Easy No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars

I’ve long been a firm believer that, when done right, homemade granola bars are superior to store-bought. You get more bang for your buck, you can tweak a recipe to fit your family’s needs, and you don’t have to worry about any of the unpronounceable ingredients often found in the packaged varieties.

There’s a big difference, however, between a great homemade granola bar and a subpar one. These bars are the former; I actually cannot stop eating them! They’re sweet and salty, chewy and crunchy, and honestly just downright delicious. I’ve never felt that passionately about a bar from a box.

Here’s how I make the easiest no-bake granola bars, perfect for eating for breakfast or packing as a snack.

A lot of homemade granola bar recipes use a mixture of melted butter and brown sugar to bind oats into bars. For a bar with less refined sugar and saturated fat, I opted for a mixture of dates and honey, which naturally sweeten the bars and help hold the oats and seeds together. Warming both ingredients with sunflower seed butter and olive oil makes for a creamy, just-sweet-enough binder.

Oh, and we can’t forget about my fun little secret addition: a bit of dark chocolate. When melted, it acts just like glue. I discovered this by total accident when my chocolate chips melted as I folded them into the warm sunflower seed butter mixture. The bars with the melted chocolate held up perfectly, while the ones with the chips crumbled more easily.

For added insurance, be sure to line your pan with an overhang of parchment or foil so that you can grab onto it when you’re ready to slice the bars. Pack the mixture in very tightly, and freeze until solid.

The sunflower seed butter: Sunflower seed butter is great here because kids can bring these to a nut-free school. You can, of course, substitute your favorite nut or seed butter, such as almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter, or tahini.

The extra-virgin olive oil: I love the delicate flavor olive oil gives to these bars, but canola oil or coconut oil would be fine substitutes.

The honey: For a vegan version, swap in pure maple syrup. You can also use agave, although it will result in a slightly sweeter bar.

The seeds: I like a combination of roasted, salted pumpkin seeds (pepitas) and sunflower seeds for both texture and flavor, but you can use all of one if that’s your preference. Feel free to also swap in sesame seeds or chopped nuts, such as almonds or hazelnuts.