Healthy 5-Ingredient Granola Bars

YUMMY!! I just made these. I added pumpkin seeds and ground flax seed to the oats for roasting. I also used Trader Joe’s Mixed Nut butter.

This is an excellent recipe which I have on high rotation for a snack after cycling to and from work. Perfect with a hot cup of tea and for sharing with keen colleagues.
I make sure to cut each almond and take time carefully mix in the dates to help the bars hold together. Today I forgot to add the peanut butter and maple syrup mix, but realised my mistake as I started to put the pan in the freezer. I was able to pull the mixture back into a bowl and add the missing ingredients. This recipe keeps me well. Thank you.

These are great and so versatile! I’ve used dried pineapple, dried cherries, dried cranberries and a variety of nuts in addition to the almonds. And I always add toasted coconut. *chef kiss*

Made these for my boys last night and they have devoured half of them in one sitting this morning, so clearly a winner! I used walnuts instead of almonds (cus that’s what I had in the cupboard) and almond butter (cus yum) and a few more dates than stated as had a few left over from the stated amount and it seemed a shame not to throw them in. Love the versatility of these kinds of recipes, thank you minimalist baker for another blinder.

So delicious and satisfying. My husband even likes. I made it as directed with agave. Tonight is my second time making it and is definitely a go to for me. My neighbor loves it too. Thank You!!

I tried this recipe but with a minor change, and it turned out SO good! Disclaimer: I quartered all amounts because I was low on almonds.
The only recipe change was replacing healthier sweeteners with brown sugar (not packed) as this is what I had (I added some water to the pot to compensate for dryness). The almonds and oats were roasted per suggestion. I put it in a 4×4 inch dish lined and covered with parchment paper.
It’s currently cooling but I tried some from the spoon amd let me tell you, the combination of flavours was immaculate.
I would recommend the recipe to anyone looking for a relatively healthy and very tasty granola bar.

Delicious. Used watermelon seed butter instead of almond and used one cup of oats and half cup Ezekial cereal, Date syrup instaead of maple.

I made this and followed to a T, exactly how the recipe was written except I used raisins instead of dates and opted for honey. I thought that the peanut butter and honey wouldn’t stick with the oats (I also toasted with raw almonds). However, after taking out of the fridge, these were perfect. The oats help to hold it all together. Brilliant and easy recipe. Follow as written and you’ll have no problems. I’ll try again and add in other nuts. Thanks!

These are pretty easy (the food processor really helps with the dates), and I like that this recipe is so substitute-friendly. I chopped my almonds some and added chocolate chips. Quite tasty-even my picky husband likes them!

Wow! Just WOW!!! So very yummy and easy to make! I used maple syrup and did not add any of the optional ingredients but will experiment with these in the future. Never buying granola bars again! I had to put these in the freezer so I am not tempted to eat them every time I see them.

I’ve made these quite a few times using different mix-ins, nut butters, etc and they are delicious every time. I cut mine into bars, then individually wrap them in parchment, and keep them in the fridge. They last me about a week. Great, reliable recipe!

Hello, thank you for this recipe! I made these and they are indeed delicious, although they are far too sweet for my taste… I used the metric measurements. I reduced the amount of honey given since dates are already inherently sweet (I used a gorgeous date paste brought from Tunisia) and it was still too much for me, but I believe this is a matter of personal taste. I added a bit more oats and almonds to add a bit of bulk and counterbalance the sweetness. Next time I make these (because I will!) I will halve the amount of honey and add a bit more nut butter if the dough needs more binding. Overall an excellent recipe!!!

Stellar! I didn’t have dates, so I subbed 1/2 cup prunes (pulsed in food processor), 1/3 cup dried cranberries, and a few Tbs fig butter. Added chia and flax seeds, 1/4 cup chopped pecans, a few dashes of cinnamon. Used honey and maple syrup. A dash of sea salt. Roasted the almonds/oats/flax/pecans. Such a wonderful base recipe and easy to tweak to suit your taste! Thanks so much!!

These granola bars are super delicious, easy and quick to make. They are much better than the ones from the store.
Thank you for sharing this recipe with us.

Super simple and absolutely delicious! Thank you!

Love these so easy and Yummy xx

Great recipe. I happened across this recipe a few weeks ago and just made my third batch today. Great for a quick snack. I used local honey and dried, un-sweetened cranberries for the fruit. The batch lasts me and my wife about a week, so time for a trip to the market for mare dates and nuts. Might try the next batch with pecans.

