These homemade granola cranberry coconut chocolate chip granola bars are nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and perfect for back-to-school. They’re chewy, a little crunchy and absolutely delicious.
Guess what? I finally came up with a granola bar recipe that 1) stays together and 2) tastes good. You guys, this was a hard task! You’d think that a granola bar recipe would be easy peasy to come up with, but yeah, not so much. The process involved a lot of experiments and quite a few granola bar turned granola cereal adventures. Not a bad thing considering Isaac and I both like granola. Let’s just say that the snack monster in me was loving it… probably a little too much.
I knew this batch was a winner as soon as I was able to cut them into bars without having them fall apart. Then I tried a bite — the combo of toasted coconut, dried cranberries and chocolate is simply delightful. They have the perfect amount of chewiness and a bit of crunch from the brown rice cereal. I’m a big fan!
The sunflower seed butter keeps the bars from getting too dry and also helps them stay together. You could certainly experiment with using a different nut butter in place of the sunflower seed butter. I choose it because I like the flavor but it also keeps the bars nut-free. Most schools (including Isaac’s) are nut-free (or at least peanut-free) and I wanted Isaac to be able to take these bars to work as a snack.
Kids will love these bars because they have a bit of sweetness and us adults will love them because they’re healthy, homemade and include only 10 ingredients.
Winner winner, perfect to snack on before dinner! 🙂
No more processed granola bars, peeps. These bars are super easy to toss together and they taste way better than bars out of a box. Plus, there’s a pinch of love involved with homemade treats and I think that counts for a little something too.
How you store the bars is up to you. You can leave them out in a sealed container if you like softer, chewy granola bars but I’ve been storing ours in the freezer — they keep longer and I like the harder texture. Enjoy!
If you make these cranberry coconut chocolate chip granola bars, please be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Your feedback is super helpful for the EBF team and other readers who are thinking about making the recipe.
These homemade granola cranberry coconut chocolate chip granola bars are nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and perfect for back-to-school. They’re chewy, a little crunchy and absolutely delicious.
Ingredients
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats*
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup crispy brown rice cereal
1 Tablespoon dried cranberries
2 Tablespoons mini chocolate chips (divided)*
1 large very ripe banana
2 Tablespoons sunflower seed butter
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
1 Tablespoon vanilla
pinch of sea salt
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
Toast your oats and coconut: spread oats and coconut flakes on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until just golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly.
Line a baking pan or stone with a long sheet of parchment paper.
In a large bowl, stir together cooled toasted oats and coconut, cereal, cranberries, and 1 Tablespoon of chocolate chips.
In a mini food processor(affiliate link) or blender, pulse together banana, sunflower butter, maple syrup, vanilla and salt until evenly blended.
Stir banana mixture into oat/coconut mixture until combined. Spread mixture on the prepared baking pan with parchment, pressing down into a rectangular shape. Press the mixture lightly with your hands or a rubber spatula to flatten, then sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips over top. Again, use your hands or the spatula to press the chips into place and compact the mixture into the pan as much as possible.
Bake at for 12-15 minutes or until bars are golden brown. Cut into 6 bars before they have a chance to really harden up, then let the bars cool completely before transferring to an airtight container for storage.
Notes
*Be sure to use gluten-free oats and dairy-free chocolate chips if you want these bars to be gluten and dairy-free.
OMG I’m SO excited!!! I’m nut-free (peanut & tree nut) and can never have any granola bars and changing the nuts to seeds sometimes make the whole thing fall apart! Thanks Brittany!!
These look amazing – I love making homemade granola bars (especially the infamous “glo” bar!) and will never go back to store bought again. Can’t wait to try this recipe! Pinned 😀
I love the idea of these – so simple and with ingredients on hand. How strong is the banana flavor? Is it noticeable or more in there to act as a binder?
I used a 9X13 baking stone (the one in the photos) but the mixture definitely didn’t fill out the stone. I just pressed the mixture out (using the side of the stone to help make straight edges) and shaped them into a rectangle.
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Can I use almond butter instead of sunflower seed butter? Or will that take away from the taste
Hey Jessenia! You can use any nut or seed butter you prefer. 🙂
Love all things oaty!
Mine never stay together so I will be giving these a go ASAP!
These look AMAZING! Wondering if you could sub out the banana for something else? (just found out I’m allergic 🙁 ) Time to experiement!
These look WONDERFUL! I love your incorporation of banana in the mix. I’ll have to give them a try 🙂
OMG I’m SO excited!!! I’m nut-free (peanut & tree nut) and can never have any granola bars and changing the nuts to seeds sometimes make the whole thing fall apart! Thanks Brittany!!
Yay! I hope you get to try these. 🙂
These look amazing – I love making homemade granola bars (especially the infamous “glo” bar!) and will never go back to store bought again. Can’t wait to try this recipe! Pinned 😀
These look fantastic!
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I love the idea of these – so simple and with ingredients on hand. How strong is the banana flavor? Is it noticeable or more in there to act as a binder?
I can’t really taste the banana, it’s more for the sweetness and to help bind the bars together. 🙂
What is brown rice cereal?
Thanks! Excited to make these during my weekly meal prep 🙂
It’s brown rice crisp cereal like Rice Krispies but made with brown rice. Here’s the type I used: http://www.attunefoods.com/products/Erewhon-Organic-Cereals/erewhon-crispy-brown-rice-gluten-free-cereal
I’ll add crispy to the recipe to clarify. 🙂
What size pan did you use? I love that this recipe is all pantry staples!
I used a 9X13 baking stone (the one in the photos) but the mixture definitely didn’t fill out the stone. I just pressed the mixture out (using the side of the stone to help make straight edges) and shaped them into a rectangle.