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These homemade Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars are so good that you won’t want to buy another granola bar from the grocery store again! They are chewy, chocolatey, and loaded with healthy fats and protein.
Enjoy these chocolate peanut butter granola bars as part of your breakfast in the morning or as an afternoon snack. The protein will help you feel and stay full, plus the nutty peanut butter and sweet chocolate are the perfect pairing for a treat. These homemade granola bars are so easy to make and can easily be added to your meal prep routine with minimal effort.
If you like chocolate and peanut butter snack recipes, you will love my peanut butter chocolate blondies and peanut butter banana muffins!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Better Than Store-Bought: These healthy chocolate peanut butter bars are better than any granola bar at the grocery store. They aren’t loaded with extra sugar and have a great amount of protein, plus they’re delicious!
- Simple Ingredients: Make granola bars with simple, but delicious ingredients like rolled oats, flax seed, maple syrup, and gooey peanut butter. You probably have most of what you need in your pantry already!
- Easy to Customize: Make these homemade granola bars to your tastes by adding your favorite nuts, dried fruits, or candy pieces.
It’s important to discover a sustainable way of eating and learning how to include all foods you enjoy eating in moderation! My favorites are this easy baked yogurt recipe, healthy chocolate banana bread, and this low calorie brownie recipe!
Ingredients
- Gluten-Free Rolled Oats: This recipe is gluten-free, but you can also use regular rolled oats.
- Protein Powder: Give your peanut butter and chocolate granola bars an extra bit of protein with a little bit of your favorite vanilla, chocolate, or peanut butter protein powder.
- Coconut Sugar: These homemade peanut butter chocolate chip granola bars use coconut sugar, which has a lower glycemic index than regular sugar.
- Maple Syrup: This natural sweetener helps bind the bars together and make them sweeter. You can also use honey.
- Chocolate Chips: I love mini chocolate chips in my granola bars because you get a few chocolate chips in every bite. Use dairy-free chocolate chips if you need to keep this recipe dairy-free.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations & Dietary Modifications
- Make Them Crunchy: Make these homemade granola bars a little more crunchy by adding puffed rice, pretzels, or toasted coconut to the mix.
- Different Mix-Ins: Don’t limit yourself to just chocolate chips! Try these peanut butter granola bars with raisins, dried blueberries, or other dried fruits. You could also mix in pepitas, chia seeds, or almonds.
- Use Less Oats: If you want fewer whole oats in these bars, try substituting half of the rolled oats for gluten-free oat flour instead. They will bake more like a baked good than a pure granola bar. These chocolate protein bars don’t use any oats if you’re looking for a bar that’s oat-free, and these healthy nut and seed bars are a grain-free option.
How to Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
These peanut butter chocolate granola bars are so chewy and nutty that you won’t want to buy prepackaged granola bars again. They are also simple to make; all you need are two mixing bowls, an 8-inch x 8-inch square baking dish lined with parchment paper, and an oven preheated to 350°F.
Step 1: Mix the Wet and Dry Ingredients Separately. Combine the vanilla, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, peanut butter, and coconut sugar in a bowl. Add the rolled oats, protein powder, flax meal, cinnamon, and salt to a separate bowl and stir to combine them.
Step 2: Combine the Ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until they are completely mixed together without any dry spots. Then, fold in the chocolate chips to disperse them evenly throughout the batter.
Step 3: Add to the Baking Pan. Transfer the mixture to your parchment paper-lined baking dish. Press it firmly and evenly into the bottom of the dish using a spatula or your hands.
Step 4: Cool and Cut. Bake the granola bars at 350°F for about 17 minutes until the edges begin to turn golden brown. Let the bars cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then lift the parchment paper out of the baking dish. Cut them into 16 bars and drizzle them with melted chocolate.
Expert Tips
- Rolled Oats Only: Rolled oats, or old-fashioned oats, are best for granola bars because they have a chewy texture and don’t turn soggy when cooked. Avoid instant oats or quick oats because they will turn to mush.
