Homemade Granola Bars Recipe (Peanut Butter Granola Bars) (2024)

FAQs

What can I use to make granola bars stick together? ›

Honey – Along with the nut butter, it helps all these ingredients stick together! I love its warm amber flavor in this recipe.

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

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.

To keep your granola bars fresh, you must allow the least amount of air possible to reach the bars. Because air (and warmth) can easily cause spoilage, sealing your granola bars in an airtight container or wrapping them in wax paper is a great way to keep them fresh for longer.

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.

Whether it's homemade or store-bought, properly storing granola will help extend the shelf life and maintain crunchiness. Store granola in an airtight container or tightly sealed zip-top bag in a dry, dark place away from heat.

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.

Make sure that whichever granola recipe you use, it calls for some liquid, typically oil of some kind (I recommend olive oil for a subtle earthy, floral flavor, or melted unrefined coconut oil for subtly coconutty flavor). The liquid will help the chia seeds to gel, ensuring the granola sticks together.

Glycerine's value as a sweetener, preservative, moisture retainer and thickening agent, along with its other attributes, make it a versatile ingredient in food products such as: Dried fruits and vegetables. Soups. Energy bars.

If so, the reason that your granola isn't clumpy already is because it was deliberately stirred and broken apart while it was baking, and it might be possible to make it re-clump! Try putting a scoop in the microwave and heating it in 30 second bursts on high. If it starts to get sticky, you're golden.

What is the main ingredient in chewy granola bars? ›

GRANOLA (WHOLE GRAIN OATS, BROWN SUGAR, BROWN RICE CRISP [WHOLE GRAIN BROWN RICE FLOUR, SUGAR, SALT], WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT, SOYBEAN OIL, WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, BAKING SODA, SOY LECITHIN, NONFAT DRY MILK), CORN SYRUP, BROWN RICE CRISP (WHOLE GRAIN BROWN RICE FLOUR, SUGAR, SALT), SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE ...

I aim to let it hit room temperature, whatever that may be; the real point is to give it ample time to shed excess heat and steam. This should take about 45 minutes; if left out indefinitely, the granola can turn sticky or soft, so do try to put it away as soon after cooling as you can.

Surprisingly, long-expired food is still considered — by the regulators, at least — good enough to eat. That outdated granola bar packed with soft oats or that chocolate bar now displaying a whitish bloom may not taste very good, but they can still be consumed without making you sick.

Granola bars are made with a variety of ingredients, including oats, nuts, dried fruit, and honey. This combination of ingredients gives them a fairly long shelf life. Most granola bars will last for 6-10 months after their expiration date.

Even though you should refrigerate your granola bars to help them firm up quickly, you do not need to store them in the refrigerator. After cutting them, I wrap mine in a strip of parchment or wax paper (to keep them from sticking to each other) and then store them in a resealable Ziploc bag in my cabinet.

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.

Cut into desired size and put each into a bag. Roll up the bag and tape! Store in fridge. My review: Ours tasted great but were a bit crumbly, which is why I'd follow another recipe like the one I linked above.

Ground Flaxseed and Water

Ground flaxseed, or flax meal, is a popular egg substitute in vegan baking. "When substituting flaxseed for egg, the general rule is 1 tablespoon of flaxseed and 3 tablespoons of water per egg," shares Weintraub.

Fortunately, there are ways to eat Nature Valley granola bars that prevent a little less of a crumble catastrophe. General Mills told Bloomer that eaters could try warming the bars up in the microwave to soften them first (but take them out of the package first).