Yesterday.was.nuts. Almonds… not peanuts 😉
I know I said I was looking forward to getting back into a normal routine after the holidays, but yesterday was not normal — either that or I lost some of my work-related fitness after taking a few weeks off for Christmas vacation. Should have been doing [number] crunches or something. Dang. But I digress.
I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve posted a recipe here on Spoons, and that’s probably because… well… it has been [what feels like] forever. The last one was the holiday cookie energy bites that I posted waaaaaay before Christmas, so I’m well overdue for another — especially since my goal this year is to share more recipes. So… here’s one for granola bars! (how’s that for an intro? 😉 )
And because that picture makes them look kind of puny and insignificant, here are some better ones…
Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about… It almost looks like those one of those fancy glamour shots they take of McDonalds’ Big Macs… Except that when you make these, they actually come out looking like they do in the picture, and not like that sorry excuse for meat, lettuce, and bread that they throw at you and try to pass off as a burger. But I digress.
I’m picky when it comes to my granola bars, and it pains me to say that none of the pre-packaged ones have been able to live up to my standards. Okay, that’s not even close to being true. The reality of the matter is that it pains me to say that I have no idea whether or not the pre-packaged bars would live up to my standards because I can’t eat 99.99% of them — let’s just say that “may contain traces of peanuts” is definitely up there on my list of phrases I hate to hear the most. But, again, I digress. The point is… what? (brain fart). AH! The point is, if I want a bar, I have to make a bar; and when I make a bar, it has to be juuuuuuuuust right.
This means: soft, chewy, dense, chocolatey, nutritious, and filling. In other words, these:
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Soft and Chewy Protein Granola Bars
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 12 bars 1x
Ingredients
- 2 cups (160 g) quick oats
- 1/2 cup (40 g) vanilla protein powder
- 2 Tbsp (14 g) ground flax
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup (64 g) almond butter (or any nut butter)
- 1/4 cup (80 g) honey, or brown rice syrup if vegan
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (60 g) mini chocolate chips (dairy-free if vegan)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare an 8×8 (20x20cm) baking pan by spraying it with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, protein powder, flax, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine almond butter, honey, almond milk, and vanilla. Mix until fully combined. Pour wet mix into dry mix and stir until fully incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Pour into prepared baking pan. Using a spatula or your hands, spread the mixture evenly in the pan, pressing down firmly.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, until edges begin to turn golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 20 minutes before cutting into bars.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
Click here for nutrition facts.
Bars are one of my favourite snacks because of how portable and filling they are. I’m sure there are a lot of great storebought bars out there, but for those of us who have allergies, or who are looking to save some money, homemade bars are the way to go — not only are they a breeze to whip up, but you can customize them to your heart’s content… Not feeling chocolate? Toss in some raisins, dates, or dried cranberries instead. Need a little extra oompf? Add some nuts, seeds, or coconut shreds. The possibilities are endless, and the results are delicious.
Enjoy your Tuesday, friends! And don’t forget to start Thinking Out Loud 😀
Hey Amanda,
Just wondering if you could leave out the protein powder if you didn’t specifically want protein bars? These look delicious and dying to make them but don’t have any protein powder!
Thank you 🙂
Hi Amberli! You would probably be fine with leaving out the protein powder all together. But you might want to add a little extra sweetener since the protein powder adds some sweetness.
Amazing! Made them with vanilla vegalite and they are much better than Luna protein bars, much less sugar!
Hmmm strange, maybe it was my oats. I will have to go out and buy some more so I can try again!! Hopefully I get them right this time 🙂
These look lovely so I decided to make them. I don’t know what went wrong but they were too dry and stodgy so I put them out for the birds. I was really looking forward to them as well 🙁
Any idea what I might have done wrong ? 🙂
I’m honestly not sure, Sarah. The only thing I can think of is maybe your nut butter was too dry? Or your honey? I’ve never had anyone say theirs came out too dry, so I’m not sure what the problem could have been.
These granola bars look yummy!
In response to Sarah’s comment:
Protein powders absorb differently, even different whey based proteins. And oats sometimes seem inconsistent to me…Even ovens bake differently. Almond butters are so different, too. I love Justin’s almond butter, but it is SUPER thick compared to other nutter butters. Baked goods are always hard to get it just right for each individual. I find that I have to know what works for me and I have to know about the ingredients I use together.
Perhaps there should be a note of what type of batter to expect? Like really wet, structured, like bread dough, or other descriptions, I don’t know. Just a thought! And a note of what type of almond/nut butter to use – thick or rather oily, etc…
I don’t have any vanilla flavored protein powder or almond milk – I buy plain. Should I add more sweetener or vanilla flavor to compensate? No idea how those differ from what I have. Thanks so much, this recipe looks amazing.
The biggest difference would probably be the sweetness, since flavoured protein powders tend to be a little sweeter. You could try making them with what you have and see if they’re sweet enough for you, and if not then add another spoonful of honey.
So I just made these. I used sunbutter and regular milk, but otherwise I followed your recipe exactly, but they are very crumbly and dry, and the oats are very dry. I am wondering whether you used regular rolled oats or quick oats? (I used regular, as that it what I assumed you meant) I was thinking next time I might try quick oats to get a softer texture, or maybe just let the mixture sit so that oats can soak up the liquid, or maybe a bit more milk or honey? I really like the idea of this recipe because I know my kids will eat them, I just need to get it softer and not crumbly. Any other thoughts or tips?
Hi Lisa, I usually use quick oats for these, so that definitely might make a difference. If you’re finding them too dry, adding more milk should help soften them up.
ok, that makes sense. Quick oats would make a huge difference. (You might want to update the recipe with that note). My kids have been devouring them anyway, and I think they’ll be even better with the quick oats. Also FYI – I used mini chocolate chips, which I think worked perfect, they are chocolately, but not as messy as they would be with full size chips.
