Have you ever purchased a few granola bars at the department store because the packaging looked extremely appealing? You go home and take a bite expecting nutritious bliss, but of course, all you get is either a tasteless bar or one that’s too sweet to eat. Obviously, it only makes you feel worse.

Imagine another scenario, you want to try your best to switch to a vegan diet, or a gluten-free one, or even a paleo one. You visit a department store hoping to find granola bars that will cater to your specific diet. But as luck would have it, there’s nothing. Literally, all of them either have a high amount of oats, honey, or nuts. What do you do then?

The simplest answer is of course to make it at home. You can customize the ingredients you want to put in while also keeping away from the additives that store-bought granola bars come with. You can also make big batches and store them for way cheaper. What could be better right?

But how do you ensure that they will taste good? As amateur bakers, we usually get proportions wrong, especially when we’re trying new things. You don’t want to be left with a huge bowl of granola that tastes worse than the store-bought one now, do you?

We are coming to your rescue here. Below we give you a healthy paleo granola bar recipe that you can make in huge batches and enjoy. Not only do they have just the right amount of sweetness, but they are also chewy and full of nutritional goodness!

Ingredients

A list of ingredients you can use for your healthy and delicious paleo granola bars:

1. Dry ingredients

  • 2 cups of nuts – it’s better to chop them finely to obtain the desired consistency in your granola bar. You can use any paleo nuts like almonds, pecans, or even walnuts. We recommend you use all three as a mixture to get the best mouth-watering taste you can! You can also roast the pecans for additional flavor and texture.
  • 1 ⅓ cup raw coconut flakes or coconut chips – unsweetened.
  • 1 cup pumpkin and ground flax seeds in equal proportions.
  • 2 tbsp coconut sugar.

2. Optional

  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon.
  • ½ tsp salt.

3. Wet Ingredients

  • 4 tbsp coconut oil that’s melted.
  • 6 tbsp pure maple syrup. You can also use raw honey.
  • 2 tbsp unsalted almond butter.

Steps To Baking The Best Paleo Granola Bars

  1. Preheat your oven to 338°F (170°C).
  2. While the oven is preheating, pour all your dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir till well combined. These dry ingredients include coconut flakes/coconut chips, pumpkin seeds, ground flax seeds, coconut sugar and nuts. Salt and cinnamon are optional but adding a tinge of it won’t do any harm!
  3. In another mixing bowl, pour your wet ingredients which include coconut oil, maple syrup, and almond butter.
  4. Additionally, whisk this wet mixture till well combined.Pour the mixture with the wet ingredients into the bowl with dry ingredients and use a spatula to stir the mixture till there are no lumps. This might take some effort, so imagine the end result and put those strong arm muscles to use. You got this!
  5. Line a flat base tin with parchment paper or greased foil. We recommend you use parchment, since the baked goods can later be removed easily. Pour your combined granola mixture into this. After this, use a flat bottom jar to press the mixture down tightly and evenly. You do not want any air pockets to stay.
  6. Once the oven is preheated and your tin granola mixture is ready, pop the tin in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. For some of you, it might even take 30 minutes for the granola mixture to bake. Keep a close watch after 20 minutes have passed and be careful not to burn them!
  7. Once you take the tin out, let it sit on a cooling rack for at least an hour. Once cool, use a sharp knife to slice it into small bars. Your scrumptious and healthy paleo granola bars are ready to eat!

Storage

Making these in bigger batches is the best and easiest way forward. You can store these paleo granola bars for a few months, isn’t that smashing two months at room temperature! Yes, for two whole months, they won’t go stale, as long as you store them in airtight containers. If you’re making a bigger batch, you can pop them in the refrigerator.

What If Baking Is Not An Option?

No worries there! If you aren’t able to bake the mixture for whatever reason, you can also just freeze it. Commonly referred to as the no-bake granola bars recipe, all you have to do after following all the preparatory steps is cover the tin with parchment paper or plastic wrap. Once you do this, pop the tin in the freezer for an hour or so. Moreover, the longer you free it the better. Once you take it out and slice it, remember to wrap all the bars in parchment paper before you store them in a box. You don’t want them to stick to each other and turn into a huge sticky mess!

What are you waiting for? Put your apron on, play some great music, and get started on making these delicious treats using our healthy paleo granola bar recipe!

Related: Keto, Paleo, Vegan: How to Choose What is the Best Diet for You| Protein Bars: Are They A Healthy Meal Replacement?