Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars
Move over, Quaker Soft and Chewy Granola Bars. You can make these soft, chewy, vegan, gluten-free, and healthier DIY bars in 10 minutes. This homemade granola bars recipe is adapted from my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars and I included a very similar recipe in my first cookbook. Readers have said they’re the best granola bars they’ve ever had, their kids love them, and they’re saving so much money making their granola bars at home. It would have been too easy to just leave the recipe alone. That’s not what food bloggers do. It’s mandatory to keep tinkering. So I made a chocolate version. Double chocolate. There’s both cocoa powder and mini chocolate chips, and while the chocolate flavor is present, it doesn’t overwhelm the peanut butter flavor. You get a pop of chocolate and peanut butter in every bite, and that’s a beautiful thing.
The no-bake granola bars are naturally vegan and gluten-free. Always read labels to select certified brands and the exact ingredients that are right for your dietary needs. The special ingredient that gives the bars an extremely authentic mouthfeel and texture is crispy rice cereal. As you’re stirring it in, it magically seems to disappear into the very thick mixture, but does so much when you bite down for lightness and subtle crunch. The batch makes 1 dozen bars, very similar in size to the Quaker version. I wrap them individually in plastic wrap, keep a gallon-sized Ziplock filled with them, and then just toss the bars into school lunches, my purse, or my car. They’re not too messy which is nice, too. The chocolate peanut butter granola bars can be customized with the add-ins you prefer, from dried fruit to nuts, making them very versatile. They taste like a candy bar, but much healthier than eating candy bars or chocolate peanut butter cookies when chocolate + PB cravings strike. They’re my new best friend.
What’s in Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars?
To make these no-bake peanut butter chocolate granola bars, you’ll need:
Light corn syrup Creamy peanut butter Light brown sugar Unsweetened cocoa powder Vanilla extract Salt Quick cook oats Crispy rice cereal (such as Rice Krispies) Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars
In a large, microwave-safe bowl, combine the corn syrup, peanut butter, and brown sugar. Heat on high power for 1 minute, stir, then heat for another minute. Add in the vanilla, oats, cocoa, and salt. Then, add 1 cup of the crispy rice cereal and gently stir to combine. If needed, add extra cereal until the right consistency is reached. Lastly, mix in 3/4 of the chocolate chips. Turn the mixture into a foil-lined 8×8-inch baking dish, then sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips. Chill the chocolate peanut butter granola bars until set, then slice.
How to Store Homemade Granola Bars
Bars will keep wrapped in plastic wrap inside a large ziplock at room temperature for up to 1 month, in the fridge for up to 2 months, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Tips for Making Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars
The bulk, heft, and bigtime chewy-factor comes from quick cook oats. Quick cook oats are just whole-rolled oats that have been cut smaller in the manufacturing process to cook quicker. If you typically buy whole-rolled oats, pulse them in your food processor or blender for about 5 seconds and you’ve got quick cook. It’s important to use quick cook because they behave more like flour, binding together the wet ingredients. Whole-rolled oats are bigger, coarser, and won’t act as a proper binder and the bars won’t hold together. If you’d rather not use corn syrup in these no-baked granola bars, you’re welcome to use brown rice syrup or honey instead.
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