This is an amazing granola bar for my husband who is a cyclist! I use Trader Joe’s Sunflower Seed Spread Unsweetened with agave and it tastes just like peanut butter! I also added crushed pecans and unsweetened shredded coconut. This recipe is so helpful because my husband is allergic to honey, peanuts, almonds, cashews, and soy. Those ingredients seem to be in most protein bars on the market. Thank you so much! We love it!

the recipe is great! at first i thought it would be too sweet and i was reluctant with the nut butter but they were delicious, thank you for the recipe!

These are excellent! I just pulled my batch out of the freezer and want to devour the pan. But I will exercise discipline! I roasted almonds and pepita seeds (so good for you) and sprinkled just a tad of ground sea salt on top. The salt blends wonderfully with the sweet (I used non salted almond butter).
Thank you for sharing!

Debi

This recipe was delicious & easy to make. I made a few batches but added different dried fruit to each batch.

My son (6) and I love to experiment in the kitchen and since he has food sensitivities, it’s often important for us to come up with “alternative” things for him to eat. This was a home run on all fronts! He used his creative brain to come up with something he thought he’d enjoy and I used this as the template for his dream. He can’t have oats or gluten so we crushed up his favorite GF pretzels, chopped almonds, peanuts, and sunflower seeds, then used the recipe for the peanut butter, honey, and date base to hold it all together. Then he decided a drizzle of chocolate would go well on top (with a little lift from some Nutella-like product). Absolutely amazing. And so easy and fun for a daddy-son activity. My 3yo son even helped!

I have made these many, many times because my grandchildren love them and ask for them over and over. I use honey because I like the taste better than the maple syrup. I have found that it’s much easier to melt the peanut butter and honey in a large bow in the microwave, then add the oats, etc. to that. I also add vanilla and a lot of cinnamon, and usually use pecans. Thanks for this recipe!

I couldn’t get dates so used prunes instead. Worked brilliantly.

I have made these many, many times over the past few years and they are fantastic. We even put them in our resupply shipments on a 28 day backpacking trip and they hold up really well. I also add sunflower and pumpkin seeds and M&M’s for the extra calories on the trail but these bars are the bomb!

Incredible. The most delicious bar I have had and SO easy. We subbed out the PB for sunflower butter and the almonds for pumpkin seeds, and threw in some chocolate chips and ground flax. Recommendation for toasting the oats first was spot on. Would like to find a way to decrease the amount of sugar without compromising the texture, but I love that aside from the chocolate chips we threw in there’s no refined sugar. 10/10 recipe.

Very easy to make.
My whiz broke down, so I mashed the rest of the dates on a cutting board using a fork. A bit time consuming, but I liked the mashed version to the whized, as it was easier to control the texture.

I used a 1.75 litre/59 oz Systema plastic oblong container to “mould” the slice into, (and use for storage).
That made the bar a little thicker. I cut them into 8 strips, and then halved them again which made them perfect for me.
I will definitely make this recipe again.

Soooo good! I just added dark chocolate chips. Great texture and flavor!

Hello! This recipe was great! I am looking for healthier snack options for my kiddo. My 5-year old helped me make these. We used almond butter and a mix of nuts we had on hand. Toasting was a great added step. I thought they would be too sticky but they are great and easy to handle. Cut them and wrapped them in wax paper. Ready for the lunchboxes! Will definitely make these again and we’re excited to add more to the mix!

I don’t ever comment on a recipe (first for everything 🤷‍♀️) we have been making these every week for about a year now, only thing I do differently is melt 200g of 70% dark chocolate with 2 tblsp coconut oil and spread over the top, Delicious.
Thank you

I literally make these every single weekend for breakfast at work during the week. The only difference is that I make them into balls and roll them in either cocoa powder or cinnamon. They’re so convenient and I add something different every time to keep it interesting. I can just open the jar, pop one into my mouth, then run back to work. Love love love this and can’t live without them!

I made this recipe today. After trying others I found this to be the be the best. I added coconut, chia seeds, walnuts and cranberries. I used apple butter and also toasted the oats, almonds and coconut. Thank you for this recipe, I love it.

The absolute best vegan granola bar hands down and they keep me full through lunchtime when I eat them for breakfast.

Don’t comment on these too often, but these are amazing. Thank you so much for the recipe! I have been making these weekly and eating them in the middle of the night when feeding baby. Great hit of energy and breastfeeding goodness. I add dark chocolate and cranberries, and love the toastiness of the oats

This recipe is now a favourite of mine. It’s an awesome base to have a lot of fun. I added in about 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of cinnamon and the same for vanilla, a handfull dried cranberries and dried apple plus a pinch of salt. I didn’t have almonds so I used crushed pecans and walnuts. Oh and chocolate chips. Next time I want to do a drizzle of of dark plus white chocolate to make it all super fancy.

