Granola bars
Homemade granola bars are a handy snack for a rushed breakfast or a long hike. Oats and almonds are toasted until fragrant, then bound with honey, brown sugar and peanut butter. No oven is needed, yet the bars come out chewy, nutty and rich, and less sweet than store-bought ones.
- Difficulty
- Very easy
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 12 min
- Rising or chilling
- 1 hr
- Total time
- 1 hr 27 min
- Method
- No cooking
Ingredients
Oats and nuts
Binder
Instructions
Step 1
Put 250 g rolled oats and 60 g sliced almonds in a dry nonstick skillet and toast over medium heat for about eight minutes, stirring constantly. Toasting brings out the oats' nutty flavor and helps them stay crisp once mixed with the wet binder. The mixture is ready when the almonds are pale golden and the whole pan smells like cookies.
Step 2
Line a 20 cm square pan with parchment paper, leaving the paper hanging over two sides as handles. The honey mixture is very sticky, and the paper lets you lift the whole slab out easily. The pan is ready when the paper covers the bottom and sides.
Step 3
Put 120 g honey, 50 g brown sugar and 40 g unsalted butter in a small saucepan, bring to a boil over medium heat, then let it boil for exactly two minutes without much stirring. Boiling for the right amount of time takes the sugar to just the right candy stage, so the bars turn out firm rather than gummy. It is ready when large bubbles cover the whole surface and it is a pale amber color.
Step 4
Turn off the heat, stir in 100 g peanut butter, 5 g vanilla extract and a pinch salt until melted, then pour it over the toasted oats along with 60 g raisins and mix very well. Mixing while the syrup is still hot lets the binder coat every oat. The mixture is ready when no dry oats remain and it all sticks together when you squeeze a handful.
Step 5
Tip the mixture into the pan, lay a sheet of parchment on top and press down very firmly with the bottom of a glass; after about five minutes, sprinkle 40 g chocolate chips over the top and press them in gently. Pressing firmly is the single most important step to keep the bars from crumbling when you cut them. The top is ready when it is flat and compact and the chocolate chips are stuck on without melting into smears.
Step 6
Put the pan in the fridge for about an hour so the binder sets. The sugar and butter mixture needs to chill to harden and hold the bars together. They are ready when the slab feels firm when pressed and comes away from the paper easily.
Step 7
Lift the slab out by the paper handles, set it on a cutting board and cut it into about twelve rectangular bars with a sharp knife, using firm, decisive strokes. Cutting while cold gives clean edges without crumbs. The bars are finished when they hold their shape when picked up and the cut sides show the oats, nuts and raisins clearly.
Equipment
- Nonstick skillet
- Small saucepan
- Square pan
- Parchment paper
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Refrigerator
- Kitchen scale
Tips
- Swap the peanut butter for almond butter or tahini if you want to avoid peanuts.
- Wait until the mixture has cooled a little before adding the chocolate chips so they keep their shape.
- Adding chia seeds or pumpkin seeds makes the bars higher in fiber and crunchier.
Storage
Wrap each bar in parchment paper and keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks. At cool room temperature, they keep for about five days but will be softer.
Common problems and how to fix them
- The bars crumble when cut.
- The syrup wasn't boiled for the full two minutes or the mixture wasn't pressed firmly enough. Next time, time the boil precisely and press down harder.
- The bars are too hard to bite.
- The syrup was boiled too long and turned into hard candy. Turn off the heat right after two minutes of boiling and don't let the mixture darken.
This recipe is based on the common ratios for this bake and is written entirely in our own words.
