Healthy Homemade Granola Bars {Meal Prep Friendly Recipe} (2024)

FAQs

What do you use to bind granola bars together? ›

While there are several different sticky ingredients that you can use, we've found that the binding agent that works the best is honey! When added to your homemade granola bars, honey acts as glue that sticks all the pieces together.

Homemade granola bars are a great alternative to store-bought ones. Because they typically use minimally processed ingredients and very little added sugar or salt, they're often more nutritious than packaged versions.

They save well (wrap and freeze them for up to two months), are more affordable than store-bought bars, and don't contain the long list of unpronounceable ingredients. Plus, your kitchen will smell like a bakery while these granola bars bake. Ahhhh.

Store them in the fridge or freezer.

I recommend storing them with a sheet of parchment paper between layers so that the bars don't stick together. They'll keep for up to a week in the fridge, but you can also freeze them for up to 2 months.

Honey. Sweetens the granola bars and helps bind the dry ingredients together.

If your granola bars are falling apart or seem too crumbly, here are a few tips. Make sure you use honey or another sticky sweetener such as maple syrup in the liquid part of the recipe; this recipe calls for honey. This will help bind together the ingredients and keep that signature bar shape.

The trick to getting homemade granola bars to stick together is to use lots of sticky dates, nut butter AND coconut oil. If you don't the coconut oil in this recipe, these granola bars would be dry and crumbly. The oil makes them moist and hold together.

That's because they don't contain added sugars or fats. But if the granola uses whole grain oats and minimal added sugars and fats, that can be a good choice too. Is it okay to eat granola every day? Yes, granola can be eaten daily.

Because granola contains carbohydrates, it can spike blood sugar levels in some people with diabetes. However, whether or not granola spikes your blood sugar levels, and how quickly it may cause a blood sugar spike, will vary depending on what type of granola you eat and what you pair it with.

Baking time: Increase the baking time for your granola. The longer you bake it, the drier and crunchier it will become. Keep a close eye on it to avoid burning, and stir it occasionally during baking to ensure even toasting.

What is a substitute for brown rice syrup in granola bars? ›

If you're using it as a binder in something like a granola bar you need to substitute something with a similar very thick consistency. That would include corn syrup, glucose syrup, and golden syrup. If you're baking with it you'll also want to stay with one of those options to keep the moisture levels similar.

These bars will soften at room temperature so keep them in the fridge, or wrap in parchment paper or saran wrap and freeze individually. However you eat them them, I hope you love these homemade chewy granola bars!

Most granola bars are actually quite shelf-stable and can last for months, or even years, if stored properly. Typically Granola Bars Are Good For 6-10 Months past the labeled best by date. The key to making sure your granola bars don't go bad is to keep them dry and free from moisture.

Possible downsides. Granola bars are often considered a healthy snack, but despite these marketing claims, many are loaded with added sugar, calories, and artificial ingredients. For example, Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Harvest granola bars can contain up to 15 grams of sugar per serving — mostly from added sugar.

Add an egg white.

The whites act as a kind of glue that binds the ingredients together. To ensure that the egg whites coat all the ingredients, I beat them with a whisk until foamy and increased in volume, which makes it much easier to fold into the granola.

Get as clumpy as you like.

First, press the granola into an even layer before you put it in the oven. Then, stir it only once halfway through cooking. For really good clumps, press down on the finished granola before it cools and avoid jostling it on the pan until cooled completely.

If you want to give the granola as a little side gift, then use smaller jars. But if you want it to be the main attraction, get a nice sized one. Create a label and attach it with tape or twine. You can really make it personal by adding their name to the label or add some sweet message for them.