Crunchy Granola Bar Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to keep homemade granola crunchy? ›

Whether it's homemade or store-bought, properly storing granola will help extend the shelf life and maintain crunchiness. Store granola in an airtight container or tightly sealed zip-top bag in a dry, dark place away from heat.

If your homemade granola isn't crunchy then it's most likely because it needed to bake longer. Also, be sure to store the granola in an airtight container. Leaving it out, particularly if the climate is humid, can cause granola to lose some of it's wonderfully crunchy texture.

If you're re-crisping a larger batch for several people, spread it out on a plate and microwave in 10 second bursts until it's crispy again. This is really just a temporary solution. If you let the re-crisped granola sit out for too long, it goes back to its limp and stale state.

While there are several different sticky ingredients that you can use, we've found that the binding agent that works the best is honey! When added to your homemade granola bars, honey acts as glue that sticks all the pieces together.

Add an egg white.

The whites act as a kind of glue that binds the ingredients together. To ensure that the egg whites coat all the ingredients, I beat them with a whisk until foamy and increased in volume, which makes it much easier to fold into the granola.

NOTE: The granola will clump and harden while cooling - not during baking. Allow to cool before stirring in the raisins, cranberries, or craisins. If stored in an airtight container, your granola could last for 2 weeks.

Check the ingredient list, avoiding products that list sugar or sweeteners —including natural sweeteners like honey — within the first few ingredients. Instead, the first few ingredients should be whole foods, such as oats, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. You may also want to look for varieties high in protein and fiber.

If your granola bars are falling apart or seem too crumbly, here are a few tips. Make sure you use honey or another sticky sweetener such as maple syrup in the liquid part of the recipe; this recipe calls for honey. This will help bind together the ingredients and keep that signature bar shape.

Egg white: Helps create crunchy clusters. Vanilla extract, cinnamon, salt: Provides flavor and seasoning to the granola. Old-fashioned rolled oats: The base ingredient, providing bulk and texture. Nuts of your choice (such as almonds, walnuts, and/or pecans): Adds crunch and nutty flavor.

That may seem like a lot of oil, but you need that amount of wetness for the granola to cook properly—otherwise it may end up too dry. First, combine your dry ingredients. Then, add your wet ingredients. Before you add your wet ingredients, make sure you've fully incorporated all your dry ingredients.

Why is my granola still soft? ›

If they are soggy after storage, they may have been stored while still warm. To fix this, spread the granola on a baking sheet and heat it in a 400-degree oven for about 5 minutes. This quick high temp bake is only for reheating and should only be done for a few minutes to prevent burning.

Make sure that whichever granola recipe you use, it calls for some liquid, typically oil of some kind (I recommend olive oil for a subtle earthy, floral flavor, or melted unrefined coconut oil for subtly coconutty flavor). The liquid will help the chia seeds to gel, ensuring the granola sticks together.

Honey: Since it's a granola bar, refined sugar is not used in the recipe as it's meant to be healthy. So to provide appropriate sweetness, honey is used. Also, honey acts as the primary binding agent.

The better you press, the better the bars hold together.

When you're happy with the pressed mixture, press a spoonful of chocolate chips on top, and then chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. This hardens everything and makes it easy to cut the granola mixture into bars.

They save well (wrap and freeze them for up to two months), are more affordable than store-bought bars, and don't contain the long list of unpronounceable ingredients. Plus, your kitchen will smell like a bakery while these granola bars bake. Ahhhh.

The Savory Pantry also found that layering fruit between the granola and the yogurt helped prevent the granola from getting soggy too quickly, though that does depend on the moisture content of the type of fruit you're using — avoid frozen fruit and consider adding dried fruit to cut down on moisture.

Choose a clean, dry, and transparent air-tight container like a mason jar, a BPA-free vacuum-seal container, or a Ziploc bag so you can monitor your granola's quality without having to open it. Store in a cool, dark, and dry place, away from ingredients with strong odors like coffee, spices, and onions.