Just delicious! Thank you for this great recipe!
I made it in a non stick metal pan as I wanted to make sure I could get it right.
I was wondering if you have tried this in a glass baking dish. My husband loved them too and wants them as snacks at work 🙂 so I need to make large batches. Do you happen to have an idea how the proportions might change if I made them in a 9×12 baking dish. I am hoping to make a double batch in the bigger ones.
THANK YOU again!
I’m glad you liked them, Sangitha! Thanks for letting me know 🙂 I haven’t tried baking them in a bigger dish personally, but I think you should be fine by just doubling the proportions.
Hi Amanda,
Can flax seeds be substituted for ground flax?
Thanks, Debbie
Hi Debbie. I wouldn’t recommend subbing flax seeds since we can’t digest them in their whole form and they can be irritating to our gut. The bars are soft so whole flaxseeds would probably take away from the texture a little bit.
So glad I found your page! I made these last night and they are delicious! Perfectly cooked, soft, thick and chewy. Definitely filling! I added slivered almonds and used homemade coconut milk. My kids (1.5 and 4) love them as well. This recipe is going in my go-to book, thanks again!
I’m glad you and your kids loved them, Jami! Thanks for taking the time to let me know 🙂
wonderful recipe – easy to make and my 5 and 7 yr old loved them. plus high protein! searched for many recipes and this one is a keeper. well done.
A
Hi Amanda – definitely going to try these out with the recipe as is. I do however have a young one in school and would love to send a bar like this as a snack, but because it has nut butter I couldn’t. Do you have any suggestions of what I could put in place of the nut butter if I were making school friendly snacks?
Thanks so much!
Sharri
Hi Sharri! The only replacement I could think of is soy nut butter or sunflower seed butter, since you need something with the same creamy consistency. Sunflower seed will change the flavour a bit, but roasted soy nut butter tastes really good and I use it regularly myself. This is the brand I use — http://www.soybutter.com
Just made these, really good! Added cranberries and raisins instead of chocolate. Wondering how big the pan u used was? Mine was about 10″by 16″ and they turned out pretty thin and didn’t cover whole pan. Thanks! 🙂
Mine was 8×8, Ruby. I mention it in the recipe 🙂
Just made these, made a few substitutions based on what I have and changed the add ins. This was a FANTASTIC base and can be altered to your liking.
I used homemade Sun Butter (been looking for good ways to use it up, this was perfect).
I subbed one ounce of pitted dates for the honey, soaked in So Delicious brand coconut milk beverage (used instead of almond milk) and blended together.
For add ins, instead of chocolate chips, I folded in one tablespoon raw Hemp Seeds, 1/4 cup dried cranberries, 1/4 cup slivered almonds, and 1/8 cup unsweetened shaved Coconut chips.
With these exact ingredients (mostly purchased from Nuts.com), my nutrition values came out to:
150 Calories
6.7 g Fat
10.6 mg Cholesterol
140.2 mg Sodium
42.7 mg Potassium
15.6 g Carbs
3 g Fiber
3.6 g Sugar
8 g Protein
I owe this DELICIOUS batch of granola bars to this blog, they seriously came out amazing.
hi, just wondering…what are the nutritional facts? Protein and Carbs
I made these today and they are really good! I used a vegan protein powder (21 gs per serving), but after calculating everything, each bar is only 6 gs of protein (143 calories/bar), a little disappointed, but these will still be great for pre-workout…thanks 🙂
This is the second recipe of yours I’ve used this week(sans flour banana muffins was the other), both were complete successes with the picky husband!
Hi Amanda, I just finished baking a batch of my own homemade granola bars which have all but disappeared after the kids came in from school 🙂 Mine come out super crunchy, similar to a Nature’s Valley bar texture. I’ve been in search of a good chewy bar , the pull apart kind and stumbled across your site in my quest for tips to achieve chewiness. I’m excited to try yours. Your photos are awesome! Would you mind sharing the app or type of camera you use? Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Thanks, Aisha! I use a Canon EOS7D to shoot my pictures.
I am wanting to make these, have you ever tried Chocolate protein? That is all I have on hand.
Thank you,
Cathy
Hi Cathy, I’ve never tried them with chocolate protein, but I imagine they’d taste just fine. If anything, you can just leave the protein out completely and simply have granola bars.
Have you tried these with Chocolate protein? If so how were they?
I really want to make these, the only protein I have on hand is chocolate.
Thank you!
These were absolutely amazing! I used unsweetened vanilla coconut milk, PB, and dairy free chips and they were DELICIOUS! thank you for sharing this great recipe!!!
I’m glad you enjoyed them, Chrissy! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Hi, I’m curious, I was thinking about making these but I’m dairy-free. I see you used coconut milk and dairy-free chips, but how did you replace the whey protein powder? Thanks!
You could simply use a plant based protein powder, Gabrielle. Vega makes some really good ones, as does Plant Fusion. A rice based powder would probably be your best bet since it has the mildest taste.
Hi, I was wondering if I can replace the protein powder with something? Any alternatives for that? Or can I just omit it altogether?
It would be fine to omit it altogether.
Any suggestions for replacements for the nut butter? For example could I use applesauce or greek yogurt?
Unfortunately, applesauce or yogurt wouldn’t work as they’re not nearly thick enough and the bars probably wouldn’t hold together. The only substitute I can think of would be a seed butter if you’re dealing with a nut allergy.
I made these but they went really flat they don’t look thick and crunchy like yours what did I do wrong haha?
What do you recommend is the best way to store these?
I always store mine in an airtight container in the fridge. You could also wrap them individually and freeze them if you need to keep them for longer.