Rustic, homemade, granola bars are loaded with nuts, coconut, chunky rolled oats, and dried fruits. They are gluten free and not too sweet, which can be hard to find. An easy take-along snack, your family will love this healthy recipe.
This recipe is actually a variation of our family’s favoriteย rustic granola recipeย that I make on a weekly basis.
Basically many of the same ingredients, but made into an easy, on-the-go bar.
To take it up a notch, I add toasted coconut.
Have you noticed my love for this tasty ingredient? I use it to topย muffins, I use it inย cookies, inย yogurt, or I just eat it with a spoon.
One thing I love about this recipe is that it isn’t just packed with oats like many typical recipes. Rather, it has so many nuts, shredded coconut, and dried fruit.
These are healthy, rich in fiber, protein, and healthy fats, and the little bit of sweetness is always helpful.
Tips For Making Gluten Free Granola Bars:
- If you are celiac, make sure to use certified gluten-free oats. See below for more info.
- Line the baking pan with parchment paper to make popping them out of the baking dish easy.
- You can use any mixture of nuts. Use all pecans or all walnuts, or use almonds, macadamia nuts, pistachios, etc. Whatever you have on hand and whatever nuts you love. I do find almonds to be a bit too crunchy for the kids. So, you may want to avoid those, or just crush them up a bit before making them into bars.
- For longer storage, place the bars into a sealable container in the freezer.
How do you keep homemade granola bars from falling apart?
The key to them not falling apart is the “glue”. In this case, the recipe uses brown sugar and honey to create the “glue” to get the nuts and oats to stick together. It also helps to press down the granola very firmly into the pan.
Is this recipe gluten-free?
Yes. If you are severely gluten intolerant or have celiac disease, make sure you choose certified gluten-free oats, because regular oats often share the machinery with other gluten grains, thus cross-contaminating the oats.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosureย here.
Tools you may need:
Pot
Measuring cups and spoons
Wooden spoon – usually my go-to with most baking and cooking. A silicone spatula will also work well.
How To Make Gluten Free Granola Bars From Scratch
- Preheat oven to 300.
- In a cast iron skillet, toast shredded coconut over medium-low heat until it starts to turn golden brown. Take off the heat.
- In a large saucepan or pot, add butter, vanilla, honey, brown sugar, and salt and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- While the sugar is melting, chop up nuts and dried fruit if needed.
- Once they have come to simmer, turn off the heat and add the oats, pecans, walnuts and toasted coconut. Stir.
- Fold in the dried fruit.
- Press into a 9×13 pan. I cut out a separate piece of parchment and place it over the pan so I can press down hard on top of the mixture.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until they start to turn golden brown.
- Allow to cool. Cut and serve. Wrap them individually with parchment paper. They also store well in the freezer.
Find more favorites from our farmhouse:
- Sourdough Blueberry Cobbler
- Stove-Top Coconut Oil Popcorn
- Berry Kefir Breakfast Smoothie
- Sourdough French Toast From Scratch
- Sourdough Crepes Recipes
If you try this recipe and love it, I would appreciate it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me @farmhouseonboone on Instagram if you make it.
Rustic Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 cups oatmeal
- 1 cup toasted shredded coconut
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup organic brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dried fruit I like 1/4 cup each blueberries, cherries, golden raisins and apricots (chop the larger fruit)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300.
- In a pan over medium heat, add butter, vanilla, honey, brown sugar, and salt; bring to a simmer.
- Add the oats, pecans, walnuts, and toasted coconut. Stir.
- Fold in the dried fruit.
- Press into a pan firmly.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Allow to cool.
- Cut and serve.
Notes
- If you are celiac, make sure to use certified gluten-free oats.
- You can use any mixture of nuts. Use all pecans or all walnuts, or use almonds, macadamia nuts, pistachios, etc. Almonds may be a bit too crunchy for the kids. So you may want to avoid those, or just crush them up a bit before making them into bars.
- These store well in the freezer.
Donna says
Making for the first time. Smelt so good and tasted so yummy the mixture barely made it from the bowl to the pan to the oven! I used maple syrup and added a bit of cinnamon. A great way to use up those
bits of dried fruit before restocking pantry for fall.
Tiffany says
Have you ever added egg whites to them? I was trying to think of ways to add in a little protein and was wondering if anyone had tried that?
Lisa Bass says
I have not, but I don’t see why you couldn’t!
Rebecca Vandenberg says
I love these! It was my very first time making granola bars, so I was a bit intimidated, but they turned out great! I added less nuts and more oats. And once mostly cooled I pressed in some chocolate chips, to encourage the littles to try them.
Cindy says
These taste amazing! I will definitely be making them again. I had some trouble with them staying together while cutting into bars. I think I’ll have to press more when putting them into the pan. I was also thinking of adapting the recipe to delete the honey for those who can’t have it. Do you have any suggestions on how to do that?
Lisa Bass says
You can replace the honey with maple syrup.
Julia says
Have you ever used honey or maple syrup instead of sugar for these?
Lisa Bass says
You could do that! They may be a little more tacky.
Katie says
What is the texture for these? I’m hoping for something chewy. If they’re crunchy, could I bake them less?
Lisa Bass says
Yes, you could bake them a little bit less.