Description
These soft peanut butter granola bars are so easy and delicious! You only need a few ingredients & a few minutes to make them! (Gluten-Free, Vegan-Friendly)
Ingredients
Scale
For The No-Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bars:
- 1 1/2 cups quick oats (certified gluten-free, as needed)*
- 1 cup crisp rice cereal (certified gluten-free, as needed)*
- 1/2 cup natural (drippy) peanut butter
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp. salt (a pinch)
Optional Topping:
- 3 Tbsp. chocolate chips, melted in the microwave in 30 second bursts until smooth.
Instructions
- Prep Your Station. Line an 8×8″ baking dish with parchment paper and set aside. Get out a large bowl for dry ingredients, a medium bowl for wet ingredients, and a flexible spatula for stirring.
- Set Aside Your Dry Ingredients. Start by adding quick oats and crisp rice cereal to a large mixing bowl. Set aside for a minute while you mix up the wet ingredients.
- Melt The Peanut Butter & Honey. Next, in a microwave safe bowl, combine peanut butter and honey. Microwave in 20-30 second bursts, stirring in between each until the mixture is liquidy and smooth. (This should only take 30-90 seconds, tops!) Note: you can also do this on the stovetop if you prefer. Just melt together on low heat.
- Stir In Flavor. Add vanilla and salt to the peanut butter & honey mixture and stir to combine.
- Add Wet To Dry. Then, pour the peanut butter mixture over your dry ingredients (oats & cereal).
- Stir To Combine. Give the whole mixture a stir until the dry ingredients are evenly coated. (There may be a minute here where you worry it’s going to be dry. Just keep stirring! If you’ve used natural drippy peanut butter and honey, you’ll be good to go.)
- Pack Down! Next, transfer the granola bar mixture to your prepared pan. Use the back of your spatula (or your fingers if you must!) to pack down the mixture evenly. Really work to pack it down here, as the better you pack it, the better your bars will hold together.
- Drizzle With Chocolate If You Want. If you want, you can drizzle the bars with melted chocolate chips here. (It’s optional, but delicious!)
- Chill & Cut. Put the pan in the refrigerator and chill for at least 30 minutes before slicing into 12 bars. (Make one slice widthwise, then cut into 6 sections lengthwise)
- Store In The Fridge. Transfer granola bars to an airtight bag or container and store in the refrigerator 4-5 days.
Notes
*Gluten-Free? We Like Bob’s Red Mill or One Degree gluten-free quick oats, and Barbara’s, Nature’s Path, or One Degree gluten-free crisp rice cereal.
- Prep Time: 8 minutes
- Chill Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Snack
- Method: No-Bake
- Cuisine: American
