Oat and Honey Granola Bars

Stack of granola bars on a white platter

These delicious homemade oat and honey granola bars have everything you need for a delicious and energetic start to your day. They're also the perfect pre-workout snack.

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Total Time40

Servings: bars

Calories: 365kcal

Author: Heavenly Home Cooking

Ingredients

3½ cups quick oats Not old fashioned.
⅔ cup unsalted butter
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup honey
¾ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips Optional.
¾ cup chopped almonds Optional.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C).
Add oats to a large heatproof bowl and set aside. If desired, you can stir the chocolate chips and chopped almonds in at this point, rather than sprinkle them over the top.
Add butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract and salt to a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat. Stir continuously until butter and sugar melt.
Pour the hot butter and sugar mixture over the oats and stir until combined.
Add honey and stir, making sure that oats are covered.
Lay a sheet of wax paper into the bottom of a 15½ x 10½ inch baking sheet, allowing the paper to overlap the side edges so that you can use it as a handle to removed the cooked granola bars from the baking sheet.
Spread and press the oat mixture into the baking sheet.
If using, sprinkle the chocolate chips and almonds over the top and press them into the oat mixture with your fingers or the back of a spoon.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until set.
Remove from oven and place baking sheet on a wire rack to cool. Once cool, use the wax paper handles to remove the granola from the baking sheet and cut into 10-12 bars.

Notes

The mini chocolate chips and chopped almonds are optional. I think they add a ton of delicious flavor. I like having them sprinkled on top of these granola bars, but it does make them a little messier to eat. To counteract that, you can stir them in with the oats and which will incorporate them into the granola bars. That will make them less messy. If you do decide to sprinkle them over the top as I did, be sure to press them firmly into oat mixture before baking.

Be sure to use quick oats, not old fashioned oats or steel cut oats. Quick oats are pre-cut into smaller pieces. These smaller pieces will absorb the wet ingredients more easily, making your bars more stable.

Nutrition