Check out our popular and easy no-bake peanut butter fudge, energy balls with dates.
Homemade granola bar recipe (vegan, dairy-free)
These homemade granola bars or date bars are healthy and prepared using natural sweeteners. These date bars are also a good on-the-go breakfast snack for busy mornings and mid-snack for kids’ tiffin box. The holiday season is here, and with lots of sports, gatherings, and travel, I am sure you are looking for some healthy snacks that are not only easy and simple to make but also delicious, portable, and have longer shelf life. These no-bake granola bars are made using dates, rolled oats, almonds, peanuts, peanut butter, honey or agave nectar, cranberries or homemade cranberry jam, and a pinch of salt. The best part about making date bars at home is that you can add your favorite ingredients. For example, use pistachios or cashews instead of almonds, hazelnuts instead of peanuts, almond butter or cashew butter, raisins, cranberries, chocolate chips, etc. All you need is a 9* 9-inch square pan to make this recipe. For thicker bars, use a smaller pan. If you love recipes that use oats, then do check out my recipes for best breakfast granola, crunchy granola using stovetop, healthy bread loaf using oats, oats roti (readers’ favorite flatbread), etc.
Peanut butter granola bars Ingredients
Dates: Pitted dates, natural sweetener, and best and healthy binding agent. It adds extra fiber to your bars.Oats: Use old-fashioned rolled oats. For gluten-free versions, use gluten-free oats.Almonds: I roast the almonds and add them to the recipe. You can easily substitute almonds with pistachios or cashews.Roasted peanuts: Adds protein and taste.Peanut butter: Fresh peanut butter with a pinch of salt is preferred. But use any nut butter or seed butter of your choice.Sweetener: Along with dates for additional sweetness, use honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar.Cranberry jam: I use fresh, homemade cranberry jam. You can use cranberries, raisins, or any of your favorite fruit jams. See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to make granola bars?
Preparation for healthy granola bars
Blend the dates in a food processor or blender till it’s crushed into smaller chunks. Do not add any water. Dry roast oats with a pinch of salt on a medium flame for 6 to 10 minutes or until they become slightly golden. Dry roast the almonds if you are using the raw ones. Otherwise, ignore this step. Roasted nuts always enhance the taste. Line a 9 * 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper and keep it ready.
Mixing all the ingredients to make granola bars
Add peanut butter and honey to the pan and warm it on low heat. You can even microwave this in a large bowl. (Just warm is what we need). Once it is melted, add dates, roasted oats, almonds, peanuts, and cranberry jam, and give it a thorough mix so that everything is well combined. Transfer this to the prepared pan and spread out so that they are uniformly distributed and flattened. I place another parchment paper or plastic wrap on top of it and use a glass to press it down. Cover this with plastic wrap and let it firm up in the fridge or freezer for 30 minutes. Cut them into pieces of the desired size. Store in an airtight container. Serve as needed and enjoy.
Tips
Once you transfer the mixture to the baking pan, press it down as firmly as possible. The oats will need some time to absorb moisture from sweeteners and nut butter. So chill it for atleast 30 minutes before you cut them. Once you slice, store them in an airtight container or wrap each slice in plastic wrap or parchment paper. Based on the sweetness of dates and peanut butter, adjust the honey in the recipe. Cranberry jam can be substituted with your favorite fruit jam or, dried cranberries or raisins.
Easy granola bars variations
Dried fruits: add raisins, blueberries, cherries, and figs if you love dried fruits. Toasted coconut flakes enhance the flavor of your granola bars. To make it even healthier, you can add chia seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin, or sunflower seeds. For flavor, add almond or vanilla extract. To make it kid-friendly, add chocolate chips. To enjoy it during the fall or holiday season, you can even add a pinch of cinnamon and pumpkin spice. Add almond butter or cashew butter instead of peanut butter. Instead of almonds, you can use walnuts, pecans, cashews, or pistachios.
More healthy snacks
Did you like this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and/or a review in the comments section. You can also stay in touch with us through social media by following us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Recipe card
