Granola bars have always been an easy, inexpensive, and healthy snack in our house. When we had to cut out dairy and gluten, it became more challenging to find commercially made granola bars that tasted good, were free of allergens, and didn’t break the bank. I like this recipe because it lends itself to a lot of variation, thus the name “All Your Favorites”, key word YOUR! We pick the dried fruits that we like best, the types of cereal, and then we decide if we want chocolate or not (we always do!). Sometimes we decide nuts, and mommy almost always decides to add flax meal or chia seeds. Use your favorite ingredients to make an affordable and delicious granola bar. These are SUPER easy to throw together, and my kids beg for them, and I think yours will too!
LUNCHBOX TIP: These work great individually wrapped and placed in
'All Your Favorites' Granola Bar
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 16
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal or other crunchy cereal
- 2 cups quick-cooking gluten free oats or if you don"t stock the quick variety like me, whir the rolled oats in your coffee grinder a bit to break them down just slightly I bet quinoa flakes would work too!
- 1/2 cup bite sized favorite dried fruit raisins, cranberries, cherries, apricots, etc Today, we used raisins AND cherries!
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips optional
- 1/4 cup flax meal or chia seeds optional
- 1/2 cup any nuts bite sized (optional)
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar or other granulated sugar like palm, demerara, raw, sucanat, etc
- 1/2 cup sticky sweetener brown rice syrup, honey, agave, maple syrup
- 1/2 cup favorite nut or seed butter peanut, almond, sunflower seed, etc
- 2 tablespoons margarine or coconut oil or other fat
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
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Mix the cereal, oats, dried fruit, chocolate chips, chia seeds, and nuts (if using) together in a large bowl.
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On the stove top, put the sugar, honey, and nut butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat.
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When softened, mix until smooth and add in the butter/oil and vanilla.
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Pour the mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well until it is well incorporated and moistened.
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Press into a 9 x 13 pan, using a Siplat to press into the pan and keep your hands clean!
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Let the bars set and cut into desired shape!
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Another yummy home run lunch box snack! Thumbs up from the family too! 🙂 My first batch is a tad crumbly so will let you know how the 2nd turns out when I make them again. 🙂
I LOVE these bars! I make them once or twice a month for all the Celiacs in my family. They are delicious in every combination I’ve made and last for a long time–or, at least, until they are all devoured! They do tend to be a bit crumbly, regardless of what kind of nut butter I use. Pressing them into a 13×9 really forcefully helps a bit, though. Thank you for the recipe!!
Thanks for your feedback Emily!
Chewy bars are my favorites and I love that these are so versatile. It will be fun to make them in many different ways. Thanks!
Yes, these are soft. The KIND-Of Bars on my site are crunchy. I have been playing w/ crunchy granola bars, so when I find one worthy, I'll post it!
Hi Tessa – these seem like they would be soft/chewy vs crunchy no? I like the ingredients and the fact that there is a lot of versatility here… so many variations! Thanks for sharing this. I've had a couple of friends ask me for egg free options and I think this is a good place for them to start playing 🙂 Grazie!! claudine