Granola bars with honey & maple

These granola bars are made with a mix of oats, seeds, nuts, dried fruit, honey, and maple syrup, and can be baked or left unbaked depending on the texture you prefer. They’re easy to make, naturally sweetened, and perfect for snacks, lunchboxes, or a quick grab-and-go breakfast. You can customise them with nuts, seeds, or dried fruit—whatever you have on hand.

I retested this recipe from my book, and in the process, I shot my first recipe video. I had intended to shoot it in landscape for You Tube but shot it in portrait instead (and now how I currently shoot for social media).

I love shooting in my kitchen, which has a totally different light vibe going on, but is only really viable in the morning. It saves me from having to move the food back and forth to my studio all the time, and I have so much more space.

Baked or unbaked granola bars

I also decided to BAKE these granola bars after I made them, to check out a different perspective, and Oh My Goodness, they were SO much more delicious. I highly recommend popping the tray in the oven for 20 minutes to get a crunchier and more roasted nut taste.

Unbaked, they have a chewier texture, which you might prefer.

Sorry, there is no pic of the baked ones. I only established this after the whole production/debacle of these, so you will just have to imagine crunchy golden bars. 

Why this granola bar recipe tastes so delicious

I’ve used a mix of walnuts, cashews and almonds, but a hazelnut probably landed up in the mix too, maybe even a brazil. I find this the perfect recipe to use up any bits of dried fruit, seeds and nuts you have lying around or in the freezer (I always store all my nuts in the freezer to prevent them from going rancid).

I had about half a cup of a trail mix, which included a few dried goji berries and cranberries, so this really was a clear-the-cupboard-granola. You can use whatever dried fruit, seeds and nuts you have on hand.

*PS the image below was one that was shot two years ago for my book, but I ended up choosing the opening image in this blog post as the final one.  

Here is my original first-ever recipe video.

Recipe – First published in Sweet – Penguin Random House 

*To make this vegan, replace the honey with syrup (that’s if you are a vegan who doesn’t eat honey).

Granola bars with honey and maple recipe

Easy granola bars made with honey and maple syrup. Includes baked and no-bake versions. Perfect for snacks, lunchboxes, or a quick breakfast

Print Recipe

Prep Time:15 minutes mins

Cook Time:20 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 3 ½ cups oats
• 2 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups of mixed nuts dried fruit and seeds

Instructions

• Heat the oven to 180C and spread the oats evenly across a large baking sheet. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until golden brown. Give them a sir every now and again and keep checking to ensure you don’t over cook them.
• In s small pot, heat the oil, sugar, honey, maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon and bring this to the boil.
• Empty the toasted oats, nuts, seeds and fruit into a large bowl and add the hot syrup and mix well to combine. Tip this in to baking pan (29cm x 21cm, or another appropriately sized pan), which you have lined with baking paper. Ensure that you have enough length in the paper to fold back over the bars. Press the mixture into the pan, fold over the baking paper and even out with a flat book and press down.
• If you prefer to bake these bars, pop the tray into an oven preheated to 180C/350F and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Allow to compertey cool before cutting and eating.
• Allow this to cool and set overnight.
• Remove from the sheet and cut into desired sized bars.

Notes

Storage Instructions for Granola Bars

• Room temperature:
  Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Keep them in a cool, dry place to prevent them from going soft.
• Freezer:
  Freeze baked or unbaked bars for up to 3 months. Wrap individually or layer with baking paper in a sealed container. Thaw at room temperature before eating.

You may also like my grandmother Betty’s original South African oat crunchies recipe, or the version I made with loads of different seeds.

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