Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars In, Store Bought Junk Out

Clean up your snacks and substitute these chocolate peanut butter granola bars in VS store bought. Plus, they’re easy, no bake and delicious!

I don’t know about y’all, but our home needs an overhaul in the snacks and diet department! The Holiday’s have finally passed, as well as our County Fair and we are ready to get back into a routine and some normalcy, especially in the kitchen. While we definitely enjoyed the Christmas and New Years season, we ate a lot of junk and ate out way more than we normally do. My clothes are feeling it!

This is one of our favorite desserts or treats to have on hand for snacks year-round. My son has been begging me to make some more of them and I have finally gotten to it, so I will share! It’s not low carb or keto, or completely whole foods, but I would rather my family eat these everyday then some of the junk you can pick up at the store.

Now, I am in no way shaming anyone for buying a grocery store granola bar and have bought plenty of them…and let’s be real here…they are chocolate and peanut butter. Check out my philosophy on food so you will know my heart on the matter. I’ve bought them, of course, and sometimes in a pinch I still will. After some time, I finally just decided that the nutrition was definitely now worth what I was paying for them. And if I can keep my kids fuller with better ingredients for longer, then that’s the win I am looking for!

See full recipe card for these Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola Bars at the bottom of the page with detailed ingredients list and full step-by-step instructions. Print to save in your cookbook binder or bookmark this page! This will likely become a regular snack around your house as well after trying it!

Why I love these Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars

• They are easy to make
• This recipe uses simple ingredients and only 6 of them
• You can make different variations of this recipe if desired
• They are better for your than store bought with tons of ingredients you cannot pronounce
• These bars still have a good homemade flavor
• Your family will love them and not miss store bought
• And did I mention no bake???

Ingredients Needed for Peanut Butter Granola Bars

• Rolled Oats
• Peanut Butter
• Honey
• Salt
• Vanilla
• Chocolate Chips

Yes…this is the full ingredient list. So simple, right?! You can make these as clean, or not clean, as you want, and they will still be better for you than store bought.

Substitutions and Variations

I have made these with regular peanut butter and organic peanut butter. If you are going to use the regular, it is wetter and oilier as well as way sweeter. You might want to decrease your honey a tad bit. If you use the natural peanut butter, the amount of honey in recipe works well unless your organic peanut butter is extra dry. In that case, a tablespoon or two of additional honey will help the bars stay together.

You could use other nut butters and additions to your recipe, but this recipe is written specifically for the Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars. I will have recipes coming soon for Oatmeal Raisin Granola Bars (Coming Soon!!!) and Coconut Cranberry Granola Bars (Coming Soon!!!)! My kids love the Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars the best, but my husband prefers the Coconut Cranberry. I don’t discriminate!

Instructions for Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Mix your peanut butter, honey, and vanilla together in a mixing bowl. I did this by hand today, but you can use a hand mixer as well.

Please note! My honey was pretty clumpy. If yours has began to crystalize also no worries, just heat your honey to get it back into a liquid state before mixing. I dumped mine right into my peanut butter, then had to move it back to another bowl to microwave until liquid again. I wanted to point that out since my photos don’t really reflect that and only show some crunchy honey!

Once you have your wet ingredients mixed, in a larger mixing bowl, stir your salt into your oats. Then pour your peanut butter mixture into the dry oats mixing bowl. Stir until the oats are thoroughly coated in the peanut butter and honey and your mixture has an even consistency throughout.

Fold in your chocolate chips evenly.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and dump your granola bar mixture out onto the lined pan. Take a silicone spatula, or your hand and smooth out your mixture onto the pan in an even layer about 1/2 inch thick. Make sure to firmly press in or pack the edges and tops of the granola bars. This will help the bars stay together when cut later.

Put the whole sheet pan with the chocolate peanut butter granola bar mixture into the fridge to firm up. I usually leave them in there for 2-3 hours, but sometimes until next day if I get busy doing other things.

Once the granola bar mixture has firmed up, remove your pan from the fridge and cut into small granola bars as you please. As you will see, my cutting is never even. I don’t get hung up on it and don’t really care about a perfect presentation.

Once I get them all cut, I store them in the fridge in a plastic container. I keep parchment paper between layers of cut bars so they do not stick back together or fall apart. They are ready to enjoy whenever you want one. We keep these in the fridge for a few weeks or more with no issues. Use your own judgement there!

Other Farmhouse 181 Desserts

If you loved these Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars, you are sure to love the Oatmeal Raisin Granola Bars (Coming Soon!!!) and Coconut Cranberry Granola Bars (Coming Soon!!!) that I will be sharing on the blog soon also!

Not in the mood for granola bars, but that sweet tooth is still after you? Head on over to the Dessert Recipes Category on Farmhouse 181 and check out all of the posted desserts. Several cookie recipes are coming soon! You are sure to find something you love!