take them to work to eat in the morning, but he doesn’t always get time for breakfast (he is in the army) so they may not get eaten right away.
I only made them a few days ago, so I don’t know… but I would think they’d freeze well!
the problem I have with the Nature Valley is they crumble so much. Hope these stick together more. My current favorite is Chocwalla bars by Odwalla. Yum.
Thank you for the wonderful (coconut free) granola bar recipe! Can’t wait to try it!! I love and use coconut oil and coconut milk but just don’t like the texture of real coconut……
Bars that I am eating right now are the Think Thin bars (my favorite is the chocolate with the white chocolate covering ) only because they are gluten and sugar free and high protein~
Love your blog!
I seriously love nature valley granola bars broken up on a cooked chopped apple with cinnamon, tastes like hot apple pie. I just bought some gluten free oats, I’m gonna try making them. Yay.
I used to love Nature Valley bars, especially the peanut butter or brown sugar (I think?) ones! Although I remember them always being a mess because they were so crumbly! My current favorite bars are Pure bars, which I discovered when I was looking for gluten free bars
Total yum, and not many ingredienats. I love it! I’m going to make these!!
Pretty pictures! The cutting board, oats, green ribbon…looks great.
These turned out great! I threw in ground almonds and coconut for a little extra flavor. So good! My house smells delicious.
I love your idea… it sounds kind of like an almond joy!
Is it too soon to ask for a Larabar Cappuccino flavored copycat?
I know you don’t like them, but they aren’t available where I live yet and I soooo desperately want to try one. And I’m too nervous to play around with the dates-to-nuts-to-flavor ratios.
I also really like Clif! They’re the most versatile bars, I think. I almost always keep one in my car. It’s tragic that they’re so expensive.
Ok, don’t laugh at me when you see this old, ugly post
. But I did do tiramisu larabars a few years ago: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2010/01/11/raw-tiramisu-balls/
No way!! No laughing necessary. Besides, let’ be honest – processed dates have very little hope on their own anyway. This is awesome news. Thank you Katie!
Clif bars!
YUM! I am getting my shipment of banana flavored protein powder this week, so I will make these with an addition of protein powder and let you know how they work (and whether or not more can be added than to just replace the oat flour).
Ohh I love Nature Valley bars! I like how crunchy they are and that Honey Oats flavor has always been my favorite… so obviously I need to make these now!! For the liquid sweetener do you think I could do Stevia drops?
I don’t think so… but I haven’t tried.
Ooh those Nature Valley granola bars saved me throughout college! Great idea – I have to give that recipe a try!
I just made these and used vanilla whey protein powder instead of the oat flour and they turned out delicious!
Oh wow, I’m so glad someone tried them with protein powder! Now if anyone asks, I’ll know to say they work!
I love you. Sorry, just had to say it. I have never been excited about healthy eating. I’ve been silent blog stalking for some time now and I could not keep quiet any longer. You are AMAZING! Thanks for all the lovely and happy making recipes.
This one really excites my mouth!
LOL! Thank you so so much, Danielle!
Mmmm – I love granola bars! I used to like the Nature Valley crunchy ones when I was in college.
My favorite bars are larabars and clif mojo bars (the mountain valley mix with chocolate chips!).
Great idea to add protien powder!! I have vanilla at home. Now, I’m new to coconut oil. Mine is SOLID. Assuming I’m supposed to melt it first before using here? thx!!
Yes
Fantastic…you are just so clever! I love these and especially with a tall glass of almond milk.
I love all your bars and I am usually always snacking on LARA Bars or TLC bars.
I used to love those granola bars too. Now they taste so sweet!
Vega Sport bars are my favourites, for sure. Luna bars come a close second.
xxx
Oh I used to love those granola bars. I am so glad you’ve come up with an awesome, much healthier version!! Looks delicious!
For a snack, I adore vega vibrancy bars although I think I prefer the original instead of chocolate– I know I’m sorry but the chocolate version is less a snack than a dessert! My other fav, which is a meal replacement is the vegan organic food bar: pricey, but it’s sooo worth it for the taste and for the nutrients (which is pretty dense [I have yet to try the chocolate kind]). BUT if I want a peanut butter and chocolate fix, I go for a pb and choco chip larabar which trumps ALL of the above.
Its great that these bars can be easily replicated at home! They’re usually so expensive so I don’t buy them often. Definitely will try!
I used to love those Nature Valley bars, but most aren’t vegan because of the honey. So glad to see a vegan version!
