Chewy Peanut Butter Fruit and Nut Granola Bars are packed with toasted oats and nuts, dried fruit and sweetened with maple and brown rice syrup. vegan + easily gluten free.
Rob’s been sick with a dreadful winter cold. Luckily it wasn’t the flu. I’ve been drinking copious amounts of this citrus ginger mint green smoothie, to avoid any bug that might encroach. Despite my tactics, I woke Saturday morning with a nasty sore throat. I don’t remember the last time I was sick.
Thing is I really don’t feel terrible over all, just enough to slow me down rolling out of bed or to tire me a bit earlier in the evening. Perhaps my body is responding better because of the smoothies? It’s hard to tell.
But despite my mild cold, I still went for long walks. We’ve been having sprinkly, and relatively warm weather lately making it really nice to head outside; my inspiration for these grab n’ go chewy granola bars. I guess being back outdoors regularly for some exercise has made me feel like Spring is not too far away.
Song birds have started singing their sweet melodic songs again, our camellia is about to bloom and the short days are slowly, but noticeably, getting longer.
One of my favorite things to have on hand is grab n’ go snacks (so much so I wrote a recipe book on the subject!). Things I can put together relatively quickly and is easily portable. You’ve seen them floating around Vanilla And Bean; from pumpkin kasha energy bites and maple pecan granola to bourbon date nut truffles (sub espresso for bourbon for non celebratory snacks!).
Besides fruit, nuts or dreaded grab the bag of black pepper Kettle chips and eat a few devour the whole bag, I like to have better-for-me options on hand.
A Few Recipe Notes
- These are not no bake granola bars, y’all. Toasting the nuts, seeds and oats prior to assembly brings out deeper nutty flavors and textures. It’s worth the effort.
- These bars are chewy, yet have a nice crunch from the nuts and seeds, naturally sweetened with maple and brown rice syrup.
- Drizzle with chocolate, either bittersweet or semisweet (I went with raw cacao). This is optional, depending on your needs. I find the chocolate can get messy if it’s warm out!
- These Peanut Butter Granola Bars store for weeks in the fridge and are easily portable (sans chocolate). They are also vegan and optionally gluten free.
Chewy Peanut Butter Fruit and Nut Granola Bars
Ingredients
For the Bars:
- 3 C Thick Rolled Oats not quick oats, 333 g
- 1 1/2 C Mixed Raw Unsalted Nuts; I use walnuts, pecans, and almonds (210 g)
- 1/2 C Raw Sunflower Seeds 76 g
- 1/2 C Dried Cranberries 74 g
- 1/2 C Dried Apricots 106 g
- 1 1/3 C Natural Peanut Butter crunchy (345 g)
- 3/4 C Maple Syrup 230 ml
- 1/2 C Brown Rice Syrup 170 ml
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
For Drizzling (optional):
- 4 Tbs Dark Cacao + 2 Tbs Coconut Oil melted and still warm *see note, I use raw Cacao
Instructions
For the Bars:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet pan with parchment and pour the oats on so that they are spread evenly. Toast the oats for 25-30 minutes or until golden and toasty. On a separate pan, toast all the nuts for 18-20 and on a third separate pan, toast the seeds for 15-20 minutes or until golden and toasty. We want to keep the nuts and sunflower seeds separated as the nuts will be chopped and the sunflower seeds need to remain whole. (round cake pans work well here).
- Line a 13"x9" baking dish with parchment paper. Secure the parchment paper to the two long sides with clips.
- While the nuts, seeds and oats are toasting, rough chop the cranberries and apricots. Add them to a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- In a 2 quart sauce pan, mix the peanut butter, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, salt and vanilla extract until all the ingredients come together. Gently warm the mixture on low just until it is pourable. If needed, use a whisk to get the ingredients to come together.
- Add the toasted oats and sunflower seeds to the large mixing bowl with the dried fruit. Rough chop the nuts and add them to the dried fruit/oat/nut mixture in the large mixing bowl.
- Pour the peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix throughly.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish, spreading it evenly in the dish. Use your hands to press the mixture in. The firmer the press, the better!
- Refrigerate the granola for at least 1 1/2 hours or freeze for 30 minutes.
- Lift the granola out of the pan using the parchment as handles. Cut into 1 1/2" x 4" bars.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks or freezer for up to a month.
