Name: Peanut Butter Granola Bars (No Bake and Healthy)
Prep time: 4 h 20 min
Total time: 4 h 20 min
Cuisine: snack
Ingredients: 1 Cup (Packed) Sticky Pitted Medjool Dates (see Note 1); 1/4 Cup Pure Maple Syrup (see Note 2); 1/2 Cup Runny Creamy Peanut Butter (see Notes 3 and 4); 1/4 Teaspoon Salt; 2-4 Tablespoons Hot Water, as needed; 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract; 2 + 1/2 Cups Rolled Oats (use gluten-free if needed); 1 + 1/4 Cups Total Add-Ins (see Note 5; we used walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and dried cranberries)

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Simple, easy homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bars are healthy and delicious. These no-bake chewy granola bars can be customized with any ingredients you like, are perfect for meal prep, and are portable so you can have a satisfying snack wherever you go.

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Hey Internet, we've been buying snack bars for a long time. There are many great vegan ones, and we've even found pretty good deals at Costco!

But with rising food prices (and the fact that we don't live anywhere near a Costco so we don't go that often), we decided to try making our own homemade granola bars. And honestly, we can't believe we've been sleeping on making this healthy snack at home! They are SO MUCH BETTER! Sorry for the all caps, but honestly, we really feel excited about these bars.

We definitely have experimented over the years and made other healthy snack options, such as as our Vegan Snickers Bites, Edible Vegan Cookie Dough, Vegan Chocolate Bliss Balls, Air Fryer Pecans, Vegan Smores, and our Vegan Mug Brownie, to name a few of our favorites. But we're not sure why we were afraid to try making our own granola bars.

These were a lot easier than we thought they'd be, and they are loaded with delicious peanut butter flavor (there are peanut-free swaps below if you can't have peanuts!). Plus, you can customize them with any other mix-ins you like such as chocolate chips, nuts and seeds, dried fruit, shredded coconut, and more.

Plus this recipe is summer-friendly in two ways: you don't need to bake it (the optional toasting can be done in a pan on the stove, in the oven, or not at all) and these bars stay good even outside of the refrigerator! You may, of course, refrigerate or even freeze them to make them last longer though!

You can also roll the mixture into energy balls if you prefer. Either way, these homemade bars make an excellent afternoon snack or an any time of day snack! They're great to throw in a lunch box, a purse, or a backpack (we wrap in parchment paper and place in a reusable food storage bag) and take with you on the go to work, school, errands, hiking, wherever!

Anyway, we hope you'll try our recipe for no-bake granola bars. In true ZardyPlants fashion they're vegan-friendly, easy-to-make, easy to customize, and totally delicious!

Why You'll Love These Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Simple Ingredients: These homemade granola bars use wholesome ingredients you'll feel good about serving to your family including medjool dates, maple syrup, creamy peanut butter, rolled oats, and the nuts and seeds (or other mix-ins) of your choice.
Delicious and Healthy: These bars are definitely healthier than a candy bar but honestly a delicious and sweet snack that satisfies craving.
Customizable: Can't have peanuts? Try almond butter or sunflower seed butter. Don't like walnuts or pumpkin seeds? Use whatever nuts and/or seeds you like. Gotta have chocolate? Throw some chocolate chips in there OR try dipping the solidified bars in melted chocolate and popping in the freezer or fridge for a bit to set.

Ingredients

Pick up the following basic ingredients for these delicious homemade granola bars the next time you're at your local grocery store. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredients, instructions, and accurate nutrition information (to the best of my ability; please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or healthcare professional if you have specific dietary needs or need to meet certain daily values of any nutrient). we give substitutions for the ingredients in the section below this one, so most people can still make this recipe!