My absolute favorite bars are the chocolate peanut butter Zing bars, so delicious, so gluten-free, SOOOOO expensive.
These seriously look awesome. I almost picked up a box of granola bars at the store the other day, but more than half the calories came from fat, and they were loaded with sugar. Just couldn’t do it! I will have to try these out next week. It’ll be a great snack to take to school after work.
Yum Yum and more Yum…I love the oats n’ honey bars!
Can you fix your Larabar link? I’m a new follower and been trying to find that recipe for the past few days now.
I don’t even “do” health food, but all of your recipes are freakin’ amazing.
Nevermind, it just started working for me…
Yum!! I LOVE those bars!
omg looks amazing. I can never find good GF bars to make so these are perfect. Thanks Katie!
omg, you’re my favourite person right meow! I looove Nature Valley granola bars, but I stopped eating them because they don’t keep me full. I’m gonna try making these. And some of them will have chocolate chips, too!
Ok so… if I pressed these down into a sprayed, floured PIE dish instead of a baking sheet, do you think I could make a… granola bar pie crust? Maybe I could dress it up by adding coconut shreds to the recipe o_o
As for the question: I’ve never really been a “snack bar” person. I used to eat Kashi bars fairly regularly (convenience), and for a short while I was eating a lot of those BIG 100 protein bars (candy with perks). I do remember there being a cereal-centric restaurant in my college town called the Cereal Bowl, though. They offered smoothies also, and granola bars. I’d often get a mango/orange smoothie and a crunchy peanut butter Nature Valley granola bar and eat them together. It was pretty darn tasty.
thanks so much for this! i would love love to know how to make my favorite granola into a granola bar-preferably chewy.
Katie those look amazing! I remember being a kid and taking Nature’s Valley Granola Bars to track and field day, year after year (along with a bottle of bug juice!)
So Katie do you take challenges? If so there’s these cookies that I used to make all the time, that were packed full of nutrients (they’re called lactation cookies, but really there’s nothing weird about them) and they are so delicious. Problem is they’re packed FULL of sugar. Its an easy enough recipe to veganize, but when I tried to make them less sugary and more healthy (I replaced the butter with 1/2 and 1/2 chilled coconut oil and smart balance, and removed the white sugar replacing it with applesauce), i got balls instead of cookies. So are you up to the challenge? (They are the most amazing cookies btw, you’ll love them)
http://www.food.com/recipe/oatmeal-chocolate-chip-lactation-cookies-by-noel-trujillo-192346
LOL I’ll put it on my ever-growing list
.
I always think of this whenever I see those bars now: http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr3767Yrcb1qazvpdo1_500.png
They look exactly like the real things! Can’t wait to try them!
Great idea! Can’t wait to try this!
I can’t wait to try this out.
I’ve always loved the crunch of those bars, just not the ingredients. These look wwaaaaaayyyyy better!
I was scouring the internet for a granola bar recipe just yesterday and wasn’t satisfied with anything I found. I can’t wait to give this a try – it’s exactly what I was looking for!
Awesome blog Katie. Going to hit you up every time I need to make a dessert for an event. My roommate and I put on healthy feasts and then blog about them. We will make sure to steer everyone to your page!
Yum! I love the Nature Valley Bars (except the ones with, y’know, artificial colors, flavors, corn syrups, and whatnot) so I’ll give these a try soon! I’m out of homemade granola bars anyway
http://milk-and-tea.blogspot.com
YUMMY!!!! I was just thinking of looking for a recipe and this appeared in my inbox….thanks! I love your recipes! Especially the chocolate ones…hehehe!
I love how simple and clean this recipe is. My girls don’t like granola bars with too much ‘going on’ so I can’t wait for them to try these.
i looooove nature valley bars. they have an apple crisp flavor that i can only find at one local grocery store. its amazing! everytime i go there i make sure to stock up. i also love the pb flavor and maple brown sugar…..and roasted almond….heck i love em all!! thanks for the recipe!
These bars look so good! I used to really like the Nature Valley bars, but now I think they’re too sweet. These look like they’ll be perfect! It’s so funny that your friend calls them “horse food.” I recently made a batch of healthy oatmeal cookies that got a similar reaction. When my husband tried them, he said they tasted like horse food, and he started calling them “horse cookies.” Now, whenever I make anything healthy, he puts the word “horse” in front of it.
