Healthy Granola Bars for Kids

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Homemade Baked Granola Bars

These homemade oat bars are sweet + salty and soft + chewy + crunchy in all the right ways! They feature incognito healthy superfoods such as dried blueberries, whole flax seeds and nuts, to keep you nourished and energized.  I love this recipe so much because healthy granola bars for kids are not readily available on the shelves.  There are almost always tons of sugar, corn syrup or other unfavorable additives in the store bought options, never mind the high cost and low quantitiy involved. So if you’re looking for healthy snack bars to make at home this recipe will deliver. 

This recipe feels to me like a baked trail mix bar recipe because it has the added dried fruit, several different nuts and the chocolate candies of course – don’t leave out the best part.  This recipe offers so much more than the generic granola bar as far as nutrition and energy.  These can also serve as healthy breakfast bars!

If you’re looking for homemade granola bars to replace the store bought chewy granola bars,  you’ve come to the right place.  These bars pack in tons of nutrients which translates to energy, giving you long sustained fuel – without the crashes from blood sugar spikes and dips. These bars only have sugar in the sweetened condensed coconut milk but that can be swapped out for raw unfiltered honey for a completely sugar-free version.

This recipe for healthy granola bars is bolstered with a variety of nuts, dried blueberries, flax seeds, and cute rainbow chocolates – that make these a favorite for the kids too!  These are the best healthy granola bars for kids I have found because they get all the healthy good stuff in, taste amazing and are aesthetically enticing to the littles. 

So why keep buying boxes of expensive sub-par store bought products when you can make easy healthy oat bars in no time at all. Making oat bars is super easy and quick.  It’s a 1 bowl recipe, with a short bake time – truly a no fuss snack or breakfast you can conveniently have on hand all week long. Enjoy the cost savings, increased quantity of said snacks, better taste and much more nutrition! For reals, its a no brainer, once you make this recipe you will never go back!

Ingredients:

• 1 can of sweetened condensed coconut milk or honey if sugar free
• 1/2 cup cashew butter
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3.5 cups oats 
• 3 Tbsp whole flax seeds
• 1 cup unsalted roasted nuts (recommended:cashews, almonds, pecans, pistachios, macadamia)
• 1/2 cup of dried blueberries (or any other dried fruit)
• optional chocolate chips.  If using, I recommend 1/3 cup.
• rainbow chocolate candies for sprinkling on top for aesthetic and to make kids love eating them!

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper. I cut the sides off so it fits better.
3. To a large bowl, add the sweetened condensed coconut milk, cashew butter, vanilla and salt and mix thoroughly.
4. Optional- chop the nuts.  Add the oats, nuts, dried fruit, whole flax seeds and the optional chocolate chips and stir again until all ingredients are fully incorporated and the liquid/binder is consistent over all contents. 
5. Place the granola contents in the baking pan and press it down evenly.
6. Place the rainbow chocolate candies and whole nuts on top for the cute look in the photos.  
7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes, until the edges are turning golden brown.
8. When fully baked, place the pan on a cooling rack and allow them to fully cool before removing and cutting.  Refrigerate to hasten the cooling process. Don’t transport or cut while even slightly warm or they won’t hold together well or cut cleanly. 
9. Cut when fully cooled into rectangles or squares. This recipe should make approximately 16.

Notes:

• Parchment paper baking trick: Cut two of the sides (parallel sides) off completely but leave the rest for easy removal(they act as handles).  This removes the bulky folded over corners that take up room in the pan and make weird prints in the food. Check out photos for visual. 
• If you use salted roasted nuts be sure to omit the 1/2 tsp of salt that the recipe calls for. 
• Dried fruits for these diy granola bars : dried blueberries, apricots, raisins, cherries to name a few.  The brilliant thing about diy is that you can tailor this snack to whatever you like.  If you want to make homemade granola bars with dates just make sure to remove the rock solid pit in the center before chopping.
• If you are looking to make homemade granola bars no sugar added, then you will want to swap out the sweetened condensed coconut milk because it is sweetened with cane sugar.  The best replacement is raw unfiltered honey because it tends to be a little thicker and viscose which helps with binding the granola bars so they don’t fall apart.
• Wait until the bars are fully fully cooled – you can throw them in the fridge to quicken the hardening process. If you try to transport or cut them before they are fully cooled, they will be liable to fall apart. 
• If you’re a fan of chocolate chip granola balls – you can totally form this recipe into balls and bake them until golden brown.
• This is a great recipe for granola bars without honey as this recipe calls for sweetened condensed coconut milk as the sweetener and binding agent.
• If you’re looking for a peanut butter granola bar recipe you can use peanut butter instead of the cashew butter that the recipe calls for. 
• Nut Allergy * If have a peanut allergy and are looking for homemade granola bars no peanut butter – this is a great recipe for you as long as you are not allergic to cashews.  The roasted nut variety I have specifically in this recipe are cashews, almonds, pecans and pistachios. 

Granola Bar Recipe FAQ:

-How long do homemade granola bars last?

Up to a week, wrapped really well or they can be frozen for a couple months. 

-Is this a healthy granola bars recipe for weight loss ?

This recipe has no added oils or fats and minimal sugar(sugar-free if you use honey).  Nuts help keep your blood sugar stable which can reduce food cravings and in theory help you stay away from excess cravings and stress eating. 

-Can you make this recipe no bake granola bars ?

This is strictly a baked granola bar recipe – I have only does this homemade granola bars baked method, so I can’t speak to no bake for this recipe. 

How to make granola bars stick together ?

The binding agent is the sweetened condensed milk or honey if you’re going sugar-free. 

-Is this a crunchy granola bar recipe ?

The crunchy element in this recipe comes from the crunch of the nuts.  The texture besides the nuts is soft and chewy.  If you’re looking for a more crunchy and crispy bar, search “how to make granola bars with pre made granola”. 

Homemade granola bars for kids need some enticing visual element, I chose to carefully place rainbow chocolate candies on top to make them look fun and appealing. You can use any alluring candy on top!

I think this is a great option for the best protein bars for kids – the healthy whole nuts, cashew butter and flaxseeds add sufficient protein to this snack bar.

Related recipes:

Homemade granola bars healthy

Kids granola bars healthy

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Thanks for checking out this homemade baked granola bar recipe. If you liked this one you may love some of my other favorite recipes such as baked oatmeal breakfast (apricot ginger), blondie brownie recipe or gf and df cranberry bread pudding with rosemary simple syrup. 

This is a great recipe to try if you’re a fan of healthy, sweet, tasty, quick, on-the-go snacks or breakfasts. Please rate or comment below and if you made any additions or alterations and want to let me in on your ideas on this recipes, I would love to hear about it!  If you would like to share or pin on Pinterest I am always thankful.  Check out my food journey on Pinterest at Molé in the Wall.

I hope you do try this healthy granola bars for kids recipe and throughly enjoy it as much as we have.  I’m pretty sure this quick and easy snack will become a go-to recipe for the entire family.