Homemade Granola Bars (freezer friendly)

These delicious homemade granola bars can be made ahead and frozen. This makes them perfect for school lunches or snacks. They are so much fresher and healthier than what you can buy in the store. The week before my kids went back to school, I spent an afternoon making things ahead that they could take for school lunches or snacks. I made these granola bars, mini corn dog muffins, mini pumpkin muffins, and I froze bags of rhubarb for making rhubarb muffins in the future.

Having these snacks made ahead makes mornings so much easier. It cuts down on the complaints about there being “nothing to pack in my lunch”!If your child attends a school that is peanut-free and nut-free or if there are any allergies in your house, you can substitute  SunButter or WowButter for the peanut butter.

Homemade Granola Bars Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 cups honey
• 2/3 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 2 cups peanut butter (or SunButter)
• 4 tsp. vanilla
• 8 cups Rice Krispies
• 5 cups old fashioned oats
• chocolate chips
• optional: flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, or hemp hearts

Instructions:

1. In a medium pot on the stovetop, bring the brown sugar, honey, coconut oil, and salt to a boil. Boil for 1 minute.
2. Add in the peanut butter and vanilla. Stir.
3. Put the oats and Rice Krispies in a large mixing bowl. If you’re adding any of the optional ingredients, mix them in.
4. Pour the mixture from the pot over the oats and Rice Krispies. Stir.
5. Let sit for 5 minutes or so.
6. Spread parchment paper onto two cookie sheets.
7. Lay the granola bar mixture on the parchment paper.
8. Press a second cookie sheet on top to flatten. Sprinkle chocolate chips over and press again.
9. Cool in the fridge. Cut.
10. Freeze flat on the tray. When frozen, transfer the granola bars to freezer bags, remove the excess air, seal, and freeze again.

This recipe is so versatile. You can make your bars more healthy by adding in flaxseed, hemp hearts, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds. You can also change out the chocolate chips and opt for white chocolate chips, raisins, or mini marshmallows. 

Once these are fully frozen, they last up to three months in the freezer. Pull out as many at a time as you want. The trick to keeping them fresh is to be sure to take out as much air as you can from the bag each time you open it and reseal it. It’s something you’ll want to train your kids on. Air leads to freezer burn.

You may also be interested in these other make-ahead snack recipes:

Corn Dog Mini Muffins for School LunchesEnglish Muffin Pizzas

Mini Pancake Muffins

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Homemade Granola Bars

Prep Time

25 mins

Total Time

25 mins

 

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Servings: 24 bars

Calories: 327 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 cups honey
• 2/3 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 2 cups peanut butter
• 4 tsp. vanilla
• 8 cups Rice Krispies
• 5 cups old fashioned oats
• chocolate chips
• flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, hemp hearts, sunflower seeds optional

Instructions

1. In a medium pot on the stovetop, bring the brown sugar, honey, coconut oil, and salt to a boil. Boil for 1 minute.

2. Add in the peanut butter and vanilla. Stir.

3. Put the oats and Rice Krispies in a large mixing bowl.

4. Pour the mixture from the pot over the oats and Rice Krispies. Stir.

5. Let sit for 5 minutes or so.

6. Spread parchment paper onto two cookie sheets.

7. Lay the granola bar mixture on the parchment paper.

8. Press a second cookie sheet on top to flatten. Sprinkle chocolate chips over and press again.

9. Cool in the fridge. Cut.

10. Freeze flat on the tray. When frozen, transfer the granola bars to freezer bags, remove the excess air, seal, and freeze again.

Recipe Notes

You can make these homemade granola bars peanut-free by substituting the peanut butter for WowButter or SunButter.