My kids love granola bars and they are happy to eat them for breakfast, school lunch, and even as after-school snacks. The chewy chocolate chip granola bars are their favorite.
Kids love helping me make these homemade healthy chewy granola bars on the weekend and it is such a fun project with a delicious outcome. If you are looking for a more indulging treat you can also try these Magic Cookie Bars.
About The Recipe
A granola bar is a bar made with oats, flour, and other ingredients such as nuts, chocolate, fats (oil/butter) and sweetened with honey or sugar. They are loved by kids and adults and make excellent snacks be it for kids’ lunchbox or after-school snacks or for a quick breakfast or even a healthy dessert. This homemade baked chocolate chip granola bars recipe is extremely easy to make, adaptable, cheaper, and healthier than the store-bought kind! They are crispy around the edges, chewy in the center making them irresistible. For me, oats, chocolate chips, and walnuts are a classic combination to start with. You can’t go wrong with these. But you can definitely add more nuts or dry fruits to make it more nutritious. Bake these chewy granola bars over the weekend and you have a snack at hand all week long that the family can grab and enjoy!! Let’s see how to make chocolate chip granola bars at home.
Recipe Ingredients
Oats - Use old-fashioned rolled oats for this recipe. Sweetener - I have used a combination of brown sugar and honey. Brown sugar gives it a slight caramel taste add honey acts as a sweetener and glue to hold bars together. Maple syrup can be used instead of honey. Flour - Use whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, or use oat flour to keep it gluten-free. I have used milled flaxseed also known as ground flaxseed since I had it on hand. Flavor - Vanilla extract for flavor and salt which helps bring out the sweet flavors. Cinnamon can be added too. Oil - I have used canola oil but you can also use vegetable oil, melted coconut oil, or avocado oil. Melted butter would work too. Nuts - I love using walnuts, they add natural crunch and taste so delicious in these bars. You can add nuts of choice (pecans, almonds, peanuts) or skip to keep it nut-free. Chocolate chips - Mini chocolate chips are perfect with these granola bars. I have used semi-sweet chocolate but you can add dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, or even regular chocolate chips or chopped chocolate chunks. Feel free to skip chocolate too but highly recommend it. In addition, you can either replace or add these in combination with walnuts and chocolate chips - crispy rice cereal, shredded unsweetened coconut, raisins, dried cherries, cranberries, and chia seeds to make these more chewy, nutritious, and delicious!!
How To Make Granola Bars (Stepwise)
1 - Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray an 8X8 baking pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. Fold the parchment paper over the edges so that it’s easy to lift the bars out once they cool (as shown in pic). Spray more cooking oil over the parchment paper. 2 and 3- In a mixing bowl, add all the dry ingredients - oats, milled flax seeds (or whole wheat flour), brown sugar, walnuts, chocolate chips, and salt. Mix well using a spatula. 4 - In another bowl, whisk together the oil, vanilla, and honey until smooth and combined. Pour this all over the dry ingredients 5 - Mix well using a spatula to ensure that all the wet ingredients coat the dry ingredients properly. 6 - Transfer the granola bar mixture to the pre-lined baking pan. 7 - Spread the mixture over the parchment paper evenly using a spatula. Press down and pack it tight which will help the granola bars stick together better. 8 - Bake at 325°F for 30-35 mins (baked mine for 30 mins) let it cool in the pan completely for 2 hours. Cut into 12 bars using a really sharp knife. Healthy, chewy, and crunchy Chocolate Chip Walnut Granola Bars are ready. Enjoy these on their own or with a glass of milk as an after-school/office snack or a healthy dessert.
Storage
After you cut the bars into portions, wrap them individually in parchment paper or plastic wrap and store them in an airtight container or bag at room temperature for up to 7 days or in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. Allow the refrigerated bars to come to room temperature as they taste best that way.
Recipe Tips
You can toast the oats and nuts in a preheated oven for a few mins before mixing for a more toasty flavor. I usually skip this step. While measuring the ingredients, add oil and then honey. This way honey will not stick to the measuring cup and slide through easily. I have used some milled (ground) flax seeds in this recipe for that boost of omega-3. You can use wheat flour or all-purpose flour or oat flour. These bars need to be baked properly and cooled completely before cutting them to avoid them from crumbling. Some crumbling is natural. If you find the bars are crumbling a lot, just refrigerate them for an hour or so and then slice. Use a sharp knife to cut these bars. This recipe is adaptable and you can add more nuts (peanuts, walnuts, pecans) or dry fruits (shredded coconut, cherries, cranberries, raisins) in place of chocolate chips walnuts, or in combination. While adding extra ingredients, make sure you are using enough liquid/honey to bind otherwise these bars will be crumbly. Use a sticky sweetener like honey to bind the ingredients and prevent crumbling since we are not cooking the honey, sugar, and oil mixture. You can easily double this recipe and bake in a 9×13 inch dish.
More Healthy Snack Recipes
Hope you enjoy this Homemade Healthy Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars !! If you give this recipe a try, please rate by clicking stars ⭐️ on the recipe card. Thank you ❤️! You can also follow me on Facebook | Instagram to see what’s cooking in my kitchen!!
Recipe Card
Update Notes: This post was originally published on Aug 24, 2015, but was republished with, step by step instructions, new photos, tips, and a video in Feb of 2022.