- Use Drizzly Peanut Butter: This peanut butter granola bar recipe requires a smooth, creamy peanut butter that pours into the bowl. You can warm up your peanut butter in the microwave for a few seconds until it easily drizzles into the mixing bowl.
- Press When Cutting: Avoid the bars from crumbling when you cut them by pressing the knife into the bars and lifting it out with each cut. Don’t drag your knife through the bars, or they may stick and pull apart.
- Store in the Fridge: Keep these homemade granola bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about a week. They need to stay chilled so the peanut butter and maple syrup don’t turn soft and cause them to fall apart.
Serving Suggestions
These chocolate peanut butter granola bars are the perfect snack to grab on your way out the door or pack in your bag for after the gym. They are loaded with nutrients, low in refined sugar, and have protein to fill you up. You’ll never want to buy a granola bar from the store again after you make these!
- Drizzle melted chocolate or melted peanut butter over the top of these bars and sprinkle with sea salt for a little extra salty flavor.
- Pair these homemade granola bars with a smoothie after your workouts to help your body recover and fuel you for the rest of the day. Try a cherry smoothie or a pumpkin protein smoothie because they go great with chocolate!
- Enjoy one of these granola bars as part of your breakfast with a skinny peppermint mocha or skinny pumpkin spice latte.
Recipe FAQs
These granola bars will last in the freezer for up to 3 months! Thaw them in the refrigerator or let them thaw in your lunch bag before enjoying!
Try layering a sheet of parchment paper between layers of the granola bars in your container. This will help keep them from sticking together.
This recipe is specifically for peanut butter granola bars. You can try using sun butter or another nut butter instead of peanut butter, but I’m not sure how they would turn out. Most important is to make sure the type of nut butter you use is drizzly.
More Homemade Granola Bar Recipes
If you tried this Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup gluten free rolled oats, or regular rolled oats
- 1/4 cup vanilla protein powder
- 2 tablespoons flax meal
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted peanut butter, or nut butter of choice
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar, or sugar of choice
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, or melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips, or dairy free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven 350 F. Prepare an 8-inch x 8-inch square baking dish by lining with parchment paper.
- To a small bowl, combine vanilla, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, peanut butter and sugar. Mix to combine well.
- To a larger bowl, combine rolled oats, protein powder, flax meal, cinnamon and salt.
- Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until fully incorporated. Then fold chips into the batter dispersing them well.
- Transfer the batter to the baking dish, spreading into an even layer with a spatula pressing into the corners. I found using my hands was helpful!
- Bake 17 minutes. Remove from the oven, cool in the pan 20 minutes. Lift the parchment paper out of the baking pan and set on a cutting board. Slice into 16 bars.
- Optional: drizzle melted chocolate over the top.
Video
Notes
- I’ve also used 1/2 cup Gluten Free Oat Flour with 1/2 cup Gluten Free Rolled Oats. Either method works!
- Be sure your peanut butter is smooth and easy to pour. You can warm peanut butter in the microwave for a few seconds until it easily drizzles.
- Press the knife into the bars and lift it out with each cut instead of dragging it through to achieve perfect cuts.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These look yummy, The recipe says 16 bars but your photo shpws it cut into 12? wondering about the nutrition , is it for 1 out of 16 or 1 out of 12 bars?
It should be 12 bars. I just updated the nutrition values. Thank you for the catch!
Hi there, thank you for this delicious recipe. I’ve been looking for something to enjoy with my coffee every morning that isn’t some big box brand. My wife surprised me and made them for me last night and they are very tasty! As I’m tracking macros right now I had a question about the nutrition facts. The serving size says 1G but I’m guessing it means one bar? How many grams would you consider an appropriate size for one bar?
Hi Aaron! Glad you liked the bars! The nutritional values represent 1 bar.
got it thanks Megan!