For the Drizzle (optional):
- Mix the cacao and warmed oil in a small bowl. Mix until ingredients are incorporated. Drizzle over the granola bars. Pop in the fridge for a few minutes to allow chocolate to set.
Notes
Nutrition is provided as an estimate and courtesy. If this information is important to you, please verify it independently.
I have made these several times over the last year. I absolutely love I don’t change a thing in the recipe kat
Hi Kat! Thank you so much for your note – I’m so happy to hear you’re enjoying these scrumptious bars!
Hey Traci! I am FINALLY getting around to trying these today! Of course, I do not have several of the ingredients, but I went for it anyway. They are chilling now. And smell so good! (I didn’t have dried apricots so I replaced with chopped, dried figs and a little chopped coconut. Also, didn’t have rice syrup…or enough maple syrup! So I did a mixture of maple syrup, golden syrup, raw honey, and brown sugar! eek….Okay, so now you are wondering if these are really even your bars! haha…But I can’t wait to taste them. And next time I get out I am going to get the correct ingredients!) Thanks for the lovely recipe. I am always excited to try new bar recipes.
Oh hey Andrea! So glad to hear! I love how you improvised, using the ingredients you have on hand. I can’t wait to hear how it turned out! I love brown sugar…. oh I bet it’ll be good even if they don’t hold together too well. Thanks for stopping by Andrea!
They are so good! And I froze them for 30 minutes (like you suggested) and then removed them from the pan and cut them to bar size, and they are holding up well! I think I’ll keep them In the freezer though, until I’m ready to eat one. Oh, they’re so good. Just had one for breakfast. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing, Andrea! Love the addition of figs and coconut!
Hi I tried these and they are absolutely delicious – I had to swop out the brown rice syrup as I wasn’t able to find any (joys of living in Africa!). I passed on to some friends who are now pestering me to make them some. Thanks a lot so great to get an easy and yummy recipe. Keep them coming !
So happy to hear, Penny! Can you share with us what you used instead of brown rice syrup? Thank you for sharing your success! :D
I’m curious as to what she used to! Since I had to make a few alterations to the recipe today as well.
I’m a big fan of chewy granola bars, and will totally look the other way when they’re crunchy. Do you have something to suggest for a substitution for the brown rice syrup or should I just wait til I get to the store?
Oh Heidi! I think a sub that may work, although I haven’t tried it, would be date paste, if you have dates on hand. It will make them a lot sweeter, but that’s what first comes to mind. I love your enthusiasm! If you don’t have dates on hand, I’d wait. Would love to know how they turn out if you do use dates! :D Thanks for stopping by!
This recipe is absolutely delicious!! Thank you so much for sharing.
Even my son, who is not crazy about peanut butter likes them. I was actually going to try my next batch with Almond butter instead. I’ll let you know how that goes.
Fantastic, Alexandra! So happy you and your son enjoyed the bars. I think almond butter is a fabulous idea! I think I’ll try it too! Thanks for the tip and for sharing! :D
So tried it with Almond butter instead of peanut butter. A little more chewy and soft but absolutely delish!
Thanks for the note Alexandra. I wonder if reducing the maple syrup by half would make them a bit firmer? Perhaps I’ll experiment. :D
Try and let me know! I love them as they are!!
Okay, Alexandra! :D
When I saw these on instagram, I got SO excited. I never buy store bought bars any more (same concerns as everyone: sugar!) but who needs it when you can make much better bars like these at home?
Oh that’s great to hear, Nora! They are so easy and you know exactly what’s going into them. I am appalled at some of the ingredients processed foods have in them. So here’s to home cooking!! :D I hope you enjoy them, Nora!
These look sooo good! Love that they keep in the fridge and freezer for a while and obsessing over the chocolate drizzle, so cute! :)
Thank you, Medha! Yeah, make these and enjoy them all week! I love things like that! :D
I saw these on pinterest and started drooling immediately. I love homemade granola bars as easy snacks on the go and for lazy day snacks. I don’t know a thing about football but it’s been fun reading how excited everyone is
Hehe, I don’t know much about football either. What’s more entertaining for me is to watch how the players celebrate or how the fans behave (that gets pretty crazy!). Plus, at the super bowl, Katie Perry will be singing at the 1/2! I hope you enjoy the recipe Amanda!