These have become a staple in our household – so easy to make and such a delicious snack to get through the workday!

I always make them with chocolate chips and goji berries, so so good!

I have one every day – they have lots of protein so are fantastic for veggies/vegans, plus I add a load of pumpkin seeds. My food processor isn’t great, so I add the maple syrup in when blitzing the dates and just melt the peanut butter on its own, which helps makes the mixture much smoother.

I make this once a week. I toast my nuts and oatmeal. It gives it a fuller, richer flavor. I never even use any of the maple syrup or honey. I have added a ripe banana before I’ve added raisins I’ve added craisins I’ve added chopped dried apricots all different sorts of nuts. It’s so versatile and super delicious!!!
Thanx!!

So so good. My 3 year old and I made them and he keeps saying that we have to share but not all of them because he needs to eat more! Haha!

Love the flavour of this recipe! I did have an issue with my dates clumping; they didn’t disperse as nicely as the photos look above, and thus they didn’t hold together great. Also, I baked by almonds for 13 minutes and they definitely overcooked. Would only do about 8-9 mins next time. All in all, LOVE the sweet and salty combination and with some tweaking, will be making this often!

These are delicious. I’ve made them twice leaving the honey out the second time. I feel it made them too sweet and sticky.

I made these with dried apricots (because I had them) and they are sooo good!!! Thank you for such and easy delicious recipie

I’ve made this recipe about 6 times now – I love it! So does my partner. He continues to ask me to make them. They’re sweet, but not too sweet (using salted peanut butter is the trick), crunchy, but not “break your teeth” crunchy, and filling. I’ve tried the recipe using maple syrup, and I’ve tried it using agave. I don’t really have a preference as to which sweetener I like more, they both hold pretty well. I always roast the oats and almonds, because yum. I only have a 9 x 9 pan, but it works just fine. I add cacao nibs for some chocolate taste, without adding any more sweetness. Thankful for this staple recipe!

it’s quick, delicious and super easy to make! I had to swap dates with dried figs (lockdown😪) but it did not affect the recipe in any way and they held together very well. I also used homemade almond butter….can’t wait to make this again!!

These are amazing! When I first came across this recipe – I was very intrigued but admit I thought….”Now I have to go to the store – because who has that many dates in the house?” I am so glad I did! I used deglet dates, but I think I am going to use Medjool next time, for a little stickier bar. I love the toasted oats and almonds, makes a huge difference. I used cashew butter (just because), threw in ground flax seed and unflavored protein powder, and topped with sea salt (which was even better!!). I cannot wait to try additional add-ins. I was paying $25 – $30/month for RX bars, but this is way better and customizable. Thank you!

These are amazing, I have made them many times. A girl I backpacked with brought some on the trail and gave me the recipe. I make these and freeze them and take backpacking with me. A perfect desert to the end of the day. I use dark chocolate and dried apricot as additions. I also put the almonds in the food processor and break them down instead of leaving them whole. These are absolutely divine!

These granola bars are SO good and easy to make. I’ve made them twice now. I made the raisin paste since I didn’t have dates on hand. I froze the leftover paste until I made the bars again. I made them with almonds and Lily’s dark chocolate chips the first time, and pecans, almonds, and Lily’s the second time. I just stored them in the freezer and they are edible straight out of there-not too hard at all! I could eat these all day!

Omy word!!!
In search of healthy premade snacks I fell upon these. I substituted Marcona almonds instead of raw unsalted almonds, because that’s what I had on hand. I did use honey, and added chocolate chips while the honey/pb was still hot so the chocolate melted.
I licked the bowl like a kid!!!! These are good enough for desert!!! And I love the simple ingredients and how fast this recipe came together!

Love the bars! In the middle of preparing second batch. Great tip about roasting almonds, it really changes the taste of it. I keep bars in the freezer as well cause they defrost in seconds. Thank you again for the recipe!

Hi and thank you for the recipe! I make these all the time now and my kids from 5 to 15 love them and bring them to school for a snack. I know they might have sugar from dates and syrup but they are by far healthier than the refined sugar or corn syrup versions you can buy in the shop! Definitely a winner for us so thanks again.

What do you mean “not full of sugar”? You base it on dates, which are chock-full of fructose. Worse, they’re dried and processed – meaning all of that fructose is released from the cells and available for digestion immediately!

Then a ton of maple syrup?

I didn’t finish a single portion of this, it’s insanely sweet.

If you want to achieve the health benefits you incorrectly claim, you need to keep the fruit fresh and whole so that it takes time for your body to break down the cells and slowly release that sugar. Have a bowl of oatmeal and sweeten to taste instead of this uninnovative junk food.

