Granola bars are a staple at our house.
I keep a stash of granola bars on hand for lunches and quick snacks, and we go through about a box every week.
Since we go through so many granola bars, I've tried quite a few granola bar recipes, and these homemade m&m granola bars are my favorite.
The bars are sweet but not overwhelmingly so. Toasting the oats brings out their nutty flavor, and it helps improve the texture of the bars. They also hold together well (just be sure to firmly press the oat mixture into the pan), and, most importantly, they taste really good.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups rolled oats
- ½ cup peanuts roughly chopped*
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup butter
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips divided
- ¼ cup M&M baking pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 9-inch square baking dish with parchment or foil. Lightly grease with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place the oats on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly toasted.
- Place the nuts and oats in a large bowl.
- While the oats are toasting, add the honey, butter, and brown sugar to a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from the heat, and stir in peanut butter, vanilla, and salt.
- Pour peanut butter mixture over the oat/nut mixture; stir to combine. Make sure that all of the oats are coated in the peanut butter mixture.
- Let mixture cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
- Stir in half mini chocolate chips.
- Pour oat mixture in the prepared pan. Use a rubber spatula to firmly press the mixture into the pan.
- Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips and M&Ms over the top of the bars, and gently press into oat mixture.
- Chill the granola bars for at least 2 hours.
- Lift the bars from the pan, and cut into bars.
- I store the bars in the fridge.
Notes
*You can use either salted or unsalted depending on how salty/sweet you'd like your granola bars to be.
**Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
Serving: 1bar | Calories: 329kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 137mg | Potassium: 234mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 155IU | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe? Rate it below. Mention @i_heart_eating on Instagram & tag #ihearteating!
Slightly adapted from Bless This Mess.
lindsay
Can i leave the peanuts out and increase oats? I want to make these today and have everything, except the peanuts.
Kate
Hi! I would omit the peanuts but wouldn't increase the oats. More oats will absorb more of the honey mixture, which could give you a crumblier granola bar.
Kristen
Hi! I made these today and the taste is great! But when I cut they crumbled... any advice?
Kate
Hi! There are a couple things you could try. In step 10, if using a rubber spatula isn't getting the bars firmly enough into the pan, you can use your hands and really press them in there. That should help them to hold together better. The other thing that you could try is adding the honey in step 6 so that it doesn't cook down. I hope that helps!
Mehrgol K
Hi. I’m really excited to try this recipe but I’m a little confused about one part of the recipe. What’s the point of lightly greasing the square baking pan if this is not going into the oven ? I just want to confirm that besides baking the oats, there is no other baking instruction that may have been ledt out
Kate
Hi! Lightly greasing the pan is simply to help with removing the granola bars. The bars are a little sticky, and greasing the pan helps to get them out. You could also line with pan with parchment paper if you prefer.
Jen
How many bars do you get out of the recipe per the nutrition facts??
These are amazing! I will never buy granola bars again!
Kate
Thank you so much! =) The nutrition is for 1 bar with a yield of 10 bars in the recipe.
Chelsey
Best granola bars! My kids helped make them and they've asked me to make them for from now one.
Kate
Thank you! I'm glad that your kids liked them. =) Thank you for commenting!