Need the most delicious homemade granola recipe? I’ve got you covered with these peanut butter banana chocolate chip granola bars, and I’m sharing some of my favorite road trip snacks, and there’s a giveaway, such a fun post today!
I love homemade granola bars. I love combining different ingredients and the hearty flavors that one can create at home. Anyone who has ever made granola bars at home will tell you that they are 10 times better than anything one could image buying at the store.
One can get carried away adding in healthy ingredients though, and then be left with a pan of super healthy granola bars that one just doesn’t even want to look at. That has happened to me quite a few times. They’ll be so over the top healthy (and taste that way) that when offered offered are quickly declined. Granola bar making is definitely an art. You want the right taste, the right texture, the right ingredients.
With these granola bars, I think I have perfected the art.
They’re chewy (no more breaking of teeth trying to take a bite, I like to use bananas and mash them with a fork), they have a little crunch (from the crispy rice cereal used) and they have the perfect balance of sweet and tart (from the chocolate chips and dried cranberries). These bad boys are so good, they’re the granola bar I make for road trips, and ones that I get requests for!
As I was thinking about what I all wanted to prepare for an upcoming road trip, I came home and realized I had an Instacart delivery coming, yay, those are always fun days. Instacart delivers your grocery cart, right to your door (clever name, right?) and is something that saves me oodles of time each week. As soon as I saw the delivery waiting, it reminded me that not only do they have produce, but they also have all kinds of other organic pantry items and groceries that I would find right in the grocery store.
I perused their selection and found not only all the ingredients to make my granola bars, but also many great road trip snacks! Here are some of my favorites-what are some of yours?
Do you want to try the wonderful Instacart service? Use code PHILIAK125 to get $10 off your first order for new customers!!
The next time you’re looking for the most delicious homemade granola bars, look no further than these peanut butter banana chocolate chip granola bars!
Other recipes you might enjoy:
- 5 Ingredient Peanut Butter Nutella Bars
- Almond Butter Date Pepita Granola Bars Recipe
- Homemade Chewy Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 2 bananas ripe and mashed
- 2 Tbs honey I use Clover honey
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cup oats rolled oats, quick cooking
- 1 cup crispy rice cereal
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup walnut halves/pieces
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries you could also used dried cherries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a bowl microwave peanut butter, honey and vanilla for 30 seconds.
- In another bowl mash bananas with a fork.
- Combine bananas and peanut butter mixture and stir, then add in the brown sugar and stir.
- Next, add in the remaining ingredients and stir to combine, it may be a little hard to stir. I like to fold the ingredients together (folding under and over with a spatula).
- When everything is mixed together spread it into the prepared baking dish and flatten the top so that it is even.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until edges are golden brown, you may need to bake for a few more minutes (I've had to bake these all the way up to 30 minutes one time).
- Remove from oven and allow to cool completely, then, using a sharp knife cut into 20 bars.
- These granola bars store really well in the freezer. Simply individually wrap them in plastic wrap and put in a freezer bag and remove when ready to enjoy, or store in an air tight container in the fridge.
Nutrition
Snigdha srimal says
What is the shelf life. And how to store them.
Sweetphi says
Nothing is really perishable in them, so they should last for quite some time (I’d say 2-4 weeks)! I’d recommend storing them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Jessie says
These are delicious! My son has a peanut allergy, so I used sun butter and I didn’t have cranberries, but I had just dehydrated some bananas and they came out great. I did have to add a little more oats and cereal because sun butter is a little thinner. But, wow. They may not last long enough to get to the camping trip!
Sweetphi says
Hi Jessie, thank you so much for the feedback. I love that you used sun better and made other modifications and that they came out so good, that’s so helpful to know (I’m going to pass this along to one of my mom friends whose son has a peanut allergy!) So happy you love these, your comment made my day 🙂
Katie says
I just made these and they are fantastic! I used fresh cranberries (left over from Thanksgiving) and maple syrup, not honey, and they turned out great! Thanks for the recipe.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for that awesome feedback, so glad you liked them – and I love that you made them with fresh cranberries!
Erica says
I love these granola bars! Thanks for the recipe 🙂 do you know about how many calories/fat are in these bars?
Sweetphi says
I’m so glad you like the recipe Erica, thank you for commenting. I do not know the calories/fat, but I bet it would be easily figured out by entering the ingredients in one of those nutrition apps 🙂
Shirley says
Thank you for this recipe… I have always loved energy bars but never thought I could make them at home. Just took a batch out of the oven and can’t wait for it to cool down! This is going to be my go to and favourite granola bar recipe 🙂
Sweetphi says
Awww, thank you so much for the comment Shirley, I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Carla says
I also didn’t have the rice cereal so I substituted with cinnamon Chex crushed up. Perfect! Thank you for the recipe!
Sweetphi says
So happy to hear those substitutions worked for you Carla, thank you for your comment!
Alisa says
My husband has a mountain biking trip and he wanted me to go buy him some energy bars, but I am going to make these instead! They’ll taste way better ?
Sweetphi says
Why thank you! Hope your hubby enjoys them 🙂
Lauren says
My husband is in his 3rd year of residency for medicine so I always try to have healthy snacks on hand. I made these last night with some modifications so I could use the ingredients that I had. I used 3 cups of old fashioned oats, a mixture of chopped walnuts and chopped macadamia nuts, and a mix of dried blueberries and dried cherries. They came out delicious! Thanks for a great recipe!
Shannon Pontius says
I have old fashion oats not the quick cooking kind is that going to mess up the outcome of the granola bars?
Sweetphi says
I think you should be a-ok with old fashion oats 🙂 Let me know how they turn out for you, I think you’re going to love them!
Jessie says
Old fashion oats worked. That is what I used.
Sweetphi says
Thank you for the tip!
Kelly says
We’re going on a small roadtrip this week. I’m making them right now and I’m sure they will be amazing! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Sweetphi says
You’re so welcome, I’d love to know how you liked them!