Remember Clif Nectar bars? Like Lara bars, but smoother, and very sadly, discontinued. They made a fabulous lemon/goji bar that was tart, and citrus-y, and all around good, and made up a large part of my diet when I was pregnant. I’d LOVE to see those cloned, or maybe Clif could just start making them again. I’d happily pay for them.
Yes! Those (the chocolate flavors) were my FAVORITES. I was so so sad when they discontinued them!
I was hoping so hard for a cookie recipe, but I LOVE nature valley bars, so I’m super happy :’D Making these for SURE.
My husband eats one one of these as a pre-lunch snack every day. It’s actually the only processed food we buy! Now, with this recipe, I can make it instead of bending my food morals and buying pre-packed food. Thanks so much!
My husband eats one one of these as a pre-lunch snack almost every day. It’s actually the only processed food we buy! Now, with this recipe, I can make it instead of bending my food morals and buying pre-packed food. Thanks so much!
Clif Mojo Bars! But sometimes they have more sugar than I want–I have ice cream every night and I worry about too much sugar overall. But the Mojo bars (esp. Mountain Mix, White Chocolate, and the new Coconut Almond) are just so good!
Haha, just had to pop in and say that we really DO feed the Nature Valley oats ‘n’ honey bars as treats to the horses! They LOVE them! Haha, and I do, too. Its usually one bite for the pony, and then one bite for me (except one “bite” for a pony is pretty much the entire bar, lol…)
do you cook these with the wax paper in the pan? I’ve never done that before, and it just sounds like it would make the bars waxy!
I love bars! Kashi I think are my favorite. I also used to get the Nature Valley variety pack just for the cinnamon bars (because they didn’t make them in their own box, sad). I <3 cinnamon.
Can't wait to try these
to be more specific, Kashi TLC chocolate cherry bars
mmmm
Thanks so much for posting this recipe! But I do have a question my absolute favorite flavor is the peanut butter. Could I just add peanut butter to this recipe?
I’ve not tried it… but if you try it I’d love to know if it works!
I made them with peanut butter last night. I added a lil over a tablespoon of peanut butter and they turned out great! They were a little bit softer than the original, I’m sure if I had cut back on some ofthe other liquid they would have been crunchier. But my husband prefers the chewy kind anyway so it worked out great! Thanks again for the post!
I’m in love with Nature’s Valley <3
SO I tried this recipe and loved it! My local supermarket didn't have any small boxes of Rice Krispies so I put in almonds instead. I was worried it would fall apart but it held together nicely. It tasted so good I only cut it into 5
Do you think i can use applesauce instead of the oil?
I LOVE Clif Kids Z-bars. Especially the Brownie flavored…yum! I buy them “for my kids” but I always end up eating more than they do!
Question: Have you tried using Coconut Nectar in any of your recipes? I’m wondering if I could substitute the agave in this recipe. I bought a bottle because I saw it in my local health food store and it sounded interesting, but I’m not sure how to use it. The label makes it sound like it is a healthier alternative to agave, but I’ve never tasted agave so I’m not sure if this is similar! It’s molasses thick, comes from the sap of a coconut tree, but doesn’t taste like maple syrup. I guess I could stop typing about it and just give it try, right?
I don’t think I’ve ever seen coconut nectar. I’ll have to look out for it!
I just wanted to update that I used the coconut nectar and it turned out really well! I was too lazy to grind up some oat flour, so I used powdered peanut butter (PB2) instead and it was tasty! Maybe a little too salty for me (my kids and husband liked it that way) since the PB2 contains salt, but still really good. Oh, and I added a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips. I couldn’t help myself.
I’ve used coconut nectar in many recipes. It has worked fine for me in anything that calls for agave, or honey. Only thing I’ve noticed is that it doesn’t seem quite as sweet to me. I’m fine with less sweet, but if you have a sweet tooth maybe up the amount or add some stevia too??
I’ve been buying Odwalla lately. I love the banana nut flavor– just like a piece of banana bread.
Hi Katie, I made these bars just last night for my Dad but when I tried to cut them ((this morning)) they were just crumbling and breaking
. I DID squish them down as hard as I could. Any ideas why they might be so crumbly??
Jade C.
I don’t know
It’s so hard to know what could’ve gone wrong when I wasn’t there to see the process.
I made these VERY successfully the first time using 2 Tbs honey and 1 Tbs maple syrup for the wet sweetener and 1 Tbs brown sugar for the dry. They were amazing!! The second time, since I have five kids, I doubled the recipe and used all maple syrup for the liquid sweetener. They came out crumbly. I’m not sure if it was the all maple or doubling in a 9×12, but I am guessing the maple syrup wasn’t sticky enough. We have bite size chunks, which is great, and the rest is perfect granola, so it certainly wasn’t a fail!
