Breakfast
Jump to Recipe
by Jessica January 5, 2011
Sunday morning, I woke up with an unreasonable craving for granola bars. It probably had a bit to do with the statement Mr. How Sweet made on New Year’s Day… something along the lines of wanting to buy Fiber One bars in bulk? I raised an eyebrow.
He does not need any more fiber. Trust me.
Why won’t he eat my own granola bars?
I’m sure if I could create a granola bar out of chicken and steak, he’d go to town on that.
But now that I’ve left you with that digusting image in your head , let me tell you about the deliciousness that is these peanut butter granola bars.
They may just be the simplest bars you’ll ever make!
You only need five ingredients to begin. They will create a simple, perfect peanut butter granola bar, but I also like to think of it as a base for a packed peanut butter granola bar.
Since I’ve made six batches of these bars since Sunday, I can tell you what works: chocolate chips, dried cherries, almonds, wheat germ, dried figs, and dried banana.
Yes, dried banana. A peanut butter, honey and banana granola bar! Mmmmm. I think I’m in heaven.
Into this particular batch went a boatload of chocolate chips, because well… we all know nothing is better than chocolate and peanut butter.
I know I don’t need to explain myself to you guys. You know me.
And since you know me, many of you are probably wondering when I’ll cave and add bacon. Honestly, I just thought about it for the first time as I was writing this post. Perhaps I need to make an Elvis granola bar? I am giddy at the thought.
I might need to be committed after that one.
The best part? You don’t even have to bake these bad boys. I baked 3 batches and left 3 other batches as no-bakes. I can’t decide which I like better, but I do love that the chocolate gets a bit melty in the oven.
Have you ever bit into a warm granola bar? You need to experience this.
The funniest part of these granola bars is that before I perfected this easy concoction on Sunday afternoon, I had 3 failed attempts – all more complicated and full of fluff. Sometimes simple is better, no?
At least I’m off to a good start with 2011 recipe disasters. Nothing like getting ahead.
Yield: 12 to 16 granola squares
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
4.93 from 14 votes
Leave a Review »
Ingredients
- 4 cups rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds, these are optional, I just love the texture they give
- 1/2 cup unsalted peanuts, chopped
- 3/4 cup natural peanut butter, melted
- 1/2 cup brown rice syrup, honey works too!
add ins:
- chocolate chips
- wheat germ
- flaxseed
- dried fruit, I made some with cherries!
- other nuts
- seeds
- coconut
Instructions
Preheat over to 350.
In a large bowl, combine oats, chia seeds and peanuts. Add brown rice syrup (or honey) and mix to combine. Add melted peanut butter and mix until moistened. This works as a perfect, simple granola bar, but you can also throw in any add-ins at this time. Fold them into the dough. You may need to get in there with your hands and work the granola dough! If dough is still too dry (this can depend on your ingredients) add more peanut butter or syrup (or honey) 1 tablespoon at a time until moistened.
Press dough in a greased (non-stick spray) 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes.
These would also work as a great no-bake granola bar, but I liked how they came together and the chocolate chips melted as they got warm. If you want to make no-bakes, simply press the dough into the pan and refrigerate for 60 minutes.
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Did you make this recipe?
Be sure to follow @howsweeteats on instagram and tag #howsweeteats. You can also post a photo of your recipe to our facebook page.
I appreciate you so much!
Off to dream of bacon granola bars. Don’t hate.
posted in: Breakfast, Recipes 298 comments
Order My New Book:
Everyday Dinners
Real-life recipes to set your family up for a week of success.
Order Now:Bookshop//Amazon//Target
Barnes & Noble//IndieBound//Apple Books
« Previous PostA 2011 Workout Playlist.
Next Post »What Resolution?
Leave a Reply
-
Pingback: Recipe Sunday’s: New Recipes this week | Fit Fly Mamas
-
Jill — Reply
I am gonna try these they sound good but alot of you are saying that they are falling apart! Hope that doesn’t happen to me!!!!! I don’t like how there is so much crap in some of the packaged granola bars from the store, so I’ve decided to take a different approach. P.S. I suck at baking
-
Pingback: WIAW #3: On a Very Long Day… | After the Ivy League
-
Diane — Reply
Thanks for a great recipe idea!
I made these this morning and they came out pretty good. My only real change to the basic recipe was I ended up using right at 1 cup of peanut butter.
I think some of the issues people are having relates to what brand of peanut butter they are using. Some are thicker than others, more or less sweet and more or less salty. I used Jason’s Natural and it has no added salt or sugar. Even though I used roasted/salted peanuts as one of my additives the mixture was still a little bland so I added a bit of salt – that enhanced the sweetness (think salted caramels).
My additions were chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, chopped roasted peanuts, slivered almonds and a small amount of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
I pressed these down HARD into the pan. They held together fairly well – one corner bar crumbled when I cut it but the others stayed pretty solid. -
Gina — Reply
How long would you let them cool before cutting into squares?
