Homemade gluten-free granola bars are easy treat ideal for breakfast bars or a grab-and-go-snack. Chocolate chip granola bars have an on-point combination of gluten-free oats, gooey chocolate, coconut, nuts, and dried fruit. They bake up sweet, salty, and extra chewy. Thanks to a combination of peanut butter and honey, they hold their shape and are easy to slice and share!

stack of 3 bars with bits of bars crumbling off.
Stop buying gluten-free granola bars! These chewy chocolate chip snack bars taste better, are freezer-friendly, and hold their shape for slicing and storing.

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The Best Homemade Gluten-Free Granola Bars Recipe

If you are underwhelmed by gluten-free granola bars, or overwhelmed by the price of them, than this soft and chewy chocolate chip granola bars recipe will end all searches for the perfect GF breakfast bar.

My sister shared the original King Arthur granola bar recipe with me countless years ago with the proclamation, “I finally found the perfect homemade granola bar recipe!” (It was a journey!)

Since then, I have adapted it into a homemade gluten-free granola bar recipe, with the same chewiness, sweet and salty taste, but reduced the amount of sugar. Most importantly I use a technique so they don’t fall apart when slicing and enjoying.

Besides the taste and texture, I love this granola bar’s flexibility. Add any combination of gluten-free add-ins, like chocolate chips, dairy-free chips, cranberries, pepitas, sunflower seeds, coconut, or choose any of the granola bar add-in options below for different tastes and dietary needs.

Also, soft and chewy has always been the home-baked texture I strive for. (Hello, world’s best gluten-free chocolate chip cookies recipe!) I love my GF snack bars to taste like a decadent treat, but also provide tasty fuel.

Lastly, similar to my favorite homemade gluten-free granola clusters, these bars utilize some easy baking tricks to make sure the ingredients stick together, but still have a soft texture, thanks to a lovely combination of honey, peanut butter, and butter.

The recipe makes a 9X13-inch pan, which yields about 12 traditional-sized bars or 24 if they are cut in squares. After the bars cool, I like to wrap them up individually and store in an airtight container or freeze for an easy, make-ahead gluten-free breakfast idea, perfect for kids or an office snack!

These granola bars are absolutely delicious! I made them for a camping trip and shared them with several friends—they all raved about them. I just made them again for our next vacation! They turned out perfectly and stayed together beautifully. I know I will make these many more times in the years ahead. Thank you!

—Alicia

Ingredient Tid Bits

For a gluten-free diet, there are two precautionary ingredients when buying supplies. For the crisp rice cereal and oats, refer to the ingredient notes below for safe brands.

  • Gluten-Free Quick Oats – Use certified gluten free oats , which means they have been processed on equipment that hasn’t been contaminated by wheat products. I find quick oats bind the bars together more over old fashioned rolled oats.
  • Oat Flour – This also helps bind the ingredients together. I usually make my own homemade oat flour, which takes only a few seconds. You can also substitute an equal amount of almond flour or coconut flour. I haven’t tried using gluten-free all purpose flour, but I don’t think that would be a problem.
  • Crisp puffed rice cereal – Be sure to read ingredient labels and use a brand marked gluten-free. There are plenty of affordable options available (I use Aldi’s brand, but more are listed on this gluten-free rice krispie bars recipe). Be sure the ingredient list doesn’t contain malt flavor or barley.
  • Syrups – Honey gives the best chewy texture, but pure maple syrup may also be substituted. A small amount of corn syrup is also added. This also helps with texture and sweetness.
  • Peanut Butter – Creamy peanut butter, such as Skippy or Jif, is preferred over a natural nut butter. However, any nut butter may be substituted, if preferred.
  • Butter – For dairy-free, replace with melted coconut oil.
  • Chocolate chips – Miniature-sized chips are preferred because they disperse evenly throughout the dry ingredients. If making a dairy-free recipe, non-dairy baking chips may be substituted.

Let’s Make This Together!

(Below shows step-by-step photos and modified instructions. For the complete recipe, along with ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card.)

Big bowl and dry ingredients

Let’s build the perfect bar. Start with a big bowl and gluten-free quick oats for the base. Now it’s time to add the mix-ins. I use rice cereal, brown sugar, oat flour, chopped nuts, coconut, dried cranberries, and chocolate chips, but you can pick and choose what works best for you. More deets on that below…

the dry ingredients mixed together in a large bowl.

Add the chewiness

In another bowl melt the butter, then stir in the peanut butter, vanilla, corn syrup, honey, and water. This will coat the dry ingredients to bake and adhere the bars the together.

Pour that mixture over the oat mixture and stir to combine. See, easy peasy stuff!

the wet mixture mixed together with the dry.

Best way to bake

To make baked gluten-free granola bars, there’s a couple easy tricks to have the ingredients stick together.

I like to line the pan with parchment so the bars are easy to lift out, cut, wrap individually and store. After the mixture is poured in, press down firmly. So your hands don’t stick while pressing down, cover with a large piece of plastic wrap and press down on top of the bars all the way to the edges.

