As a gluten free person, I feel like my life revolves around snacks. That makes these homemade gluten free granola bars a staple in my kitchen. These gluten free granola bars are not only easy to make but they can also be customized with your favorite mix-ins to create a treat the whole family will enjoy!
These make a perfect grab and go breakfast bar or easy gluten-free snack. Once you try these chewy granola bars, you may never eat another box of store-bought granola bars.
If you're looking for more quick snacks, check out my nutella energy bites, my pumpkin granola bars or my yummy chocolate banana granola.
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Ingredient Notes
This easy recipe uses wholesome ingredients that can be found at any grocery store. It's both gluten free and dairy free as written.
- Gluten Free Oats & Oat Flour - If you're following a gluten-free diet, it is important to use certified gluten-free oats here. I normally use Bob's Red Mill old-fashioned oats. While they also sell oat flour, this recipe doesn't require a finely milled flour. I usually just throw some oats in the food processor and make my own.
- Puffed Rice Cereal - Again you want to make sure you're using a certified gluten free cereal as some contain malted barley. The puffed rice cereal is going to give a little extra light texture to the bars.
- Brown Sugar - A little sugar is necessary to create the stickiness that holds the bars together. However, if you find this a little too sweet, you can definitely reduce the amount to 1 or 2 tablespoon without much trouble. I have also made this recipe with coconut sugar and had great results. If you want your bars to come out more on the crunchy side, use white sugar here.
- Coconut Oil - You need an oil that is solid at room temperature, so there isn't a really good substitution here. Use refined coconut oil if you are worried about coconut flavor.
- Honey - Honey is a key ingredient in these granola bars. It provides the sticky element that holds everything together, plus it's delicious!
- Baking Soda - Since we aren't looking for any leavening in these bars, why would we use baking soda? Well, in this case we mainly included it for the browning properties. It will provide a little leavening, since baking soda will react with honey, but we will smoosh all of that out when we press the cooked bars down.
- Mix-ins - Go crazy here with whatever your heart desires. I used chopped pistachios, dried cherries and cranberries. But I like to make them with a different mix-in every time.
See the recipe card below for full ingredient list with measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- Not Gluten Free - use regular rolled oats and puffed rice cereal in the same measure.
- Make it Vegan - Replace honey with an equal amount of pure maple syrup.
- Customize the Flavors - chocolate chips, coconut flakes, chia seeds, peanuts, raisins with a little cinnamon, dried blueberries with lemon zest would all make great additions. Just aim for 1 ¼ cup to 1 ½ cup of total mix ins.
How to Make Homemade Gluten-Free Granola Bars
Homemade granola bars are so easy to make. It's a great recipe to make with kids.
STEP 1: Combine the oats, oat flour, puffed rice cereal, sugar, baking soda and dried fruits and nuts in a large mixing bowl.
STEP 2: Add the coconut oil, honey and vanilla extract and stir until everything is coated.
STEP 3: Pour the granola mixture into a lined 9x9 baking pan.
STEP 4: Spread the granola into an even layer.
STEP 5: Use a smaller pan, or a measuring cup with a flat bottom, to press the granola into a tight layer.
STEP 6: Bake the bars. As soon as you remove them from the oven, press them down tightly again and cut them. Then allow to cool before removing from the pan.
Why do you use CBD honey in this recipe?
Honey on it's own has great benefits: anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-fungal and antioxidants, plus it is known to help with allergies which I have plenty of. Adding CBD to the equation just takes things to the next level. CBD also has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, but is known to help with anxiety, pain, sleep and more. Overall it has a calming effect on me and who can't use a little more calm in the stresses of day to day life.
Recipe FAQs
Oats are naturally gluten free. However, due to the way they are grown, harvested and processed there is a high chance of contamination with wheat.
Ensure you purchase certified gluten free oats if you need to follow a gluten free diet.
If you can’t tolerate oats, you could try to use a mixture of seeds (sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds) and some nuts in place of the whole oats. I would use coconut flour in place of the oat flour as it will soak up moisture the same way oats do.
You could try them with maple syrup, brown rice syrup, or corn syrup. Any of those should work in place of honey for a vegan option.
Once your granola bars have cooled, you will notice they are still a little sticky to the touch. I place mine into an airtight container and divide each level with a sheet of wax paper. I store them in the refrigerator in hotter months to keep them solid, but in the colder months you can keep the container right on the countertop at room temperature.
More snack recipes to consider:
If you try this recipe, please leave a 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the comments below.
Recipe
Homemade Gluten Free Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 2 Cup Gluten Free Oats
- ½ Cup Gluten Free Oat Flour
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ Cup Gluten Free Rice Crisp Cereal
- ½ Cup Chopped Nuts
- ¾ Cup Chopped Dried Fruit
- ¼ Cup Light Brown Sugar or coconut sugar
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ⅓ Cup Coconut Oil melted
- ⅓ Cup Honey
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 °F (149 °C). Line a 9x9 square pan with parchment paper.
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir well.2 Cup Gluten Free Oats, ½ Cup Gluten Free Oat Flour, ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda, ½ Cup Gluten Free Rice Crisp Cereal, ½ Cup Chopped Nuts, ¾ Cup Chopped Dried Fruit, ¼ Cup Light Brown Sugar, ½ teaspoon Salt
- Add the coconut oil, honey and vanilla. Stir until everything is evenly coated.⅓ Cup Coconut Oil, ⅓ Cup Honey, 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- Pour mixture into prepared pan.
- Using the bottom of a smaller pan, press down on the oat mixture to compress it as tightly as possible.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and again use the small pan to press down on the oat bars.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Cut into 12 bars. Cool completely before wrapping.
Notes
Tiffany is the recipe developer, stylist and food photographer behind Well Fed Baker. As a lifelong baker who had to go gluten free and dairy free in 2016, Tiffany strives to share allergen friendly recipes that never feel like they are free from anything.
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