Thanks, Katie!
Hmmm… yeah, agave is stickier/thicker than maple syrup. I’m guessing that was the issue. But your granola idea sounds really good, actually!
Katie, these came out perfect! Thank you! I ended up using olive oil, 1/4 cup ground up rice cake instead of cereal and 1t brown sugar. It seemed a little dry when i was mixing so i also added 1t almond milk….definitely nature valley worthy!
My boyfriend loves the PB Nature Valley bars and I was wondering if the recipe would still work if I used PB instead of coconut or veg oil.
Thank you for the great recipe.
Hi! I recently found your blog through Pinterest, and I am LOVING your recipes! My husband and I are trying to go completely sugar-free as we both have a lot of weight to lose, and I have an autoimmune disorder which is aggravated by sugar intake. Anyway, I have what is probably a silly question: I’ve never used coconut oil before, so when measuring it, should I cook it down/liquify it before measuring, or do you just measure the solid form?? Sorry for the amateurish question, and thank you for the great recipe, I can’t wait to try these this weekend!
Not silly at all!
Yes, you should melt it first. Or if you live in a hot place like Texas, it’s already melted… my coconut oil is hardly ever solid to begin with!
I too have been wanting to make some peanut butter granola bars and so far this is the closest to what I’m interested in (except for the pb). Do you have any opinions on simply adding some pb to this recipe? I was going to go for chewy anyways, as that’s what the boys here prefer
I don’t have any advice… but if you try it, I’d love to hear the results!
These were delicious! Problem, though… the wax paper stuck to the bottom of the bars. Did I use it incorrectly, somehow? I turned the bars into regular granola while trying to get the paper off, which worked to a certain extent… but I’m also pretty sure I ingested a fair amount of wax paper
Hmmm… oh yikes
I’m not sure what could’ve been the issue. Maybe spray the wax paper with oil spray next time? (I didn’t, and mine still didn’t stick, but maybe it’s a particular brand difference?)
I’ve got to try this. I especially like the idea of peanut butter ones, but I will try the recipe pretty much as written first. But just a thought on a PB variation: Maybe some ground peanuts instead of ground oats and PB instead of the oil?
Mmm I’ve got to try these! I hope they’re not as crumbly as the store bought ones. I’d love it if you made a recipe for clif bars.
especially white chocolate macadamia flavor.
Yummy! I substituted vital wheat gluten for the oat flour and only used the 3T of agave for sweetener. I crumpled a couple bars over some almond milk yogurt for breakfast
Hey Katie! GREAT RECIPE! I LOVEEEE NATURE VALLEY BARS. But they’re loaded in sugars if im not wrong…? read it from somewhere.
anyway, how many bars did you get out of this? i have a small family so i might be making too much then i wouldnt be able to finish it. :/
I have to stay this recipe is amazing! I love it some much. I used coconut flour in replace of the oat flour. It has such a great flavor. I also had problems cutting it into bars so I just broke it up into a bunch of big pieces. And my husband decided last night to eat some with frosting on top. Thank you so much for this recipe!
anything i could substitute rice krispies with? more oats? i don’t have any rice krispies at home
Sorry, I’m not sure.
Kat – if you don’t have crispy rice cereal, I bet any crispy breakfast cereal might work. If you have some kind of flakes just break them into rice sized bits. Or maybe sunflower seeds? GOOD luck. Am going shopping today and so I’m going to get crispy brown rice so I can try these. Thanks so much Katie!
Hi! I just made the bars but i had a little problem… The mix didn’t merge well and therefore when i took it out of the oven it wasn’t stiff nor crunchy, it was just the same way i put it in. Could this have happened because of insufficient oil?? Thanks a lot!
Did you use the amount of oil called for?
You are a genius.
Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. I’ve been wanting a good recipe to replace those Oats n Honey bars that I love. I used unsweetened coconut instead of the puffed rice, and honey and a little liquid stevia to sweeten. You’re friend was right… These are BETTER than the Nature Valley kind!!! I’m still in shock
Hi Katie. I just found you on Pinterest! And I love your recipes!! I have a question about this one- I have never backed anything in wax paper- it seems like it would melt into the food?
Yeah, I don’t *think* you’re supposed to bake wax paper, right? I could be wrong. I used parchment paper with this recipe and they came off perfectly!
