When I made these Healthy Chewy Apple Cinnamon Granola Bars a few weeks ago, I really loved them but I have to admit, my boys wondered where the chocolate chips were. To them, a granola bar has chocolate chips, so why in the world would I leave those out? Little Boy #3 is notorious for asking for a granola bar, picking out all the chocolate chips and then walking away and leaving a mess of granola crumbs that got in his way. Boo to that says this mama!
So I kind of took it as a challenge to see if I could tweak that recipe a bit to make a granola bar that tasted like the store bought version they are used to. It’s kind of nice to be able to make them with a bit of honey instead of corn syrup, and add in some healthy fat from coconut oil, right? So these are what I came up with, and I must say they are pretty darn close. The texture is right on, and the flavor is very close. The only difference is the slight flavor of honey.
These are a snap to make, and it was great to be able to wrap them up individually in plastic wrap and throw them in the snack bin so the little guys could just help themselves for breakfast or snacks. Only one rule – No picking out the chocolate chips!
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Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars {Copycat Quaker}
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars taste just like the store-bought version kids love, but made with coconut oil and sweetened with honey!
Ingredients
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 4 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups Rice Krispies cereal
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8 by 8 inch baking dish by lining it with parchment paper and spraying with nonstick spray. This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan to cut them later.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt coconut oil, brown sugar, and honey together. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring it to a gentle simmer and let it bubble away for a 1-2 minutes. Add vanilla extract. Then remove it from the heat to cool slightly.
- Spread out the old fashioned oats onto a baking sheet, and toast them in the oven for 3-5 minutes. Watch closely for the oats to turn golden brown and then take them out right away. This step will just enhance the flavor.
- In a large bowl, combine the toasted oats with the puffed rice cereal and salt. Pour the slightly cooled honey mixture over the oat mixture, and stir to coat.
- If the granola mixture is not longer hot to the touch, stir in the chocolate chips. Press the mixture into the pan firmly using another piece of parchment paper so they won’t stick to your hands. Chill for an hour in the fridge to make crisp lines when you cut them, and then wrap up with plastic wrap and store at room temp.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Bar
- Calories: 170
- Sugar: 14g
- Sodium: 115mg
- Fat: 6.5g
- Saturated Fat: 4.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 27g
- Fiber: 1.6g
- Protein: 2.3g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Mai says
Nice! I will make this for my daughter and see how it goes. There is one thing I didnt understand, you said pre heat the oven but you never really baked them… ???
Saludos!
Julie says
Hello Mai, the reason you need to preheat the oven is just to toast the oats before you mix them in. It really bring out the flavor. Hope you enjoy!
Mai says
I just made a bach and their are delicious and so chewy! Congratulations for an amazing recipe! The only thing a change, instead of chocolate chips I used cranberries. I think its going to be a great snack for my daughter to bring to school.
Gracias y saludos desde Chile!
Julie says
That’s great Mai!
Andrea says
Oh my GOODNESS! These are fantastic! Thank you so much for posting this! With 3 very active kids, having snacks on hand (consistently) is tough. The skier eats like a moose, and these are perfect for her to tuck into her bag and take to the hill. For her, I made them with the mini-chips and some of those goofy, hard colored marshmellows. Also made a plain batch – no chips-for my son. He LOVED them. So glad they contain honey versus corn syrup. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Brenda says
What caught my eye were the words copycat Quaker. I thought I would give this one a try. Mine were crunchy and crumbly…so for those of you who had crunchy granola bars, I think the mistake was letting the sugar mixture boil too long to a hard crack stage. Just like caramel/candy if you boil too long it’s going to be hard…my fault. However…I thought these tasted so bad. The coconut oil does not go well with this recipe. I let my 8 year old (who will try anything) and my 12 year old taste them and they disliked them very much. I threw the whole batch in the trash…They were not tasty at all…just being honest.
Mandie says
These turned out great for me! And my daughter does the same thing with the chocolate chips, so I melt some and drizzle it on top. That seems to help! I add in dried fruit and or peanut butter and we love this recipe. I think it tastes better than store bought and it doesn’t have all the additives and high fructose corn syrup! Plus i can make it gluten free. Thanks!!
Julie says
Thanks Mandie. I like the idea of drizzling the chocolate?
Emily says
I just want to confirm that these are no bake. The 350 oven is only for toasting the oatmeal.
Julie says
Emily, yes that is correct.
Brenda Oswell says
I just made these but I used peanut butter instead of coconut oil and I put in a 1/2 cup of flax seed and took out a 1/2 puff cereal! My kids love them!
Julie says
Good idea Brenda! Glad the kiddos enjoyed them.
Sara says
So tasty….and so addictive…. I’ve started putting them in a 9×13 pan so they aren’t as thick–and a pan lasts us longer than an hour. I didn’t have coconut oil, and substituting butter worked great. I’ve also done it subbing out 2 tbs of butter for 2 tbs of peanut butter and now I’m even fatter than before (lol). I’ve got a batch in the fridge now using a coco rice crispy and coconut as an add-in….we shall see.
