Oatmeal Granola Bars

These Oatmeal Granola Bars are made to taste like an iced oatmeal cookie — in a more nutritious form of course! These bars are simple to make with no baking required!

Try some other favorite granola bar recipes next — Chewy Granola Bars with miniature M&M’s, Chocolate Granola Bar with three types of chocolate, or Homemade Granola Bars with almonds and chocolate chips.

Oatmeal Granola Bars

The Clif® Kid Z bars are one of the all-time favorite store-bought bars. They’re soft, chewy, and reminiscent of a soft oatmeal cookie! The kids love them too, and it’s surprising how quickly a Costco-sized box disappears.

Since they aren’t the cheapest granola bars, it was time to try making something similar at home. While these bars turned out a bit different from the Clif Kid Z bars, they taste like an iced oatmeal cookie in a delicious, soft granola bar way. These bars are soft, chewy, sweet, and perfectly finished with sweet white chocolate icing. Honestly, these are even better than the Clif bars!

How To Make Granola Bars With Oatmeal

1. Prep: Line an 8×8 pan with parchment. Leave extra parchment hanging over the sides for easy lifting later.
2. Blend Oats: Turn 1 cup oats into flour-like consistency. Make sure no large chunks remain for a smoother texture.
3. Blend Dates: Process dates into a paste and mix with oat flour. Soak hard dates in hot water first to soften.
4. Combine: Mix in almond butter, syrup, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and remaining oats.
5. Set: Press the mixture evenly into the pan and refrigerate for 1 hour. Firm pressing helps the bars stick together.
6. Glaze: Melt white chocolate with oil, then blend in vanilla, sugar, and milk.
7. Finish: Chill with glaze for 20 mins, then cut into bars. Use a sharp knife for clean cuts.

Oatmeal Granola Bars Tools Needed

• High-powered blender: Dates can be tough on a blender, even when fresh and soft. To break them down into a thick paste without burning out the motor, use a very high-powered blender (like Vita-Mix or Blend-Tec) and scrape down the sides as needed.
• Hand mixer or stand mixer: Mixing all the ingredients in a large bowl can be too much for a wooden spoon. An electric hand mixer or stand mixer works best to ensure everything is thoroughly combined for the right flavor.
• 8×8-inch baking pan: This mixture fits perfectly in an 8×8-inch baking pan.
• Optional but helpful: Line the pan with parchment paper for easy removal and less mess. A firm spatula is great for scraping the bowl and pressing down the mixture.

Oatmeal Granola Bar Ingredients

The ingredients in these bars greatly impact their flavor and texture.

• Old-fashioned oats: Half are blended into oat flour, while the other half remains whole, giving two textures from one ingredient.
• Deglet Noor dates: Dates provide natural sweetness and a chewy texture. Fun fact: dates are fresh fruit, not dried! Leftover dates can be used in a Cauliflower Smoothie or Gluten-free Zucchini Muffins.
• Almond butter: This adds flavor, nutrition, and helps make the bars filling. Choose a slow-roasted, lightly salted almond butter you enjoy on its own.
• Pure maple syrup: A natural sweetener made from boiled-down maple sap, not to be confused with pancake syrup, which is made from corn syrup and maple extract. Maple syrup adds both flavor and stickiness to these bars.
• Vanilla extract: Enhances the cookie-like flavor.
• Salt: Balances the sweetness and boosts flavor.
• Cinnamon: Essential for that classic oatmeal cookie taste.

Oatmeal Granola Bar Tips

• Be sure to use old-fashioned oats. Quick oats and steel-cut oats will both create the wrong texture and won’t work properly in these bars.
• Use the right ingredients. Even “tried and true” substitutions (think honey for maple syrup or peanut butter for almond butter) don’t work the same in these bars — this recipe is fairly particular.
• Cut the bars with a large, sharp knife. Once the bars have firmed up, use the parchment paper overhang to remove the bars onto a cutting board and then cut with a sharp knife.
• Make gluten-free Oatmeal Granola Bars. While the ingredients in these bars are naturally gluten-free, make sure to check all your ingredient labels to verify they weren’t processed in a facility with gluten.

