If you are looking for a sweet homemade treat that your whole family will love, these granola strawberry bars are simple and delicious! Packed with healthy fats, plus sweet freeze-dried strawberries and white chocolate chips. What’s not to love?
These are great to make as meal prep and enjoy throughout the week. The combination of cashew butter and maple syrup almost gives them a caramel-like flavor that pairs with the strawberries and white chocolate incredibly well! Plus…oats!
Homemade granola bars are a great afternoon snack! These wholesome ingredients come together perfectly to satisfy your sweet cravings! Plus, oats are incredible for your health! If you like oats, try this delicious oil-free granola!
Ingredients
Cashew Butter - you can use any nut butter here to maintain the same texture in your granola bars. Cashew butter will have the most neutral flavor if you can find it for a reasonable price. I get mine at Sprouts in their bulk section. If you can’t find any, almond butter would be my next choice. Peanut butter would be delicious; however, it would change the flavor significantly.
Brown Rice Syrup - You could use another liquid sweetener if you don’t have brown rice syrup. However, brown rice syrup works the best at holding granola bars together. Other sweeteners could result in crumbly bars. If you consume honey, it would be a delicious option. Maple syrup would also work. If you see a lot of granola bar making in your future, brown rice syrup is worth having around. The best place I have found to buy it is on Amazon.
Ground Flax - This helps bind the ingredients together, but I have made these granola bars without flax and they turned out fine. You could also use chia seeds if you have them on hand. I like to add flax or chia whenever I can because of the health benefits!
Vanilla Extract- This adds a great flavor to your strawberry granola bars! You could also use vanilla paste or vanilla powder.
Salt - Just a pinch is used here to give the flavor more depth, but if you are salt-free, you can easily leave it out.
Oats - I like to use a mixture of rolled oats and quick oats. I sometimes make these bars with just rolled oats, and they work out great. I haven’t tried just using quick oats. If you do, let me know how it goes.
Brown Rice Crisps - These bring a delicious crunch. You can substitute these with more oats if you prefer.
Freeze Dried Strawberries - I like to weigh these out for more accurate results; however, if you don’t have a scale, you can use a measuring cup. Just make sure to measure the strawberries after you break them into smaller pieces.
White Chocolate Chips - I like the Enjoy Life brand white chocolate chips because they are easy to find. I usually find them at Sprouts grocery store. You can also use a white chocolate bar, chopped up! You can put some aside to melt on top of the bars, or if you don’t want to be fancy, you can just put them all in the mixture without worrying about toppings.
Instructions
Combine nut butter, brown rice syrup, ground flax, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl.
Mix until well incorporated.
Combine oats, freeze-dried strawberries, brown rice crisps, and white chocolate chips in the bowl.
Stir all ingredients together until the dry ingredients are evenly coated.
Line a 9x9 baking pan with parchment paper. You could also use cooking spray if that is what you have on hand.
Press the granola bar mixture into an even layer in the prepared pan.
If desired, you can drizzle melted white chocolate over the granola bars and then sprinkle with freeze-dried strawberry dust.
Place the granola bars in the freezer for about 30 minutes to set. Don't leave them in the freezer longer, or they may over-harden.
Cut into 12 even rectangles and enjoy!
TOP TIP: To help the parchment paper easily take shape in your pan, you can scrunch it up into a ball and then flatten it back out.
VARIATIONS
You could easily swap out the strawberries and white chocolate chips for other add-in options. Try to keep the ratios the same so that the bars will hold their shape. Other add-in ideas are:
- hazelnuts and chocolate chips
- mint extract and chocolate chips
- freeze-dried raspberries or blueberries
- freeze-dried peaches and marshmallows
- macadamia nuts with white chocolate chips
STORAGE
These sweet granola bars are best stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container or wrapped individually. They will last up to a week in the refrigerator in an airtight container. If you wrap them individually, they may last longer. You can also freeze them, and they will last 2-3 months. Let them come to room temperature before eating them.
FAQ
The stronger the binding qualities of your wet ingredients, the better your granola bars will hold their shape. I have tried different sweeteners and have had the best results with brown rice syrup. Another option to try is heating the wet ingredients with cornstarch. Add ½ to 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and heat it with the wet ingredients for about one minute. This will create binding qualities as well. FYI: The binding quality of cornstarch is not shared with arrowroot powder.
Since these granola bars are no-bake, fresh fruit will add extra moisture to your granola bars and change the texture and ability for them to bind. They will also spoil faster. Technically, you could use them, but it isn’t recommended.
You can replace the nut butter with seed butter or use a neutral oil. If you need to be seed-free, you can leave the flax seeds out.
You can, but I have not tested it, so I am unsure how it would change the amounts. I will try to test it out in the future, but if you have tried it, let us know how it worked out for you!
As long as you use certified gluten-free oats, this recipe is gluten-free! If your oats are not labeled as gluten-free, there is a chance of some contamination.
Chewy Granola Strawberry Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup cashew butter
- ½ cup brown rice syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 dash salt
- 1 Tablespoon ground flax
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ½ cup quick oats
- 1 ½ cups brown rice crisps
- ¾ ounce freeze dried strawberries (about ¾ cup) chopped into small pieces
- 6 Tablespoons white chocolate chips divided
Instructions
- Mix the nut butter and brown rice syrup in a large bowl until well incorporated. If you find it difficult to stir at room temperature, you can heat them in a pan over low heat to help them mix better.
- Add the salt, ground flax, and vanilla, and stir well.
- Combine oats, cripy rice cereal, dried strawberries, and 6 tablespoons of white chocolate chips.*
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until everything is evenly coated.
- Line a 9x9 baking pan with parchment paper. You could also use cooking spray if that is what you have on hand.
- Press teh granola bar mixtrue into an even layer in the prepared pan.
- If desired, you can melt the remaining white chocolate chips and drizzle over the granola bars and then sprinkle with freeze-dried strawberry dust.
- Place the granola bars into the freezer for about 30 minutes to set. Don't leave them in the freezer longer than this, or they will over-harden.
- Cut into 12 even rectangle and enjoy!
Notes
- If you don't want to top your granola bars with drizzled chocolate and strawberries, you can add the full 6 tablespoons of white chocolate chips into the granola bar mixture.
Chantry says
These are in our delicious snacks rotation. My family enjoys them so much! Let me know what you think!