I’m already starting to think about how I will fuel myself (quickly) after the little bambino arrives this fall. I’m not one who functions well with long periods between meals, so planning in advance is going to be my best ally. The healthier and more balanced, the better I‘m sure I’ll feel. Bring on the healthy, hippie foods, I say! In addition to freezer friendly meals – like veggie burgers and balls, chili, soup, falafel, enchiladas, pasta + pesto sauces, burritos, etc. – I hope to prepare snacks in advance that I can individually wrap and store in the freezer. Things that I can toss into my purse or quickly unwrap when I need a boost will be so handy. Amidst uncertainty, it always feels good to have a back up plan (even if my reality will be take out food more than not).
These lightly-sweet granola bars are a great option because they are only sweetened with bananas and sweetened dried fruit. No sugar crashes here! You could even remove the dried fruit if you really wanted to, but I love how the dried cherries provide a pop of sweetness throughout. But it’s not what the bars don’t have – it’s what they do have. How about hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, rolled oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, banana, and more. These wholesome bars are crunchy, hearty, and chewy in the best way possible. And super filling thanks to the balance of protein, fibre, carbs, and healthy fats. One bar clocks in at 6.6 grams of protein and almost 5 grams of fibre (you can see the complete nutritional info in the recipe below). If you wanted to boost the protein even more, you can increase the hemp seeds (and maybe reduce the sunflower seeds a bit).
For even more staying power, try spreading on some nut or seed butter (with chia seed jam to make it a party!) or even a bit of coconut oil. That’s never a bad idea. Is it snack time yet?
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Feel Good Hearty Granola Bars
Yield
14-16 large bars
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Hearty, soft-baked, and chewy, these no-sugar-added granola bars will fill up the tank and keep your energy stable. Feel free to play around with the mix-ins, as the recipe is quite adaptable. Also, if you’re feeding a nut-free crowd, you can easily swap out the walnuts and almonds for more seeds (or chocolate chips, if you’re feeling wild!). This recipe is adapted from Anjali's Oat Snack Bars recipe, which was originally adapted from Faith's 4-Ingredient Banana Oat Bars.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (360 g) mashed ripe banana (about 3 large)
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (200 g) gluten-free rolled oats
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup (60 to 90 g) dried cherries, cranberries, or blueberries, to taste*
- 1/2 cup (50 g) walnuts, chopped
- 1/2 cup (75 g) sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup (80 g) pepita seeds
- 1/2 cup (60 g) sliced almonds
- 1/4 cup (35 g) hemp hearts
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a large rectangular baking dish (approximately 9" x 13") and line with a piece of parchment paper (with overhang) so the bars are easier to remove.
- In a large bowl, mash the banana until smooth. Make sure you have 1 1/2 cups (if you have extra mashed banana, you can freeze it for a smoothie).
- Stir in the vanilla.
- Place the oats into a food processor (or blender set on the lowest speed) and pulse until the oats are coarsely chopped (but still have lots of texture). Stir the chopped oats into the banana mixture until fully incorporated.
- Stir the dried fruit, walnuts, sunflower and pepita seeds, almonds, hemp hearts, cinnamon, and salt into the banana-oat mixture until thoroughly combined. The dough will be very heavy and a bit wet.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared dish. With lightly wet hands, smooth out until even and uniform. Press down on the dough until compacted.
- Bake for 22 to 26 minutes, until firm and lightly golden along the edges.
- Place the dish on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then carefully slide a knife to loosen the ends and gently lift out. Place the slab on a cooling rack until completely cool.
- Once cool, slice into bars. I like to use a pizza slicer as it easily cuts through the dried fruit and nuts. Leftovers can be wrapped up and stored in the fridge for a week, or stored in the freezer for 4 to 6 weeks.
Tip:
* You can omit the dried fruit and sub in chocolate chips (or add a mix of both).
These bars aren't super sweet, so if you prefer something sweeter you may want to add a touch of sweetener.
To store these in the freezer, wrap the bars individually in parchment paper using 6-inch by 12-inch pieces of parchment, then tie with string or tape to secure. Finally, place all of the bars into a freezer-safe zip bag, press out all the air, and seal it shut. Or, you can simply wrap each bar with plastic wrap or tinfoil.
Make it Nut free: Swap the almonds and walnuts for more sunflower, pepita, and hemp seeds.
Approximate nutritional info: (per bar, based on 14 large bars using 1/2 cup dried sweetened cherries): 186 calories, 8.7 grams fat, 22 grams carbs, 4.7 grams fibre, 6 grams sugar, 6.6 grams protein. Without dried cherries, bars have approx. 3.6 grams of sugar and 166 calories.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
PS- The winner of the Vitamix contest has been announced at the bottom of this post! A big thank you to everyone who took part in the #osgcookbook Vitamix giveaway and to Vitamix for donating the machine. I had a blast seeing all your pictures come in over the past 2 weeks.
Hello,
thank you so much for the great recipe, it tasted wonderful.
I just have another question – where are these lovely storage glasses (with the seeds) from?