1 Cup (Packed) Pitted Medjool Dates: You want nice sticky dates for this recipe. If your dates aren't sticky, try soaking them in hot water for at least 15-30 minutes. Make sure to drain them well before adding to the food processor.
¼ Cup Pure Maple Syrup: The dates don't make it quite sweet enough for our taste buds on their own so we added a little bit of maple syrup.
½ Cup Creamy Peanut Butter: We use natural peanut butter so its pretty runny on its own. If your peanut butter isn't like that, you can try measuring out the amount you need in a small bowl and microwaving it for 10-20 seconds until its gets more runny.
¼ Teaspoon Salt
2-4 Tablespoons Hot Water: We had to add a little bit of hot water to get this to the right consistency (a cohesive paste). We added just 2 tablespoons at first and then added an additional 2. You might need more or less depending on your dates.
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 + ½ Cups Rolled Oats: Make sure to buy certified gluten-free rolled oats if you are avoiding gluten.
1 + ¼ Cups Total Add-Ins: We used a half cup chopped walnuts, a half cup raw pumpkin seeds, and a quarter cup dried cranberries (we found a no-sugar-added kind from Trader Joe's if you're interested in that). Use whatever nuts, seeds, dried fruit, etc. you like! Chocolate chips work great too, we just wanted something that wouldn't melt in the summer heat.

Substitutions

Medjool Dates: Other dates should work (keep in mind, Medjool dates tend to be the sweetest so this will affect the flavor of the bars), just make sure you soak them if they're dry. Otherwise, you might be able to play around with a stickier syrup like rice syrup if you don't want to use dates, but we haven't tested that so we don't know how much you'd need to use.
Maple Syrup: You can use agave syrup if you don't have any maple syrup.
Peanut Butter: Any nut or seed butter should work, such as almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or cashew butter. If you want to use tahini, it should work, but hold off on the extra water since tahini is more runny than even natural peanut butter. If your paste is too thin, you could add in some flaxseed meal or just use more oats to get everything to stick together.

How to Make Homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Toast the Oats and Nuts: This is an optional step, but I think it adds some nice flavor. Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) and line a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper. Add the oats, nuts, and seeds and mix it around and spread it an even layer. Toast for 8-10 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
Blend the Wet Ingredients: This is a little easier in a food processor but can be done in a blender. Add your PITTED dates (we want nice sticky dates for this recipe... if your dates are dry, please soak in hot water for 15-30 minutes and drain the excess water before blending), maple syrup, peanut butter, vanilla extract, and salt to the food processor and blend until it makes a cohesive paste. We ended up adding about ¼ cup hot water to get it to a thick cohesive paste, but you might need less, so start with 2 tablespoons, blend, and add more if needed. Depending on your food processor, you may need to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice.
Add the Dry Ingredients: Scrape the wet ingredients out into a large bowl and add in the toasted oat mixture. If you're adding any dried fruit you can add it now. If you want to add chocolate chips, we recommend you wait 15-30 minutes for the oat mixture to cool down so it doesn't melt the chocolate. Mix well with a tough silicone or rubber spatula (or clean hands, but it is messy).
Prepare the Container: We used a metal square baking dish but a glass square baking dish, glass container, or non-square dish can work, just keep in mind that you really don't want anything smaller than a 9x9 (9-inch by 9-inch) because then the oat mixture will be really tall and you will get fewer bars out of it). A 9x9 square gave us 16 small but very satisfying bars. Add a sheet of parchment paper and crumple it up then lay it over the container, pushing it in so it conforms better to the inside of the dish. We do not recommend skipping the parchment paper because it may be very hard to get the mixture out of the dish otherwise.
Add Bars to Container: Use the strong spatula to scrape all of the mixture into the lined dish and and spread out in an even layer. Use pan spray (or a tiny bit of oil applied with a paper towel) on the bottom of a drinking glass or jar to press down the entire layer of the oat mixture, making it as even and pressed down as possible. This will help create nice, flat, even granola bars.
Chill: Chill the bars in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours (we recommend 4 hours) to make them easy to cut. Once they are cut you can decide how you want to store them.
Storage: These bars can be stored on the counter, in the refrigerator, or in the freezer. The colder the storage, the longer they'll last. For us, they lasted 10 days outside of the fridge. They would probably last 2-3 weeks in the fridge, but make sure either way that you're examining them for spoilage before eating (smell them, examine for mold growth, and taste a small amount if unsure). In a freezer-safe container in the freezer, they should last up to 6 months. No matter where you store them, store in an airtight container. You can also wrap each of them in a small sheet of parchment paper. Secure with a piece of kitchen tape. We also like to place in a reusable food storage baggy to make transport easier.

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