Homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bars
Posted Jun 13, 2017, Updated Oct 17, 2021
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This Homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bars Recipe is a healthy homemade snack for busy moms! They are oil-free and sugar-free because they are sweetened with dates! Plus they are gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan and full of protein and fiber!
These Homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bars are a yummy and healthy homemade snack (along with these Chocolate Paleo Energy Balls).
They are made with 8 nutritious ingredients, sweetened with dates, and loaded with protein and fiber! They also freeze well, so it’s easy to make a batch and always have them on hand for snack emergencies!
Truth be told, most of the prepackaged snacks out there don’t meet my standards of health and nutrition, so I almost always make my own – I even make homemade fruit snacks!
How to make this Homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bars Recipe
These granola bars are super easy to make, but I want to note a couple of things about the method!
Soak the dates: To do this – measure out the dates into a glass container and pour boiling water over them until they’re completely submerged. Soak for 15-30 minutes or until the dates are soft. Then drain the dates, add them to the container of your Vitamix.
Blend: there are two options when making this recipe. If you like chunkier granola bars more similar to store-bought varieties, then do not blend the dry ingredients (follow the recipe as it’s written). If you prefer a less chunky bar, you can toss the dry ingredients into a Vitamix and blend everything together at the end. You’ll need to scrape the sides and use the tamper if you opt to do that though, because the mixture will be thick.
Bake the bars
These Peanut Butter Granola Bars need to be baked. I tried them as no-bakes but they were only good when eaten straight out of the freezer! So please don’t forget this step!
Store/freeze
Let the peanut butter granola bars cool completely. Then, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Serve them chilled or at room temperature.
Homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bars Recipe: Substitutions
As always I recommend making the recipe exactly as written, however there are some possible substitutions for this recipe that will not compromise the taste or texture of these bars.
- Dates. I love being able to use dates as a sweetener in healthy treats – like this Homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bars Recipe – instead of sugar. I don’t recommend substituting the dates in this recipe.
- Almond milk: Any non-dairy or regular milk works in this recipe. I recommend using unsweetened varieties.
- Peanut butter: Any nut or seed butter can be used in place of peanut butter – suggestions include almond butter, cashew butter or sunflower seed butter.
- Old-fashioned oats: I have also used quick-cooking oats with great results.
- Almond meal: If you need to leave out the almond meal you can simply increase the amount of oats by 1/4 cup.
Recipe FAQs
These last for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or 2 months in the freezer.
Yes, double the recipe and bake it in a 9×13″ pan.
You can replace coconut with an equal amount of oatmeal.
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Homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bars Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup dates pitted & soaked for at least 1 hour
- ½ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut shredded
- ¼ cup almond meal
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line an 8×8” square baking pan with parchment paper and grease, set aside.
- Mix oats, coconut, almond meal, salt and cinnamon together in a large bowl, set aside.
- Add the soaked dates and almond milk to the container of your Vitamix (or other high-powered blender).
- Blend, starting on low speed and increasing to high until ingredients are well blended but not totally smooth.
- Scrape down the sides of your container and add the peanut butter and vanilla extract. Blend again until mixture is smooth.
- Pour wet mixture into the bowl containing the dry ingredients. Mix by hand until well-combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared baking dish and spread until evenly distributed. If desired, add chocolate chips to the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the top is set and the edges are golden brown.
- Set dish on a wire rack to cool. Once completely cooled, cut into bars and enjoy.
- Store in the refrigerator or freezer in an airtight container!
Notes
Ingredient Substitutions
- Dates. I love being able to use dates as a sweetener in healthy treats – like this Homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bars Recipe – instead of sugar. I don’t recommend substituting the dates in this recipe.
- Almond milk: Any non-dairy or regular milk works in this recipe. I recommend using unsweetened varieties.
- Peanut butter: Any nut or seed butter can be used in place of peanut butter – suggestions include almond butter, cashew butter or sunflower seed butter.
- Old-fashioned oats: I have also used quick-cooking oats with great results.
- Almond meal: If you need to leave out the almond meal you can simply increase the amount of oats by 1/4 cup.
Store/freeze
Let the peanut butter granola bars cool completely. Then, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Serve them chilled or at room temperature.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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These would be perfect for our drive back to the Midwest!
What an awesome giveaway. I have a babe on the way and would love this to make baby food and smoothies 🙂
These granola bars looks so delicious! Love that you used dates as a sweetener! These are filled with everything I love! Such a great portable snack!
This recipe looks great! With a Vitamix, I would try to make something other than smoothies which I haven’t typically done in a blender!
I’d make a delish green smoothie!
Oh my heck. Oath of these would be a life saver Ive always wanted a vitamix, I use our blender every day! I’m excited to try this recipe! I am always looking for new healthy yummy snacks for my fam! I’m trying really hard to get in Shape and every little bit helps!
I would love to try these granola bars! They look delicious:-)
Seeing you as a mom to these “littles” is just so precious… cuteness overload!!!
I would make the above granola bars to start, as well as others on this blog. Your stuff is amazing and it seems the Vitamix is crucial to most of what you love to make! And that bag would be great for road trips, even with my adult-like kiddos! 🙂
Let’s talk soon… still miss you my friend!
These are such a great snack option! I love your pictures of your family you put in the post!
OMG, with four kids in tow! Those bags are amazing, but you are superwoman! I know what you mean about melting. I wouldn’t usually even venture something with chocolate in summer. This looks like a great solution.