These vegan granola bars are seriously so good! They’re super quick and easy and made with toasted oats for a crunchy and delicious texture.
These vegan granola bars are here to make all your granola bar dreams come true. No really.
They are super quick and easy to make and they last super well in the fridge so you can make up a batch today and have granola bars for breakfast or snacks for the next week.
They’re perfect for meal planning and they are just so delicious that you’ll be smiling from ear to ear knowing that you have a batch of these in the fridge ready for on-the-go snacks or breakfasts.
We also have a recipe for vegan oatmeal bars that you will probably love as well, so check that out too.
How To Make Vegan Granola Bars
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add rolled oats and chopped almonds to a parchment lined baking tray and spread out evenly. Bake for 12 minutes at 350°F (stir once after 6 minutes and then bake for another 6 minutes) until lightly toasted.
- Add vegan butter, light brown sugar and syrup (see notes below) to a saucepan and melt together.
- Add the toasted oats and almonds to a mixing bowl, pour over the melted vegan butter, brown sugar and syrup mix.
- Now add vanilla extract, salt, vegan chocolate chips and dried cranberries and mix everything together. The chocolate chips will melt a little from the hot butter/sugar/syrup mix but this is fine and will help it all stick together.
- Transfer to an 8×8 square dish (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with parchment paper with overhang on either side) and smooth down.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the granola bar mix and use a measuring cup to press down from the top so that it’s really smooth and packed in. Then remove the parchment paper from the top, and refrigerate for around 2 hours until set.
- Remove the granola bars from the dish using the parchment paper overhang and cut into 10 bars.
Recipe Tips
The syrup. We have tested this recipe with both pure maple syrup and with a maple flavored table syrup. Maple syrup isn’t very sticky at all so the bars don’t hold together as well if you use pure maple syrup. It does work, and the flavor is great, but the bars are more breakable and have a tendency to crumble. Table syrup on the other hand is very sticky so the bars hold together extremely well.
Use parchment paper to smooth down the bars. When you place the granola bar mix into the 8×8 square pan, take a sheet of parchment paper and place it on top of the bars, and then use a measuring cup to press down on the bars from the top. This smooths them down for a perfectly smooth top, and also packs them in tightly so that the granola bars are more firm.
Recipe Q&A
How do you get granola bars to stick together?
The syrup really helps to keep things sticky, which is why it actually helps to use a sticky syrup like a maple flavored table syrup rather than pure maple syrup since pure maple syrup isn’t sticky at all. The vegan butter and brown sugar also helps to hold it all together and the chocolate chips melt a little which also helps it to stay together.
Can you make these granola bars gluten-free?
You definitely can. Just make sure your rolled oats are gluten-free and you’re good to go.
Storing and Freezing
Store them in a covered container in the fridge where they will keep perfectly for 7 days and perhaps even longer. We haven’t made it past a week before they’re all finished. They store beautifully and can be eaten straight out of the fridge.
They are also freezer friendly for up to 2 months. You can just take one out of the freezer and let it come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before eating.
More Delicious Oat-y Recipes
- Vegan Oatmeal Bars
- Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Overnight Oats
- Vegan Anzac Biscuits
- Vegan Granola
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups Rolled Oats (250g)
- ½ cup Raw Almonds (75g) Coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup Vegan Butter (57g)
- ¼ cup Light Brown Sugar (50g)
- ⅓ cup Maple Syrup (80ml) or Maple Flavored Table Syrup*
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Dried Cranberries (60g) Coarsely Chopped
- ½ cup Vegan Chocolate Chips (88g)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Add the rolled oats and chopped almonds to the parchment lined baking tray and spread them out evenly. Bake for 12 minutes (stir once after 6 minutes and then bake for another 6 minutes) until lightly toasted. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
- Spray an 8×8 square dish with non-stick spray and line it with parchment paper so there is overhang on each side.
- Now add the vegan butter, light brown sugar and syrup (see notes*) to a saucepan and melt together.
- Pour this over the toasted oats and almonds in the mixing bowl.
- Add vanilla extract, salt, dried cranberries and vegan chocolate chips and mix everything together. The chocolate chips will melt a little from the hot butter/sugar/syrup mix but this is fine and will help it all stick together.
- Transfer to your prepared 8×8 square dish and smooth down.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the granola bar mix and use a measuring cup to press down from the top so that you get the top really smooth and also get the granola bars firm and packed in. Then remove the parchment paper from the top, and place the bars into the refrigerator for around 2 hours until set.
- When set, remove the granola bars from the dish using the parchment paper overhang and cut them into 10 bars.
Notes
- Syrup: We have tested this recipe with both pure maple syrup and with a maple flavored table syrup. Pure maple syrup isn’t very sticky at all so the bars don’t hold together as well. It works, but the bars are more breakable and have a tendency to crumble. Table syrup on the other hand is very sticky so the bars hold together extremely well.
- Make Them Gluten-Free: Just make sure your rolled oats are gluten-free and you’re good to go.
- Storage: Store them in a covered container in the fridge where they will keep perfectly for at least 7 days.
Made these bars with coconut oil instead of vegan butter because I’m broke and that’s all I had – still turned out really good. Used golden syrup as I always have it in the cupboard and worked really well. Chewy texture and taste is really good, very affordable, tasty, and filling snack or breakfast!
Awesome Jaya! Thanks so much for posting!
Very easy to follow recipe. Less complicated than others I found online. Each batch comes out perfectly whether I make bars, squares, cubes, or balls!
Yay! That’s fantastic news. Thanks so much Kenyetta!
These turned out great! I took your advice on maple syrup not holding the ingredients together well and substituted with golden syrup which held together well. Best granola recipe on the web!
Thanks so much Duane! The pic on insta looked fabulous! 🙂
Absolutely delectable! With gluten free oats, it’s perfect for me!