The Pioneer Woman Tasty Kitchen
Profile photo of Erica Lea

No-Bake Granola Bars

Posted by in Step-by-Step Recipes

Here’s a great idea for a grab-and-go breakfast, school snack, or after-school treat. It’s no-bake too, perfect for those of you still battling summer heat. Enjoy this post from our archives!

 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

 
I’m the type of person that, when I get hungry, I need to eat something immediately. Perhaps it’s just my imagination, but if I go too long without eating I start to feel sick. And cranky. So it helps if I stuff handy snacks into my purse to ensure I’m never in an emergency food situation.

These No-Bake Granola Bars, brought to us by Cheri, are a wonderful power snack for on-the-go. They’re filled with nutritious oats, nuts, dried fruit and honey. Plus they’re pretty tasty little treats.

Let me show you how to make them!

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Here’s the ingredients you’ll need: rolled oats, nuts (I used pecans and pumpkin seeds), shredded coconut, dried fruit (I used raisins and figs), butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, honey and molasses.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Begin by chopping your nuts. The pumpkin seeds are nice and small so I didn’t chop them.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

In a large skillet set over medium-high heat, toast the oats, nuts and coconut until fragrant. Make sure to stir often so it doesn’t burn!

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Pour the toasted oat mixture into a large bowl.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

If you’re using larger dried fruit you’ll want to chop it up as well.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Add the dried fruit to the oat mixture.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Stir to combine.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Place the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, honey and molasses in a small saucepan.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Pour the butter mixture over the oat mixture.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Stir until the oat mixture is evenly coated with the butter mixture. Set aside to cool a little.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Line a dish with plastic wrap. Spoon mixture into pan and press down to compact. I used an extra piece of plastic wrap to keep my hands clean.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Place in the refrigerator to firm up, about 30 minutes.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Once firmed, turn out onto a cutting board and cut into bars.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Wrap the bars individually with plastic wrap, parchment paper or wax paper. Now they’re grab-and-go ready!

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Recipe notes:

1. These bars are just a hair too sweet for my taste. I cut the amount of sugar down to 3/4 cup, so next time I’ll try going down to 1/2 cup and using a full stick of butter. If you like your treats nice and sweet, this shouldn’t be an issue for you.

2. I might add a pinch of salt next time as well.

3. I love how customizable these are. You could come up with so many different flavor combinations by switching up the nuts and fruits you use.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: No-Bake Granola Bars. Guest post by Erica Kastner of Cooking for Seven, recipe submitted by TK member Cheri of Kitchen Simplicity.

Thanks so much to Cheri for sharing her recipe with us! Make sure to check out her blog, Kitchen Simplicity, where she writes many more delicious recipes. I may have to make her Quick & Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie for supper sometime.

 
 

Printable Recipe

No-Bake Granola Bars

See post on Cheri | Kitchen Simplicity’s site!
4.50 Mitt(s) 6 Rating(s)6 votes, average: 4.50 out of 56 votes, average: 4.50 out of 56 votes, average: 4.50 out of 56 votes, average: 4.50 out of 56 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5

Prep Time:

Cook Time:

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 16

16
x

Print Options

Page size Letter 3x5 4x6
Text Size Small Medium Large
Content Include description
Include prep time, etc.
Show image

Description

Chewy No-Bake Granola Bars that are perfect to make with the kiddos. Prepare to never buy store-bought granola bars again.

Ingredients

  • 2-½ cups Rolled Oats
  • 1-½ cup Nuts, Chopped, I Used Walnuts And Pecans
  • ¼ cups Shredded Coconut
  • ½ cups Raisins
  • 6 Tablespoons Salted Butter
  • 1 cup Brown Sugar
  • 1-½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
  • 6 Tablespoons Liquid Honey
  • 2 Tablespoons Molasses

Preparation Instructions

1. Toast oats, nuts and coconut in a large skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, stirring often. Remove to a large bowl and toss with raisins.

2. Place butter, sugar, cinnamon, honey and molasses in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir into oat mixture until evenly coated. Let sit just until cool enough to handle.

3. In the meantime, line a 7×11 inch pan with plastic wrap. Spoon mixture into pan, pressing down to compact. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up. Once firmed, remove from pan, peel away plastic wrap and slice into 16 bars (half lengthwise and then into 8). Wrap individually in plastic wrap or parchment paper, if desired. Store covered at room temperature.

 
 
_______________________________________

Newly-married Erica Kastner shares her wonderful recipes and amazing food photography on her blog, Cooking for Seven. She also writes about crafts and posts more of her beautiful photography in her personal blog, EricaLea.com. There really isn’t much that this amazing young lady can’t do, and we’re thrilled she does some of it here.

 

10 Comments

Comments are closed for this recipe.

Jewel on 2.21.2013

I just made them using this technique they look and taste great !! Thanks for sharing

Laura on 12.10.2012

Wow, these are delicious! I followed your suggestions and upped the butter to 1 cup while cutting brown sugar back to 1/2 cup. I used almonds, cashews, craisins, and figs. So tasty!

Latina. on 11.30.2012

I made these no bake granola bars two days ago and I’m am down to two. It’s quick easy and so delish! Thanks for sharing!

Profile photo of girlgonecountry.com

girlgonecountry.com on 11.29.2012

I love that you used Molasses. :)

Rie on 11.28.2012

Congratulations on your pregnancy!!!!!…..oh yeah….and the granola bars look good too

Kathleen V. on 11.28.2012

I made these last night for a charity bake sale at the office tomorrow. They’re in the fridge at home now, I’ll cut them up and wrap them tonight. If they come out even half as tasty as the little pinch I tried while I was putting them in the pan then they are going to be fantastic! I can see why they might be too sweet for some people. I was originally going to add dark chocolate chips to them, but after trying the mix without was worried it’d be too much. The recipe was so easy! A bit on the messy side with a skillet, mixing bowl, sauce pan, measuring cups and spoons, etc…but I think they will be well worth the extra bit of clean-up time.

Jayne on 11.26.2012

I haven’t been following your blog for a while and you’re pregnant? Congrats congrats. I’m probably the last person to know. I love gronola too. Very good gift idea for the end of the year.

Natalie Schaefer on 11.26.2012

I am most definitely making these for me and my husband’s next road trip to see his family for Christmas. We just drove to my family’s for Thanksgiving (I am also pregnant) and finding a healthy, tasty snack to get me through was really hard. Especially since I have Celiac and a whole slew of food allergies. All I’d need is certified gluten free oats and this recipe is perfect. Thank you for sharing!

Athlete Food on 11.26.2012

Love the plastic wrap trick for keeping things clean! Can’t wait to try these.

Mandie @ Oh So Decadent on 11.26.2012

I love how these don’t need to be baked, but maintain their shape! I find the baking process to be so tedious when all I’ve wanted is a granola bar for the past five minutes. Thanks for sharing Erica!