Oats & Honey Granola Bars

These homemade, all-natural Oats and Honey Granola Bars are baked until slightly crunchy, making them perfect for breakfast-on-the-go or as a wholesome, portable snack.

I’m so excited to share this recipe with y’all today! Around this time last year, I posted my beloved No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars. which my family adores and which went on to become a reader favorite. After all, they’re easy to make, customizable, and downright delicious. The only downside to those granola bars, however, is that they get pretty soft if they’re not kept chilled…which makes them great for eating straight out of the fridge but not-so-great for throwing in your purse or diaper bag as a convenient snack.

The Oats & Honey Granola Bars that I’m sharing today, though, don’t need to be refrigerated. More along the lines of crunchy Nature’s Valley-type granola bars, these baked treats not only travel beautifully, but they’re loaded with oats and pure honey goodness!

These granola bars are not soft and chewy, but they’re not rock-hard crunchy either. Rather, I would consider them to be firm and moderately crunchy. Don’t mistake that for crumbly, though…I’ve actually been extremely pleased with how well they hold together, even in the backpacks of a rough-and-tumble PreK-er and 2nd grader. My boys have been taking them to school for snack time all week, and my daughter/photography assistant has requested one for breakfast each morning. I may have enjoyed one here or there as well… 😉

I think the key to this recipe is packing down the oat mixture in the pan after you’ve thoroughly incorporated all of the ingredients. And I mean you really need to pack it down. Rather than using a Pyrex 9- by 13-inch baking dish (which would work just fine, mind you), I decided to make these granola bars in my metal baking pan with perfectly square corners. Consequently, I searched my cabinets and found a mini bread pan that also boasts perfectly square corners. I then used it to press down the granola bar mixture as firmly as possible.

I did this before baking and again immediately after baking and, as a result, I ended up with firm, crunchy-ish, non-crumbly granola bars. Success!

So if you love granola bars but don’t care for the artificial additives in store-bought ones…or if you splurge on all-natural/organic granola bars but could do without the high price tag…or if you’re looking for a wholesome, homemade, portable breakfast or snack…these Oats & Honey Granola Bars are for you. I’m happy to have a crunchy version to alternate with my aforementioned favorite chewy recipe, and I hope that you have a chance to try them (and love them!) both. 🙂