These soft and homemade granola bars are so much better than a store bought one that you will never want to go back. They are a great snack to grab in a hurry and the flavors can be anything you want.Â
What is not to love about a granola bar. They are a great snack for those on the go or a tasty little treat for your kid’s lunch box. These things are so easy to make you will wonder why you haven’t made them before. What is better is that you can fill them with any kinds of jams or fillings that you would like.
In this recipe
The base ingredients for this recipe are oats, flour, nuts, butter, and brown sugar. This is what will give your granola bars that nice texture and sweetness. The rest of the ingredients are interchangeable. Check out the mix it up section below for some additional flavor ideas. Â
To really get those great flavors from the nuts it is important to toast them first. This will help with the texture as well as it will give them more of a crunch. It is important to make sure that the nuts are wither whole or halved. If they are already coarsely chopped then they can burn very quickly while others don’t toast. After toasting use a knife or food processor to roughly chop them.
You want to make sure that you pack the bottom layer down firmly. I like to use the bottom of my measuring cups or flat-bottomed glass. Then once you spread the jam, it is ok if a little bit of the granola gets mixed in with it during spreading, pat down the top layer. You don’t want to pat so hard the jam starts to come through or escape the edges. Just enough to make sure there isn’t any loose granola.Â
Mix it up
These granola bars are great to spice up at any time. Here are some suggestions to help make them your own.Â
- Instead of walnuts use any of the following: almonds, pecans, macadamia, cashews, or a combination of them.
- Add spices like cardamom, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger.Â
- Use jam flavors such as apricot, blueberry, blackberry, strawberry.
- Swap out the brown sugar for honey, agave nectar, or any other sweetener.Â
- Add a nut butter as a filling instead of using a jam.Â
- For a vegan option replace the butter with a vegan alternative.Â
Easy Homemade Raspberry Granola Bars
Equipment
- 8 x 10" baking pan
- Food processor
- Mixing Bowl
- Spatula
- Whisk
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1 cup raspberry jam
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1¼ cups rolled oats
- 1 cup walnuts whole or halved
- â…” cup brown sugar packed
- ¾ cup butter unsalted, melted
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F or gas mark 4.
- In the baking dish spread out the walnuts and toast for 5minutes or until the nuts start to get a little brown. Remove and set aside to cool.
- While the nuts are cooling, using a whisk, mix the brown sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, oats, and baking powder together. Once the nuts have cooled use a food processor or knife to roughly chop them and add to the mixture. Pour in the melted butter and use a spatula to combine.
- Line the baking dish with parchment and pour about â…” of the mixture into the dish and press down so it is evenly spread and compact. Pour the jam over the granola and spread gently and evenly with the spatula. Some of the granola might get mixed in but that is ok. Add the rest of the granola and gently pack so there is no loose granola. Don't push so hard the jam leaks out.
- Bake for 40 minutes and remove from the oven to let cool completely before slicing.