This is a food for people who want to kid themselves they’re being healthy.

I make this EVERY week for my fiance and my snacks, breakfasts, sometimes lunches… They’re delicious. I did add chia seeds and cinnamon because I wanted to try it.
But this recipe just how it is.. is AMAZING.
We will probably NEVER get tired of it. Thank you so much for this.

OMG. Amazing recipe and very tasty verrry delicious 😋
Everyone like it here. Thank you so much

I followed the recipe exactly and they came out amazing, I liked them even better the next day after being in the fridge for the night. I brought them into work and they’re a huge hit, can’t wait to make them again!

Great recipe, I made some alterations though. I used only 2tbsp honey and filled up with peanut butter, then the warmed peanut butter/honey wasn’t thin enough to spread so I put a bit of almond milk through to make it a little softer. Used no oats (couldn’t find GF oats) so my mix was: almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pepitas, dried cranberries, whole buckwheat.
Very impressed with the results! I’m going to make several batches and freeze them for snacks for uni.
Thanks so much for the inspiration!
I am starting to have quite a number of favourite recipes that have come from your site.

I’ve just made these for the second time round after they where a hit! I used almond butter rather than peanut butter and honey instead of maple. The dates made it just the right amount of sweet with out it feeling like it was packed with sugars. So glad I found this ☺️

These are delicious! I’ve been wanting some granola bars for some of my longer hikes and this is going to be great. I used cashews and oats and roasted them in the oven along with some leftover oat/coconut pulp from making oat and coconut milk- excellent use for this btw. I also used molasses instead of honey/maple syrup and it worked well to keep it all together, I think. My dates were really, really dried out, but i soaked them in warm water for ~30 min and also added a little water when I blended them and everything held together after freezing. Will definitely make again!

I made these today- they are absolutely delicious! They are so easy to make and will most definitely be a permanent fixture in our house!!

AMAZING. I took commenter Howard’s suggestion and substituted water for the maple syrup when heating the peanut butter. I added about a teaspoon of maple syrup to the bowl when I was mixing everything together, but I honestly don’t think the bars need it and next time I won’t add any. The dates end up being sweet enough on their own! To the base recipe, I also added chopped walnuts, golden raisins, and prunes (run though the food processor first).

This was my first attempt at homemade granola bars – thank you Minimalist Baker for the inspiration! :-)

Absolutely obsessed with this recipe. It also works brilliantly with popped quinoa!

These are the most delicious granola bars I’ve ever tasted! I’ve made them for dessert for company and everyone loved them! Of course, I served them with a scoop of ice cream! I’m eating them in the mornings instead cereal. So easy and yummy! They’re easy to make! I use honey instead of maple syrup to reduce the calories and I like the taste since it’s not as sweet. Thank you!

Made first batch as repcie said. Liked it alot. Second batch i change the maple syrup for malt as malt is good for you. I did half unsalted peanuts and half almonds. And then instead of a pan I put them in a muffin tray so no cutting.

Pitted dates, steel cut oats, unsalted almonds, natural peanut butter and maple syrup; these are the ingredients I used following the exact quantities and instructions as described. When I make this again, I’m going to increase the amount of steel cut oats leaving everything else the same, and only add them and mix them in a bit at a time after the peanut butter/maple syrup is mixed in with the dates and almonds. I did not roast the nuts or oats; I may do that once my steel cut oats run out and I’ll buy the rolled oats. I quite enjoyed the bar; it is just a little bit sweeter than I would like, this is why I will increase the oats. I may also add seeds of some kind for a future try.

The first batch was a little too sweet for my taste.
However it was just right to sweeten my oatmeal.
It made it crunchy and peanut buttery The next time I made a batch and replaced the maple syrup with water.
It came out perfect and took 50 g of sugar out of the batch. Hope this helps people who need to keep their glucose intake down.

I made this last night and it is as good as it gets. I did made a few modifications/choices to make this as healthy as possible: use homemade date syrup as the sweetener (blend equal amount of dates and boiling water), replace chocolate chips with cocoa nibs, choose almond butter over peanut butter. I think roasting the oats and nuts elevate the flavors. For nuts, i used a combination of almond, pumpkin seeds and sun flower seeds. I added cinnamon and vanilla extract.

This is going to disappear quickly in my family! Thanks for the great recipe.

Absolutely delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and it worked perfectly. Thank you so much!!!!

I’ve made this recipe many times and people have loved them! I use pecans instead of almonds, just because I like them more. I usually use honey and think the bars taste better with honey than with maple syrup. I always roasted my oats and pecans first. And I add a good shake of cinnamon and a teaspoon of vanialla. One tip: I melt the honey and peanut butter together in a large bowl in the microwave, then add the rest of the ingredients to that bowl.