More Nutritious Snacks

• Trail Mix made with five different variations
• Oatmeal Energy Balls with coconut and chocolate
• Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding naturally sweetened and naturally thickened
• Almond Granola with coconut flakes
• Overnight Oats with four different recipes

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5 from 5 votes

Oatmeal Cookie Granola Bars

By Chelsea Lords

These Oatmeal Granola Bars are made to taste like an iced oatmeal cookie -- in a more nutritious form, of course! These bars are simple to make with no baking required!

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Chilling Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 bars

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 and 3/4 cups old fashioned oats, divided use
• ▢ 1 cup (140g) Deglet Noor dates pitted Note 1
• ▢ 1/3 cup (91g) roasted and salted almond butter Note 2
• ▢ 1/2 cup (157g) pure maple syrup Note 3
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Optional Glaze

• ▢ 2 tablespoons white chocolate chips
• ▢ 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• ▢ 1-2 teaspoons milk (plant-based milk works great here)

Instructions 

• PREP: Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang for easy removal.
• BLEND OATS: In a high-powered blender, blend 1 cup (105g) of the old-fashioned oats until they resemble flour -- a fine powder. If needed, stir and re-blend to break up larger chunks of oats -- it should look like flour. Now pour all of the blended oats into a large sturdy bowl or a bowl attached to a stand mixer.
• BLEND DATES: See Note 1. Ensure dates are pitted. (Sometimes dates labeled pitted still have a pit that sneaks in!) Using a sharp serrated knife, coarsely chop the dates. Add chopped dates to the blender and blend until a thick paste forms. This takes some patience; you will likely need to scrape down edges and stir a few times in between blending. Once fully blended to a paste, use a spatula to scrape all of this mixture out into the bowl with the oats. It's thick and sticky!
• ADD REMAINING INGREDIENTS: To the bowl with the blended oats and dates, add the almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon and the remaining 1-3/4 cups (178g) old fashioned oats.
• BEAT: Using a hand mixer (or paddle attachment on a stand mixer), beat until well combined and ingredients are incorporated. The mixture is a bit wet, but it does set up a bit in the fridge.
• CHILL: Use a spatula to scrape out all of the mixture from the bowl into the prepared 8x8 pan. Firmly press the granola bar mixture evenly into the pan. Cover and place in the fridge to chill and set up for at least 1 hour.
• GLAZE: Combine the white chocolate chips and the coconut oil (measure oil when it is melted). Microwave the mixture in 15-second bursts, stirring in between each burst for 10-15 seconds until completely smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and milk. Stir until a thick frosting has formed and transfer to a small plastic bag. Cut off the tip and drizzle all over the bars. Return to the fridge (covered) until the glaze hardens, about 20 more minutes.
• ENJOY: Using the parchment or foil overhang, remove bars to a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut into bars. Wrap each bar individually and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Dates: For the dates, I like to use Deglet Noor made by Sunsweet — You'll find these near other dried fruits, trail mixes, and/or nuts in the store. To ensure the dates blend up nice and smooth for these bars, use new (fresh and soft) dates or soak them in boiling water first. They only need a few minutes in the boiling water to soften. Be sure to completely dry and then remove any pits from the dates before blending!

Note 2: Almond butter: I recommend a slow-roasted and lightly salted almond butter you enjoy eating straight from the jar to ensure the best granola bar flavor.

Note 3: Maple syrup: Not to be confused with corn syrup or pancake syrup, pure maple syrup is the sap from a maple tree that has been boiled down to a thicker consistency (natural, nutrient-filled sweetener -- score!). We rely on the flavor and stickiness of pure maple syrup for both taste and consistency of these oatmeal granola bars.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 217kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 54mg | Potassium: 277mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 4IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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