These homemade chewy chocolate chip granola bars are sweet and hearty, and so much better than store-bought. Plus they’re a cinch to make!
We’ve been stocking generic chewy chocolate chip granola bars in the pantry for years. My kids love them! And they make for great snacks any time of day. Then a few weeks ago it occurred to me— I wonder if I could make my own?
Many batches of homemade granola bars later and I’ve found the perfect recipe. These bars are chewy, sweet, and very satisfying. They’re filled with rolled oats, sliced almonds, crispy rice cereal, and mini chocolate chips. They have a delicious buttery honey flavor and my kids honestly love them as much as store-bought!
The Best Homemade Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
I worked hard to get the perfect chewy texture with these granola bars, and they really are like store-bought (but better!). These bars hold their shape and won’t crumble at all when you slice them. Plus, they require less than 10 minutes of work to put together with basic pantry staples you may already have in your kitchen. And if you want to customize the mix-ins, you can do that too! Best of all, these homemade granola bars are both kid and adult approved. We all love them!
How to Make These Granola Bars
These chewy chocolate chip granola bars are so simple to make! Bake a batch today for quick snacks throughout the week.
Melt liquid ingredients. Combine butter, honey, and brown sugar over medium low heat until melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla.
Let butter mixture cool. This is an important step because if you mix everything while it’s hot, the chocolate chips will melt and smudge.
Toss dry ingredients together. Combine oats, almonds, rice cereal, whole wheat flour, and salt in a large bowl.
Add liquids. Add butter mixture to the bowl and combine. Mixture will be very sticky!
Stir in chocolate chips.
Press into pan. Compact mixture tightly into a 9×9-inch baking pan lined with parchment paper or greased foil.
Bake. Bake at 325° for about 30-35 minutes until edges just start to turn brown.
Cool and slice. Let bars completely set up and cool before slicing.
Store. Granola bars will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for a week or more. They also freeze well.
Variations
If you’d like to play around with the flavors and mix-ins in these chewy granola bars, here are a few suggestions:
- Substitute ½ cup of the rolled oats for other mix-ins like shredded coconut, dried fruit, or other nuts or seeds.
- Instead of sliced almonds, you can use chopped walnuts, pecans, peanuts, cashews, etc.
- Leave out the chocolate chips if you’d like, or swap for another fun treat like mini M&Ms.
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons Challenge Salted Butter
- ⅓ cup honey
- ½ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup crispy rice cereal
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- ¼ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- ⅓ cup mini chocolate chips
Directions
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1
Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or greased foil.
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2
In a small saucepan, melt butter, honey, and brown sugar over medium low heat until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
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3
Set butter mixture aside for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mostly cooled.
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4
Meanwhile, combine oats, rice cereal, almond, flour and salt in a large bowl.
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5
Add butter mixture to bowl and stir until combined with the dry ingredients. (Mixture will be very sticky.) Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
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6
Press the mixture into the prepared baking pan, compacting it into an even layer.
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7
Bake for 30-35 minutes until edges just start to turn brown.
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8
Let granola bars cool completely in the pan. Then use parchment or foil to lift bars out of the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares or bars.
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9
Store granola bars in an airtight container at room temperature for a week or more. The bars also freeze well.
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!
It’s important to let the butter mixture cool before combining all of the granola bar ingredients so that the chocolate chips don’t melt.
