These bars are an experiment for my family. The first part of the experiment is a success – the bars taste good and the kids like them! The next part is to see if we can stop buying granola bars and eat these instead.
I don’t buy many snack foods, but during the school year I do make a habit of buying granola bars. They are expensive. I’ve wanted to try making my own for a long time, but kept putting it off.
Then I saw some soft baked bars in the granola bar aisle and a light bulb went off. I remembered a recipe for oatmeal cookies from Whole Foods for the Whole Family and I was pretty sure it could be baked in bar form instead of cookies.
I made two different versions – Mixed Berry and Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip. They are both great. Bonus: they’re healthy too! And they can be frozen. Now we’re talking!
I wrapped the bars in plastic wrap and put them all in freezer bags. The kids have been grabbing them to take to soccer and classes. They say the bars thaw quickly and aren’t crumbly to eat. They like them better than store bought granola bars.
I did tell the kids that they can only have them if they are leaving the house and will need a snack while they’re gone. We have other foods they can snack on at home. I want to have the bars used for the intended purpose and not scarfed down in two days.
Here’s what you’ll need to make the mixed berry version. The peanut butter version has similar ingredients.
Grab and Go Berry Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 cups quick oats
- 1 cup wheat germ
- 5 oz. mixed berries
Instructions
- Mix oil, brown sugar, egg, milk and vanilla in an electric mixer till well combined.
- Add remaining ingredients, except berries and mix well.
- Press into greased 9x13 or 10x15 pan. The size pan will determine the thickness of the bars, but either size will work.
- Bake 20 minutes at 350° or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool and cut into bars.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and store in freezer.
Nutrition
And for the Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Bars
Grab and Go Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup oil
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- ½ cup peanut butter
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 cups quick oats
- 1 cup wheat germ
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Mix oil, brown sugar, egg, milk, peanut butter and vanilla in an electric mixer till well combined.
- Add remaining ingredients, except chocolate chips and mix well.
- Mix in chocolate chips.
- Press into greased 9 x 13 or 10 x 15 pan. The size pan will determine the thickness of the bars, but either size will work.
- Bake 20 minutes at 350° or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool and cut into bars.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and store in freezer.
Nutrition
Thanks for these fun recipes! I am always looking for a good snack bar.
AWESOME! I love these kinds of snacks. So glad you shared recipes!
Oh, these look great! I am going to try them this weekend. My youngest just went off to college this week, so you would think that our need for snacks would have decreased dramatically! But, his college is nearby, he likes Mom to provide snacks for his dorm room, and he is a health-conscious eater. So these should be perfect for him.
Gaye
We made these yesterday, both kids and they are now in the freezer ready for school lunches next week!
I made the peanut butter chocolate chip bars – oh, they are sooo good! A little “too cinnamonney” for my kids’ taste, so of course my husband and I will oblige and eat the first batch ourselves ;-). Next time I’ll only put in 1/2 tsp cinnamon and see if the kids are appeased. I can hardly wait!
I have not purchased a box of granola bars since I started experimenting with these super easy no bake granola bars shared here http://queenoftheeasymeal.blogspot.com/2012/04/no-bake-chocolate-peanut-butter-rice.html.
I brought a batch to my daughter’s gymnastics team this week, and every girl said they were the best snack they’d ever had! I bag them in individual snack bags to make them grab and go friendly; they also freeze well. I have tinkered with the recipe to try different kinds of cereal and have also added dried fruits or the dried mini marshmallows from Kraft. I make a batch a week.
Thanks for the link! I’ll have to give those a try.
how many bars does your non-bake recipe make?
I made both kinds this weekend and they were a big hit with everyone in the family.
I made the peanut butter/choc. chip version and they are excellent!! I shared the recipes with a friend that was so excited because she has been hunting for a granola bar recipe for years. She made the berry version and said they are absolutely wonderful. This recipe is definitely a keeper. The only change I made was I used the Splenda brown sugar blend instead of reg. brown sugar. Make sure if you do this that you only use 1/2 c of the Splenda mix. 1/2 c = 1 c. reg. brown sugar.
Just made these tonight and made them Gluten Free/Dairy Free…Used almond milk and substituted ground flax seed for the wheat germ and GF flour blend for the whole wheat flour. Pretty yummy (not totally cool yet)!! Test will be tomorrow when my DD gets to try them. Hoping they will harden up a tad as they cool completely.
We now have a batch of each of these cooling on the counter. I am excited to taste them in the morning!
I will be making these for quick grab breakfast when time is short, but mainly for soccer and/or volleyball practices..thank you for sharing.
I love to bake and also love granola bars so gave this one a try. They are so good. I make the dried fruit version for my sons and one eats them for breakfast on the go and the other takes as a snack in his lunches. I could eat them anytime-I’m not picky! I also have a friend whose husband is a diabetic. I shared the recipe with her. She had been looking for a homemade granola bar recipe for about 3 years and now she makes the dried fruit bars on a weekly basis. We both have substituted Splenda brown sugar for the reg. brown sugar. She has done the math for her husband’s diabetes and I think each recipe makes 10 and each of those is a 30g carb snack for him. I make them in a 9X13 pan, cut into 12 portions and those are a nice size for my boys. I like knowing that there are no preservatives or artificial ingredients.
I KNOW These are a much better choice for healthy eating but am interested how they compared cost wise. I typically buy our granola bars buy one get one free at Publix and stock up.
On the mixed berry version, when do you mix in the berries? Or are they layered between the flour & oat mixture? Or am I totally misreading the directions?
In the first recipe, when do you add in the fruit?
These look amazing!! Can’t wait to try them!!
At what point do you add the berries in the mixed berry bars? The directions tell you where to exclude them, but not when to add them in.
I just had to say I had a first edition of Whole Foods from la leche league in 1980. I can’t find it now but Amazon has used copies.
That’s amazing! I have such fond memories of my LLL days!