Just made it and LOVE it!

Awesome recipe! Tasted great and the texture was perfectly chewy. Thank you!

These bars are fantastic. I ran into one little problem while making them and that was the ratio of peanut butter and honey. I used a quarter cup of each as suggested and when I went to mix with the oats, it was clearly not enough. Added another quarter cup of each and that was the perfect amount.

Okay, I just had to comment!

When I was making this, I was definitely worried, LOL. As I was mixing, the ingredients weren’t coming together as I thought they would, and I thought to myself “well, I’ve done something wrong, I’m just going to flatten, throw in the freezer, and hope for the best.” Well, I was completely wrong! It came out perfect!!!

I absolutely love this recipe–it’s perfectly sweet and nutty. I threw in some chocolate chips, but it totally doesn’t need them. I am so happy I found this recipe and no longer have to purchase the processed granola bars at the store anymore! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!!! :)

These are delicious, easy to make and easy to customize to what you like. I added dried cherries and blueberries and chia seeds. I toasted the oats and almonds for 7 minutes. Everyone in the family loved them!

The only thing I have as a blender is a magic bullet. And it was a definite no-go for blending the dates. So I just warmed them on the stove with the almond butter and maple syrup and it worked fine to mash them up.

This is soooo good!!!! I just replaced the almonds with half walnuts and half pecan and the bars are so good!!! Full of natural flavours, moist and crunchy. Considering it is the first time I do granola bars, I think I have found my go-to recipe!!!! Thank for sharing.

I just made these last night and they are amazing! I did opt to toast the oats and almonds, used honey and added dried mixed berries. I was a little nervous about the dates bc we just have a blender, but it worked perfectly! The ingredients combined beautifully and with little effort. I used parchment paper and a glass baking dish- and the glass to flatten them, which was an excellent tip! My family loves them!!!

This recipe was SO good! Thank you I will be keeping it as one of my favourites :)

Really yummy and easy to make. I toasted the oats and almonds as suggested as I like a toasty flavour. I used crunchy peanut butter as I didn’t have smooth, and added a quarter cup of sunflower seeds and a quarter cup of dried cranberries!

Just made them, terrible!
Just a crumbled oat mess. Dies not bind together at all.

These are the bomb. Make them just as described (toast the oats & nuts), no optional add-ins. I make them into 12 bars and have one every night. I’ve made them 3 or 4 times and love them!

I never comment but had to say that I make these a couple of times a month and they are the best! They taste so much better than store-bought granola bars and aren’t loaded with processed junk. My favorite variation is subbing toasted pistachios for half the almonds and adding raisins or dried cranberries.

These are sooooooo good…! I left out the syrup since my dates were super sticky and, as suspected, the bars still turned out deliciously sweet. I also used sunflower seeds instead of almonds. Toasting the seeds and oats worked well for me – it added to the crunch which I loved! Oh, and I drizzled melted dark chocolate over half the batch, because chocolate ;)

Loved these! They are so delicious! I did a mix of toasted almonds and pecans and added hemp seeds. I haven’t finished them and I’m already planning my next batch.

Sorry I didn’t leave a rating. I was so happy with what I’d made that I pressed post comment too soon. To be clear this recipe deserves 5 stars. I’ll try double portions next time. I only made them on Saturday and now they have all gone. I’ve made a few things from this site, all good.😀

Great recipe, works really well. I Mixed in some hazelnuts, cashews and peanuts either the almonds (same proportion) I also dropped in some dried cranberries with the dates. Oh, and I couldn’t resist adding a teaspoon of cinnamon. Thanks for the recipe😀

These turned out really well and a much better consistency than store-bought ones. They don’t hold together super well unless I keep them in the freezer, but that’s fine by me. This was my first time using dates, so maybe there was a misstep somewhere. I couldn’t find packed dates, so I just got regular fresh pitted ones and soaked them first cause they were a bit dry I thought. Maybe my cup was too heaping or I didn’t wait long enough when I put them through the food processor.

Wow, these turned out delicious! I’ll be making these regularly. Thank you so much for the recipe :)

Wow, wow, wow! These are amazing! Here in South Africa there are these peanut-butter bars we usually buy that are a family favorite, but we couldn’t get them this weekend. I was looking for an alternative that I could make at home and these didn’t disappoint (insert relieved sigh…) The whole, toasted almonds are little gems of crunchy yummyness. I added some cranberries, pecans and vanilla, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly .

Thanks and blessings from SA :)