I want to buy them too. Hope you can help me with this problem – thanx so much.:-)
Astrid
Hi angela, i just made this about an hour ago and i was wondering, what can i use instead of bananas?
Thanks!
Okay I don’t even know how to express how happy I am with this recipe and how grateful I am that you share your wonderful recipes with the world. For starters, I am severely gluten intolerant, and on top of it have an extensive list of other allergies and intolerances; needless to say, finding snacks (let alone granola bars) is near impossible. A certified gluten-free, peanut-free, coconut-free (need I go on) granola bar just doesn’t exist in abundance on the market (and as a health food lover, some of the ingredient lists in store bought snacks just don’t do it for me). I’ve had so many disappointments in the past making recipes that I find online, but this one is just lovely. The banana makes it sweet but not sickeningly so and the texture is exquisite; I made them today and they totally look and taste store bought quality. Thank you so much for this recipe; I’m new to your blog but I am now a big fan! ^-^
I’m not a fan of bananas. Would it work if I substituted apple sauce instead? Thanks!
Hi, this recipe is really fantastic,perfect for my school snack
and your photos look amazing! Just one question, what can I substitue hemp seeds with? Thank you so much and soory for my English, I am Italian ;)
Lovely recipe! With oat intolerance, can the rolled oats be substituted with others? like brown rice flour?
Made these granola bars for the first time, and I am delighted to find a recipe that is healthy with all natural ingredients and delicious. A small one inch square satisfies my hunger between meals. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I made these for my boyfriend since he has a hard time finding a chance to eat breakfast. He LOVED them! He doesn’t like sweets very much so these seemed perfect. I think he ate a whole batch in about a week and a half. I just mentioned making another batch for his hunting trip and he was ecstatic. These are fantastic!
First thing I have tried from your website which I just discovered. I was looking for a treat to take to my pregnant vegan friend for her birthday and ended up making two batches, one for her and one to take to my two U of T offspring. I wrapped up the ones for my friend in the same manner as those in your photos, and they made a lovely looking gift. She was delighted with her special bars and said Oh She Glows is her favourite source for recipes and inspiration. As for my non-vegan but health conscious son and daughter, they texted me to say yum and please make more! I will peruse your wonderful blog for more ideas because I’m dealing with empty nest syndrome by putting together care packages for my busy students. Thanks so much for the great recipe!
Hi! Quick question can i use regular hemp seeds? Why hulled? Thanks! Couldnt find hulled anywhere
Sorry, could not find unhulled anywhere, bought the hulled ones instead.
They are in the oven right now! I tried a little before putting them in the oven and they are yummy! Great idea!
These bars look really good. Any tips for replacing all or part of the mashed bananas with something else, as I’m allergic to bananas? Honey maybe?
Just made these granola bars! Soo good. Just wondering how long they last if not put in the freezer?
How do these come out? Crunchy, chewy? And are they very banana-y or is the banana flavor more subtle? (I have picky kids. One likes bananas, one doesn’t, one like crunchy bars, one like chewy – I can’t win)
We made these yesterday in a triple batch for Ronald McDonald House since they are trying to have healthy snacks for their residents. We added a bit of maple syrup for more moisture because the bananas weren’t quite enough and we didn’t have extra. They were a huge hit with all the bakers so we hope the residents will appreciate them as well. We also made your roasted chickpeas to give them some variety other than sweet things all the time. Thanks for a great recipe!
My oldest little one has celiac disease and can’t handle even gluten free oats (and most or all hemp seeds are cross contaminated). Any gluten free suggestions on alternatives to these grains/seeds?
A friend was raving about the bars and I’m eager to try them out – I think they’d be fantastic for school lunches! Thanks!
Try something like quinoa flakes? I believe you can get at most “health food” stores!
Thank you for all the wonderful recipes. I use your OhSheGlow’s cookbook ALL THE TIME. I went to make Glo Bars yesterday and discovered I didn’t have Brown Rice Syrup, I tried to use honey instead, which didn’t work :( So I made the mixture into Granola instead, just baked it in the oven for about 40mins at 270. When life gives you lemons…..
I haven’t tried this recipe for Hearty Granola Bars, but will soon.
Thanks you again :)
Hi!
Yours look perfected! Appearance and packaging are amazeballs compared to my shortcuts, no regrets though!
On my maiden attempt this afternoon I took a few shortcuts by buying a low carb nut mix that had all the ingredients replacing walnuts with cashews and dried cranberries instead.
I blended everything and its turned out ultra dense – like a 3 to 1 ratio of that eaten-a-snack feeling compared to store bought bars and looks more slicey than a bar-ey, extra cup of oats and banana to boot…
Thanks, my ex put me onto your recipes which I guess Ive opened the account with my first!
Mylo
I made this bars today and I like them so much that I just had to leave a comment – something I’ve never done before, no matter how much I’ve liked a recipe! :) These granola bars are super simple and fast to make and taste AMAZING. I’m always looking for easy, healthy and tasty snacks and these bars are perfect. I’ve never been a big fan of granola bars but I’m already in love with these. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! I’ll be making these again and again.
Hi Jennifer, thanks so much for the comment! It’s wonderful to hear you’re loving the granola bars recipe. :)