Bake in a 350℉ oven 25-30 minutes, until edges are golden brown and center is set. Even if your kitchen smells like heaven (it will), don’t be tempted to slice just yet! Let them cool completely in the pan so all the ingredients can fuse together.

unbaked bars in a baking dish.

How To Make Baked Granola Bars Stick

Sometimes baked bars have the tendency to fall apart once they are cut. Let’s avoid that!

Ingredients – Add wet ingredients to bind or “glue” the oats and add ins together. In this recipe honey, corn syrup, peanut butter, and butter do this. While the dry ingredients can be modified and swapped out, the wet ingredients need to stay consistent. Otherwise the granola bars will fall apart and not be a very transportable snack.

Pressing – Once the ingredients are mixed together press them firmly into the pan. Cover the pan with a large piece of plastic wrap. Press press down on top of the bars all the way to the edges before removing and baking.

Cooling – When the baked bars come out of the oven cool them completely in the pan first. After cooling transfer the pan to the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Lift the bars from the pan and cut. At this point they may be stored at room temperature. The initial refrigeration just helps further solidify the bars before cutting.

overhead shot of granola bars with ingredients scattered around.
Storing these in the freezer is kind of a must for me. Otherwise I have a very hard time ignoring these bars!

Add-In Options and Bonus Ideas

Another fantastic thing about this granola bar recipe is making it how you like it! Below I listed what I typically add. Feel free to swap out ingredients and adjust as long as you have about 2 ⅓ cups total.

  • chopped nuts – any kind!
  • dried fruits – cranberries, raisins, diced apricots, cherries or diced dates
  • sunflower seeds or pepitas
  • coconut – sweetened or unsweetened, but sweetened also adds moisture.
  • baking chips – chocolate chips, white chocolate, peanut butter, or butterscotch (read label for gluten-free)
  • For an extra treat dip bottoms in melted chocolate. Place on wax paper to harden completely before storing.
  • Peanut butter lover? Use chopped peanuts in the recipe. Melt 1/4 cup peanut butter chips and drizzle on top.
close up bite of bite taken out with melted chocolate.
If you love a sweet and salty combo with chocolate chips, this will be the recipe you come back to time and again.

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stack of 3 granola bars with bits of bars crumbling off
4.91 stars (21 ratings)

Chewy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Melissa Erdelac of MamaGourmand headshot in patterned dress.Melissa Erdelac
Yield: 24 bars
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Homemade gluten-free granola bars are easy treat ideal for breakfast bars or a grab-and-go-snack. Chocolate chip granola bars have an on-point combination of gluten-free oats, gooey chocolate, coconut, nuts, and dried fruit. They bake up sweet, salty, and extra chewy. Thanks to a combination of peanut butter and honey, they hold their shape and are easy to slice and share!
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Ingredients
 

Dry Ingredients:

Wet ingredients:

Equipment

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line an 9X13" pan with a large piece of foil or parchment paper. The paper should be long enough to lift the bars out of the pan. Lightly grease with cooking spray.
  • In a large bowl mix dry ingredients, including oats, rice cereal, nuts, coconut, cranberries, chocolate chips, brown sugar, oat flour, sunflower seeds, and salt.
    1 ⅔ cup gluten-free quick cooking oats, ⅔ cup gluten-free puffed rice cereal, ⅓ cup packed brown sugar, ⅓ cup oat flour , ½ teaspoon salt, ½ cup chopped nuts*, ½ cup shredded coconut*, ½ cup dried cranberries*, ⅓ cup sunflower seeds*, ½ cup miniature chocolate chips*
  • In another microwave-safe bowl melt the butter. Alternatively, melt on the stovetop in a small saucepan. After butter is completed melted add the peanut butter, honey, corn syrup, water and vanilla to warm butter. Stir until smooth.
    6 tablespoons unsalted butter, ⅓ cup peanut butter, ¼ cup honey, 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Add the wet ingredients to dry ingredient bowl and stir to combine. Transfer the granola to the prepared pan. Use a large piece of plastic wrap to press down on top of the bars, all the way to the edges, before removing to bake.
  • Bake the bars 25 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Cool completely in pan.  
  • After cooling transfer the pan to the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Then lift the bars from the pan and cut. At this point they may be stored at room temperature. The initial refrigeration just helps further solidify the bars before cutting. 
  • Wrap bars individually in plastic wrap and place in airtight container to store at room temperature for a week, refrigerated up to 2 weeks, or freeze up to 3 months.

Notes

Oat Flour
Make your own oat flour by processing ⅓ cup quick-cooking oats in blender until finely ground. 
**Add-Ins
Add your preferred add-ins and quantities as long as it adds up to 2 ⅓ cups total.
Storage Tips
These last about 1 week when wrapped individually with plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container.
To extend their longevity these may also be stored in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks. For best results still wrap individually with plastic wrap first so they don’t dry out.
These bars may also be frozen for storing longer. Place individually wrapped bars in an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze up to 3 months.
 
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour
Calories: 179kcal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 8mg, Sodium: 95mg, Potassium: 120mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 91IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 16mg, Iron: 1mg
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