Homemade Peanut Butter Granola Bar Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What do you use to bind granola bars together? ›

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.

Homemade granola bars aren't hard to make once you have all the right ingredients and they'll certainly save you money in the long term.

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.

Nut butter is a super flavorful fat that serves multiple purposes in granola. It acts as a binding agent—along with additional coconut oil and whatever natural sweetener I've chosen—helping to pull the dry ingredients together into a wet, sticky mass for baking.

Honey. Sweetens the granola bars and helps bind the dry ingredients together.

Honey – Along with the nut butter, it helps all these ingredients stick together! I love its warm amber flavor in this recipe. Vanilla extract – It amps up the bars' warm flavor.

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.

Baking time: Increase the baking time for your granola. The longer you bake it, the drier and crunchier it will become. Keep a close eye on it to avoid burning, and stir it occasionally during baking to ensure even toasting.

We've found that homemade granola bars stay fresh for about 1 week when stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Any longer than that and they tend to become a little stale.

Fill the bowl up with water to completely cover the mixture – enough that you can stir to combine. This soaking process will help the oats and seeds digest better. After the oat/seed mixture has soaked 8-12 hours, add the rest of the ingredients and combine.

What is the main ingredient in chewy granola bars? ›

GRANOLA (WHOLE GRAIN OATS, BROWN SUGAR, BROWN RICE CRISP [WHOLE GRAIN BROWN RICE FLOUR, SUGAR, SALT], WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT, SOYBEAN OIL, WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, BAKING SODA, SOY LECITHIN, NONFAT DRY MILK), CORN SYRUP, BROWN RICE CRISP (WHOLE GRAIN BROWN RICE FLOUR, SUGAR, SALT), SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE ...

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.

Spread the mixture evenly onto a baking sheet. I love to use a silicone baking sheet on my cookie sheet to prevent sticking. Bake for 4-5 hours, stirring occasionally, until the granola is golden brown and crispy. Let the granola cool completely before adding any dried fruit.

Eggs are a great binding agent when cooking. Eggs bind ingredients together and give salmon burgers, turkey burgers, casseroles and baked goods stability and form. If a food you are trying to make has a problem holding shape before it is cooked, try adding an egg to help fix your problems.

Materials used as binders included egg, wax, honey, lime, whey, linseed oil or bitumen.

Get as clumpy as you like.

First, press the granola into an even layer before you put it in the oven. Then, stir it only once halfway through cooking. For really good clumps, press down on the finished granola before it cools and avoid jostling it on the pan until cooled completely.

Parchment paper sheets: Parchment paper prevents the granola from sticking to the pan and therefore allows it to break away into big chunks. Save the sheets and use them again and again — store the used sheets in a bag.