These homemade chewy granola bars are super tasty, extremely quick and easy, and they cost about 3 times less than buying them from a store!

These quick little granola bars are tasty.

Really tasty.

Homemade granola bars with chocolate chips sprinkled on top lined up on a piece of parchment paper.

And who doesn’t love making a knock-off of something usually wrapped in plastic, stored in a box, and costing at least 3X as much as a homemade version (which is not a scientific price analysis, just a descriptive analogy)? Raise your hand(s)?

I’ve tried several homemade chewy granola bar-type recipes over the last few months. They’ve been good. Really.

Front view of granola oat granola bars topped with chocolate chips.

But these are the best of the bunch. Sure, the mini chocolate chips on top don’t hurt matters any, but the granola bars themselves are delicious, too.

Read through the recipe and additional notes completely – toasting the oats is optional but divine and pressing the mixture firmly ensures the granola bars don’t fall apart and become crumbly instead of chewy. Crumbly = bad. Chewy = good. Enjoy!

Top view of homemade granola bars topped with chocolate chips cut into rectangles on a piece of parchment paper.

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Chewy Granola Bars

4.65 stars (28 ratings)

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons (57 g) butter
  • ¼ cup (85 g) honey
  • ¼ cup (53 g) packed light brown sugar
  • 2 cups (200 g) quick cooking oats
  • 1 cup rice krispies cereal
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup (43 g) mini chocolate chips

Instructions 

  • Lightly coat a 9X11-inch pan with cooking spray and set aside. If you don’t have a pan that size, use a similar sized pan, like a 8X12-inch. This recipe is a bit small for a 9X13-inch pan but if that’s all you have, just pack the granola bar mixture into a smaller portion of the pan – the mixture doesn’t spread so that should work fine.
  • In a large bowl, stir together the oats and rice krispies. Set aside. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, honey and brown sugar. Cook over medium heat until the butter melts and the mixture comes together, stirring frequently. Cook at a simmer (so the mixture is lightly bubbling) for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
  • Pour the wet mixture over the oats/rice krispies and mix with a wooden spoon until evenly moistened. Press the mixture into the prepared pan, pressing down very firmly. If the mixture isn’t pressed down well enough, the bars will be crumbly once they cool. Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips on top. Press lightly if you want them to stick to the bars. Mine tended to fall off, which was just fine since there were a lot of little fingers ready to eagerly pick them up and eat them anyway.
  • Let the bars cool for at least 2 hours at room temperature. Cut into rectangles. Store well covered at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Notes

Oats: don’t substitute rolled oats for the quick oats because the granola bars will fall apart. If you only have rolled oats, give them a very quick process in a blender or food processor (don’t pulverize them!).
Toasting the Oats: if you want to take these to a new level, toast the oats in the oven (350 degrees for 4-7 minutes) and let cool before using them in the recipe. Amazing.
Serving: 1 Bar, Calories: 180kcal, Carbohydrates: 29g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 13mg, Sodium: 60mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 16g

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Lauren’s Latest via Rachael Ray