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10 No Bake Granola Bars

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These 10 no-bake granola bars are an easy snack idea that you can make at home using inexpensive ingredients from the grocery store.

A simple base recipe is made using rolled oats, Rice Krispies, nut butter (or nut-free Subutter), honey, butter, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Easy flavor additions are added to the base recipe so you can truly make your own favorites! Similar to our overnight oat recipes, these are high in fiber and will give you a boost of energy when you’re feeling that afternoon crash!

Granola bars in various flavors on a white counter.

Why We Love These No-Bake Granola Bars

  • These granola bars are cheap easy and fast. Just a few simple ingredients make a recipe full of flavor.
  • These are very family-friendly. So many different flavors can be created to suit a variety of tastes.
  • Homemade granola bars use better quality ingredients. They’re more affordable too! You’ll be eating healthier and saving money.
  • No baking is required! Just melt the ingredients on the stove, mix them with the oats, and press it into a dish to set.
  • I created these easy flavors using a simple granola bar base recipe. Different flavors can be added to small batches to create various ideas.
  • We love using rolled oats! They’re inexpensive and whole grain, making them healthier than using refined flour. Try our 6 easy overnight oat flavors, 6 no-bake energy ball recipes, and our baked oatmeal breakfast cups for more oat recipes.
Ingredients to make the recipe in bowls including rolled oats, rice Krispies, honey, brown sugar, butter, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, vanilla, mini M&Ms, and dried fruit.

Recipe Ingredients

The base recipe is simple and easy. Just mix the ingredients together then add in any flavors you’d like. Here’s a quick overview of ingredients with substitutions.

  • ROLLED OATS: Old-fashioned rolled oats work best for this recipe.  But if you don’t have them, plain instant oats might also work. I haven’t tried it personally so I can’t recommend them.
  • RICE KRISPIES: These add a nice crunch to the recipe. I used Brown Rice Krispies. If you don’t want to use them, you can replace with chopped nuts, chopped seeds, or more rolled oats.
  • HONEY: Honey is sweet an sticky. It acts like glue to help hold the granola bars together. Maple syrup should also work.
  • NUT BUTTER: You can use peanut butter, almond butter or a nut-free butter like Sunbutter. This ingredient is optional but really helps the granola bars to stick together.
  • BUTTER: You’ll need unsalted butter for this recipe. Don’t want to use butter? Try coconut oil, avocado oil or vegetable oil.
  • SUGAR: The recipe uses brown sugar. This can be replaced with coconut sugar which has a lovely caramel flavor. Or you can also use white granulated sugar.
  • VANILLA EXTRACT: 1 tsp of vanilla extract adds a hint of vanilla flavor.
  • SWAPS: Swap Rice Krispies with chopped nuts or seeds. Swap honey with pure maple syrup. Swap butter with coconut oil or other cooking oil. Swap brown sugar with coconut sugar or cane sugar.
  • FLAVOR: Add dried fruit, chopped nuts, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, candies, sprinkles and more to the base recipe for easy flavor variations.
Four images showing different steps to make the recipe. First is a pot with a chunk of butter, brown sugar and honey dumped in. Second is rolled oats with ingredients mixed in a white bowl and spatula. Third is white and chocolate chips and cocoa powder dumped on top of the oats in a bowl. Fourth is a square glass dish with chocolate granola bar ingredients pressed in.

How To Make No-Bake Granola Bars

Ingredients are melted in the oven or on the stove and then mixed with oats and Rice Krispies. Here’s a quick overview of how to make it with full instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

  1. Melt the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and nut butter in a pot on the stove or in the microwave.
  2. Mix rolled oats and Rice Krispies in a bowl. Pour the melted ingredients in and mix them together. Stir in the flavor additions.
  3. Pour into a pan lined with parchment paper. Press it in tightly so the granola bars will be firm. Let it chill for 2-3 hours in the refrigerator, then slice it into bars.

No-bake granola bars can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

These granola bars freeze beautifully! I like to add them to a freezer bag, remove as much air as possible and freeze them for up to 6 months. Grab a granola bar and let it thaw before eating.

I like to add small granola squares to my daughter’s school lunches. I just pop a frozen one in her lunch box in the morning and it’s thawed by the time she eats it.

All flavors of granola bars on a counter including tropical mango, s'more bars, blueberry coconut, cereal mix, super seeds, triple chocolate, birthday sprinkles, cinnamon raisin, caramel pretzel, and chocolate M&Ms.