Hmmm… mine never melted. But I hadn’t thought about it. I love the suggestion to use parchment paper!
Once I baked with waxed paper by mistake and boy did I have a smoky house – I had to open all the windows and doors and it took a while to clear out!
I went online before to look up wax paper and it says you can use it in baked goods but it has to be covered completely otherwise it will smoke. So it cant be used for say cookies but the bottom of a cake you can. Hope that helps
Katie… your blog had me at “frosting shots” and now this? I’m excited to try these granola bars for my kids. I love the crunchy kind! Thank you for these!
I made these and they are by far the best home-made granola bar I’ve made! My son loves them! I have a couple questions – what size pan did you bake yours in? I used an 8 in round cake pan (my 8 inch square was in use) and baked for 18 min and they turned out very brown and almost over-done. I’m going to reduce the time for the next batch but was just curious what size you were using – maybe mine are coming out a lot thinner so they’re baking faster. Also, if adding raisins and mini chocolate chips would you increase the amount of wet ingredients to help them stick together? I added both and they are a bit crumbly so I’m assuming I should increase the wet ingredients. Would you increase the oil or the sweetener or a little bit of both?
I think, if I remember correctly, I used a 7×4 for this recipe, since it makes a small batch.
I really can’t know how any additions or modifications will work until I try. Sorry I can’t be more helpful on that!
.
Hey, I tried this recipe and it was terrible!
The granola bars, made GRANOLA not bars. They did not stick together at all. I followed the directions exactly.
I baked for around 18 min, and put the exact amount of oil, and other liquids that would allow it to stick, but as i took it out of the over, I accidentally turned it over, and everything spilt, this wouldn’t have happened if this recipe wasn’t so bad!
Any tips on why, or what to do next time!
I’ve found you have to wait for them to cool and the wait a bit longer and then they are fine! Bur really wait!
okay thanks!
I might try that next time, if i want to make them again!
First of all, I really don’t think it’s nice that you have to say “if this recipe wasn’t so bad!”
Many people have made the recipe and didn’t have a problem, so the odds are more likely you accidentally mis-measured something, or you used a specific product or brand that threw something off.
I stand by all of my recipes 100%.
Can you please tell me more about the specific ingredients you used, how you pressed down (and how hard), and how long you waited before turning it over?
The recipe isn’t bad. I’ve made it twice now and they’ve come out perfectly both times. As bars, not granola. Sounds like you did something wrong.
agave is a type of thick sweetner like___ Honey__ can be a used in the place of it
bb if the agave is not in it or Honey its not going to stick together——-Anonymous is doglady521c
Just made this and it’s gorgeous! I did 1 – 1/2 times the recipe as I didn’t have a tin small enough. I used a crushed (chocolate covered) rice cake instead of rice crispies because I didn’t have any. And I had to add a extra 2tsp of oil and a tbsp of honey so it got to something I thought would stick together. I also added some dark chocolate, dried cherries, dried apricots and dried goji berries for extra yummyness and vitamins.
It didn’t turn out as crispy as the nature valley bars – probably because a) it’s still warm and b) the amount of honey I used but for me that is a good thing as I find the nature valley ones verge a little on the dangerously crispy side. It almost came out like a flapjack (english oat tray bake – not a pancake), and again that is good for me, I like flapjacks
Forgot to add, It came out of the tin perfectly, silicone tin that I sprayed with olive oil before hand. Sliced up well too. It’s important to wait until it’s cool before taking out of the tin & cutting. And to cut on a completely flat surface like a chopping board not on a cooling rack.
I have never tried a flapjack! But when you mentioned them, I googled… and now I really want to
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oh they’re so good! The flavour options are pretty much endless with them too! And I’d expect they’d be pretty easy to veganise.
I made them and they are delicious!! The best bars that I’ve tried! They turned out really crunchy! Love that!!
I also made them with protein powder (love!!) and with pb..and with apple extract and cinnamon…well..they’re all delicious!!
Do these need to be refrigerated? I am going camping and this would make an awesome snack.
Nope!
I made these yesterday! I used brown sugar instead of stevia, and honey instead of agave. I read some reviews and used whey protein instead of oat flour. I didn’t love the added protein, I could really taste it (not in a good way). But other than that, these were delicious! Great texture and super easy. Next time I won’t be lazy and I’ll grind the oats.
I also was surprised at how dry the mixture was, but it still really held together well. This one is a keeper!
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