I’m wondering if there is a way to decrease the sweetness a bit; the honey taste is strong, and my husband complains. I already brought it down to a 1/4 cup but am afraid to go further as they get a bit more crumbly then. Any ideas? They are already PLENTY sweet, so I don’t think doing more brown sugar is the answer….I love the commenter who mentioned the “hard crack” stage of the sugar, too-that really helped me!
sallyjrw says
Have you considered using Karo corn syrup? It’s not the same as HFCS. Check out this http://www.thekitchn.com/corn-syrup-vs-highfructose-corn-syrup-there-is-a-difference-196819 (some of the comments are helpful, too)!
Julie says
I will go check it out, thanks for sharing.
Nina says
Best homemade granola bars I have had yet! I used GF rolled oats and reduced the brown sugar by half. I also used less honey, but added a little organic maple syrup. (I’m not supposed to have honey) I also added pretzels 😉 but really great recipe!! I’ve been searching for one without peanut butter! New fave snack! Thanks!!
MP says
Do you mean Rice Krispies or actually Puffed Rice cereal? They are different
Julie says
I believe I used the actual Rice Krispie cereal, thinking puffed rice cereal was just a generic way to say it. Good to know there is a difference, thank you!
Valerie says
Hi Julie,
I really like your copy cat recipe for these granola bars. So easy to make with pretty standard ingredients, it is easier to make these granola bars then driving to the store! 😉
I have a granola bar recipe that I really like to make. It uses sweet potato and ground flax seed.
http://doubletherecipe.com/2016/04/26/homemade-granola-bars/
Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
Julie says
Thanks Valerie, I’ll have to try yours!
Meesh says
Can you sub marshmallows instead of the honey?
Julie says
Hi Meesh, yes I think you could, but I’m not sure how much? Let me know if you try it!
Tiffany J says
I just made these. These are amazing ! I didn’t have enough honey so they didn’t stick together but I figured I can use them in like a trail mix kind of thing and once I get the right amount of honey, maybe they’ll stick. These are so quick to make. Thank you.
Sara says
These turned out great, Julie. Thank you for sharing the recipe. And I agree, even though the homemade version may have the same (or a little more) total sugar, it’s nice to know it’s all wholesome ingredients. Plus for home cooks like us, there is a joy in making something from scratch. Not so much joy in buying a box of granola bars from BJ’s, is there?
Thanks again. Everyone in my house loves them. And the photography on your site is beautiful. Nice work =)
Julie says
We are very much on the same page Sara, thanks for you comment and I’m glad they worked for you. Thank you for your kind words!
Wendy says
I used Agave the 2nd time I made them as my kids weren’t fond of the honey taste. Trying them a 3rd time with a bit of honey to help keep them together more. Both times so far they still scarfed them down.
Julie says
Good to know, thanks Wendy!
Janel says
I was so excited to make these, but something went wrong in the process! My family doesn’t like honey so I tried adding extra brown sugar. It melted fine, but wouldn’t incorporate with the melted coconut oil, even after a LOT of whisking! Eventually I caved and added a little honey, and it didn’t help. I added the “mixture” to the dry ingredients anyway, and ended up with an oily, clumpy mess. Help! What went wrong?
Julie says
I think the honey helps with the binding in this case so adding the brown sugar won’t work. Sorry your version didn’t work out as you had hoped.
Tee says
You know exactly what went wrong. You failed to recognize the honey is in there for a reason (not just sweetness, a binder!!) that cannot be subbed with brown sugar. A sub would be corn syrup. Light syrup. Brown rice syrup. Anything slow pour and sticky.
Then to make matters worse the brown sugar of course didn’t have an agent to make it a homogenous mixture with the coconut oil.
Then you added honey too late and not on the Stove, accomplishing nothing. They tasted oily because the coconut oil stayed separate from the sweeteners.
In short, it was 100% user error.
laurie says
my 2 years old won’t eat anything for breakfast but granola bar. he loves being in the kitchen with me so yesterday i made this recipe. I put mapple sirup instead of honey and no brown sugar my baby loved it.
Julie says
That’s great Laurie, thanks!
Anna says
I’ve made these probably ten times now…lost my recipe so just came back to reprint it so I can make them again. Love these-we replace the chocolate chips with mini m&ms!
Julie says
Thanks Anna, love the M&M idea!
Kristin says
just made these! i also added some peanut butter chips and they are so good!
Julie says
Wonderful, thanks Kristin!
eileen says
love this recipe so much!! my son has a lot of food allergies, so this is a life-saver. i made some just now with no chocolate chips, but added freeze-dried strawberries and raspberries for a festive valentine’s snack 🙂
EMarie says
I just finished making these! They are delicious! I will never buy store bought granola bars again. The only thing I changed…instead of using all honey, I used half honey and half pure maple syrup. Also, I put mine in a mold to make smaller bite size. Thank you for the recipe.