11 Granola Bar Flavors To Try

  1. TROPICAL MANGO: Base recipe plus ½ cup chopped dried mango, and ½ cup shredded coconut.
  2. PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE: Base recipe, ½ cup M&Ms, ¼ cup mini chocolate chips. Use peanut butter for the base recipe nut butter.
  3. S’MORES: Base recipe, ¼ cup chocolate chips, ¼ cup crushed graham crackers, and ¼ cup small marshmallows.
  4. CINNAMON RAISIN: Base recipe plus ¼ cup raisins, 1 tsp cinnamon, and ½ cup shredded coconut.
  5. DOUBLE CHOCOLATE: Base recipe plus ¼ cup white chocolate chips, ¼ cup dark chocolate chips, and 2 Tbsp cocoa powder.
  6. BLUEBERRY COCONUT: Base recipe plus ½ cup dried blueberries, ½ cup shredded coconut.
  7. PRETZELS AND CHOCOLATE: Base recipe plus ¼ cup crushed pretzels, ¼ cup mini chocolate chips.
  8. CEREAL MIX: Base recipe plus ¼ cup crumbled Shreddies, ¼ cup crumbled Bran Flakes, ¼ cup Cheerios. Or use any other kind of cereal you’d like! For another fun idea, try our healthy cereal bars recipe made with Cheerios.
  9. BIRTHDAY CAKE: Base recipe plus ½ rainbow funfetti sprinkles.
  10. TRIPLE SEED: Base recipe plus ¼ cup sunflower seeds, ¼ cup pumpkin seeds, and 1-2 Tbsp chia seeds.

GRANOLA BAR BASE RECIPE: The base recipe is used for all the flavors. It includes 2 ½ cups of rolled oats, ½ cup Rice Krispies (or chopped nuts or seeds), ½ cup nut butter or seed butter, ¼ cup honey, ¼ cup melted butter, ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, ¼ tsp salt.

Close up of various granola bar flavors all stacked together.

More 6 Flavor Recipes

Various different granola bars on a white surface.

10 No-Bake Granola Bars Recipes

5 from 6 votes
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Chill Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 10 granola bars

Ingredients

Base Recipe:

Tropical Mango:

Peanut Butter Chocolate:

S'mores:

Cinnamon Raisin:

Double Chocolate:

Blueberry Coconut:

Pretzels and Chocolate:

Cereal Mix:

Birthday Cake:

Triple Seed:

Instructions

  • Add butter (or oil), honey (or pure maple syrup), brown sugar, vanilla extract and nut butter (this ingredient is optional. See notes) to a pot over medium high heat. Stir frequently until ingredients are fully melted. Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes.
    Two images of a pot. First with butter, sugar, and maple syrup. Second with ingredients melted together.
  • In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats with Rice Krispies and salt. Pour the melted syrup in and mix together until it's evenly combined.
    Let this cool for a few minutes until warm and not hot, otherwise flavor ingredients might melt.
    A large white bowl with rolled oats and rice krispies. Syrup ingredients dumped on top. Second image is white bowl with ingredients mixed together and a spatula.
  • Add the flavor ingredients to the bowl and mix together.
    Two images of a white bowl. First is white and dark chocolate chips dumped on top of granola mixture. Second is a chocolate granola mixture in the bowl.
  • Pour into a square dish lined with parchment paper. (Tip: lightly grease the dish before addign the parchment. This will help it to stick). Smooth the mixture out with a spatula.
    A square glass dish with parchment paper. First image is chocolate granola dumped in with a spatula. Second is chocolate granola smoothed out.
  • Lightly grease the back of a glass with a bit of cooking oil. Use it to press and pack the granola firmly into the bottom of the dish. Place in the fridge to chill a minimum of 2 hours.
    Once chilled, pick up the parchment paper and place it on a cutting board. Use a large knife to slice into thin rectangles. Serve an enjoy!
    Chocolate granola in a square glass dish with a glass on top. Second image is sliced granola bars on a piece of parchment paper.

Recipe Notes:

Recipe Tips:
  • These granola bars are a softer consistency. They need to be pressed and packed tightly into the dish and then chilled for a minimum 2-3 hours. I prefer to keep mine frozen and let them thaw at room temperature before eating.
  • Nut butter or Seed butter help to keep these granola bars together. I highly recommend you use one! If there is a nut allergy, try Sunbutter made from sunflower seeds in a nut-free facility. If allergic to seeds and nuts, you could try using marshmallows or chopped dates, similar to our 6 flavors of energy balls recipes.
  • Swaps: Swap Rice Krispies with chopped nuts or seeds. Swap honey with pure maple syrup. Swap butter with coconut oil or other cooking oil. Swap brown sugar with coconut sugar or cane sugar.
Storage:
  • Leftovers: No-bake granola bars can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
  • Freeze Them: These granola bars freeze beautifully! I like to add them to a freezer bag, remove as much air as possible and freeze them for up to 6 months. Grab a granola bar and let it thaw before eating.

The nutritional information provided is an estimate and is per serving.

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Recipe Rating




Lana

Friday 14th of June 2024

I made these 'bars' with olive oil rather than butter...they did not stick together. Big disappointment.

Brittany

Sunday 10th of March 2024

I have a granola bar silicone mold/pan from pampered chef and this recipe worked wonderfully. All I had were mini m&ms on hand so I just used those with the base and it was fantastic

Mahkeela

Thursday 21st of December 2023

Taste is good BUT THEY ARE SO CRUMBLY! I made exactly as instructed and they looked nice and tasted good but as soon as cut or try and bit it goes EVERYWHERE!!!! Not great for toddlers or babies…

Diane

Wednesday 22nd of November 2023

These were so yummy. I used peanut butter and substituted Special K for Rice Krispies, Truvia brown for sugar and used sugar free chocolate chips and crushed pretzels. Will be making these frequently!

Jackie

Sunday 2nd of April 2023

These are delicious! I made a pretzel and sated Carmel chip granola bar. They last only a day! Definitely keeping this recipe.