The Best Recipe for Granola Bars

Have you been searching for the best recipe for granola bars? Look no further! Way better than store-bought, these soft and chewy homemade treats are extremely flexible when it comes to ingredient swaps. (I'm looking at you, peanut butter.) And since the start of the school year is *thisclose* for everyone, I wanted to share a family favorite that is easy to make on the weekend and stuff in lunchboxes all week long.

Why You'll Love These Granola Bars

• E-A-S-Y - Almost like hitting the easy button on snacktime. Bake once, eat for days!
• Healthier than store-bought - Not only are there real, recognizable ingredients in these granola bars, YOU get to choose what additions you want in the recipe!
• Family-friendly - Granola bars

Ingredients and Substitutions for the Best Granola Bars:

• Quick oats - Gluten-free, if preferred or needed for sensitivities.
• Brown sugar - It gives these granola bars a moist, chewy texture.
• Peanut butter - WAIT! You can make these with any nut butter - such as almond or cashew butter - or use a nut butter alternative, such as Wowbutter.
• Corn syrup - For those with corn allergies, you can substitute with honey or maple syrup.
• Butter - Can be made with dairy-free, vegan butter
• Vanilla Blossom pure vanilla extract - there is no substitute for this amazing brand of vanilla!
• Sunflower seeds or Pumpkin Seeds- Provides crunch, vitamin E, iron, zinc, and protein.
• Raisins - Any other dried fruit will work here!
• Ground Flax Seed - You can use oat bran as a substitute.
• Sesame seeds - Provides fiber and also a fair amount of protein.

Really, these bars are so versatile! Think of all the flavor combinations you could come up with for all the picky eaters in your life! Try these varieties by swapping out the raisins for the following:

• Apple cinnamon - dried apple chunks and add a half teaspoon of ground cinnamon. You could even chop walnuts and swap them for the sunflower seeds.
• Chocolate chip - chocolate chips - white, milk, or dark!
• Cranberry orange - dried cranberries and orange zest.
• Any kind of dried berry - strawberries, blueberries, or cherries.

How to Make These Granola Bars:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease a 9"x13" pan, or use parchment paper.

• Add the brown sugar, peanut butter, corn syrup, margarine, and vanilla to a medium bowl with your oats. Mix using a spatula until well combined.

• Put remaining dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir until well mixed.
• Pour the wet mixture from the blender into the dry ingredients and stir. Make sure to get everything incorporated!
• Press the mixture firmly into your 9"x13" baking dish.

• Score the mixture into bars with a butter knife. You can easily make them uniform sizes by scoring across the middle of the dish each direction. Continue to score each section in half until you have reached the desired size.

• Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
• Cool, cut, and serve!

FAQs and Other Baking Tips:

More Quick & Easy Recipes

• Addicting Butterscotch Square Recipe
• Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies Recipe
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Marshmallow Squares

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When you make this recipe, take a photo and tag BAKED by Blair on social media – don’t forget to add #bakedbyblair! I would love to hear how you enjoyed the Granola Bars, so comment below! If you want to pin this recipe and save it for later, go ahead and click the pin button above and save it to your favourite desserts board on Pinterest! ENJOY!