-
Pingback: Peanut Butter Granola Bars « Baking Kate
-
Pingback: {chewy no-bake peanut butter dark chocolate granola bars}
-
Pingback: Homemade Chewy Granola Bars {Recipe} | Home Sweet Here
-
Ashlyn — Reply
Does syrup work instead of honey… ( syrup for pancakes)
-
DeAnna — Reply
I just tried this and although i did add in more honey and pb, they still came out dry. so bummed. i’ll still snack on the pieces – guess this was a trial run. will make these again another time.
-
Cassie Haw — Reply
I’ve made these several times and have definitely had to add more pb and honey but… granola bars are supposed to be kind of dry and not terribly moist, right?
-
discount — Reply
Take a simple survey and Win Prizes worth up to £2500
Go to http://prizerewards.nl/myquiz/index.php?keyword=ForumGSA -
Pingback: Real Food on the Go | LiveSimply
-
Pingback: Chia Seed Granola Bars | Talking Tart
-
Pingback: No-Bake Granola Bars | six at 6
-
Lori — Reply
I put this recipe into my Myfitnesspal recipe log. No extra add ins..just basic recipe using honey. 16 servings at 189 calories each.
-
Pingback: Jewish Watch Australia » 5-Ingredient breakfast granola bars [Vegan, Gluten-free]
-
Stephant — Reply
These look awesome… do you think grade b maple syrup could bs subb’d for the agave or honey?
-
Inhaling Hope — Reply
I made these today and they were amazingly delicious. However, as many people have said the simply crumbled when I tried to take then out of the pan. I only used 3 cups of oats and added lots extra peanut butter and honey in hopes that it would do the trick. Nope. At least it still taste good.
-
Stacey — Reply
Awesome recipe. Was hoping to find the calorie content… any thoughts?
-
Pingback: Fit, Fed and Happy
-
Pingback: Peanut Butter Maple Bacon Granola Bars - I bake he shoots
-
Sarah — Reply
These were amazing! i added a lot of extra nuts and dried fruits to the mix. I used honey instead. At first they were crumbling a lot. Then I reheated the first batch in the oven and as it was warm, I took it out and used waxed paper and pressed down firmly all over the top. The second batch came out perfectly after I pressed firmly during baking.
-
Pingback: Peanut Butter Oat Snack Bars with Chocolate & Sea Salt
-
Pingback: Traveling and Whole Plant-Based Food
-
Pingback: The snack: Five granola bars with under five ingredients - Canadian Running Magazine
-
Pingback: Healthy Snacking Tips and Snack Ideas - Nutrition by Ashley
-
Mary Brinovec — Reply
Need to ask how this worked for you because it isn’t for me.
First my natural peanut butter won’t melt.
Second the batch is so dry that after baking it, it just fell apart.
Very confused. -
Amanda — Reply
What’s the nutritional information for the basic 5 ingredient bars? Like calorie, fat, protein, ect.
-
Cathy — Reply
This recipe worked great for me! I have credited your link on my blog:http://cathyscleaneatingchronicles.blogspot.com
My kids love these! -
Pingback: So THAT’S Why We Should Be Eating Chia Seeds | Suddenly Diabetic
-
Pingback: So THAT'S Why We Should Be Eating Chia Seeds - Weight Loss Diet 2 Fitness
-
Pingback: Sweet & Savory Baked Treats – TEEN TONES
-
Pingback: So THAT’S Why We Should Be Eating Chia Seeds – chiaseedsbuy.com
-
Mackenzie Spurlock — Reply
HI!
I thought your recipe looked delicious and wanted to try them out for myself. I had a couple of question regarding the caloric intake on these. How many servings does one batch make? And about how many calories are in a single serving? What are some of the nutritional facts about this recipe?
Thank You! -
Pingback: 21 Best Healthy Snack Recipes - Healthy Kitchen 101
-
Rezza — Reply
I’m rating it a 4 while my granola is baking in the oven. I didn’t exactly follow the specs here, but eyeballed the ingredients (scary, I know) as I plopped them into my baking dish :) I was having midnight cravings and was debating whether I should snack or not while in the middle of Covid19 quarantine. My easier substitute: Trailmix (yep, sweet and salty mix already in there with the m&m and raisin!), rolled outs, chia, honey and PB. I made a smaller batch first to test drive, and waiting for 20 more minutes for the oven to *ping!*. Excited to try this!
-
Sarah — Reply
These bars crumbled for me as well so ended up using them as a crumble of yogurt, don’t think I’ll make again as I have made other granola bar recipes that hold up better.
-
Kathy G — Reply
These are in the oven right now. I was looking for a snack bar/granola recipe that was simple and not a lot of added stuff. I had quit buying snack bars because of all the added ingredients and I try not to eat anything with preservatives in it. I added a bit more peanutbutter and honey as they seemed a little dry. I added walnuts and raisins (these were what I had on hand) pressed them firmly into the pan. I will press them again upon taking them out of the oven so hopefully they won’t crumble. They tasted really good before baking so i am sure they will be delicious. And even if they crumble, i will eat as granola! Thanks for the recipe
