56 Reviews of Granola Bars

From: Debidoo

On Jul 9, 2005

Well, I finally got this recipe down after 4 tries! Let me tell what I learned NOT to do! 1) Do not substitute flax SEEDS for flax seed meal, you need it to hold them together. 2) If you add chocolate chips, wait until the mixture is almost cooled then mix them in and transfer to pan. Otherwise, the chips melt and you end up with "Chocolate" Granola Bars! 3) If you add peanut butter, don't melt it with the butter and corn syrup mixture. Wait until the end and stir it in as one of the last ingredients. A good amount of peanut butter is 1/4-1/2 cup, depending on your taste (and omit the cinnamon and fruit for this and for choc. chips). 4)Don't replace the corn syrup with all honey (I tried to be Ms. Healthy)...they'll taste gross. NOW I'll let you in on what I did RIGHT! 1) Adding 2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup makes them taste wonderful. 2) So does adding something crispy like Rice Crispies or even some other cereals like Kix or Cocoa Pops. When I make these with PB AND Choc. Chips, my three kids, and even my husband DEVOUR them within about 3 days! I think I will be making these for years and years to come. Thanx, Mary! — posted Jul 8, 2005

From: cheezcake

On Sep 5, 2003

Excellent recipe. Now to keep the kids out of it ALL of the time. Easy to make. Only thing I did different was switch the margarine with peanut butter, added 1/4 cup wheat germ and 2TBSP ground up sesame seeds.

From: Sharon123

On May 13, 2002

I had alot of fun with this. I substituted pumpkin seeds for the sunflower, wheat germ(3/4 cup) and nutritional yeast(1/4 cup) for the flax seed and oat bran, and maple sugar for the corn syrup(happened to be what I had on hand). I put in dried apricots,dates,figs, and raisins for fruit, and almonds and walnuts. Yum! Oh, and I used a metal baking sheet to help press with my barefeet-it felt so nice and warm! Thanks for the recipe!

From: erinn in tbay

On Jan 30, 2003

these are really excellent. i made them just as the recipe said but i think i will reduce the brown sugar next time. i wrapped them individually in plastic wrap so we can grab one in a hurry on the way out the door.

From: Aroostook

On May 4, 2002

What a great backpack snack! I don't know the source for flax seed meal but toasted up some sesame seeds and ground them up instead. It worked great. Next time I'd like to add some dried blueberries and cherries. Thanks for the recipe.

From: A Messy Cook

On Apr 6, 2006

These are pretty good. Since I didn’t want to use corn syrup, I replaced it with maple syrup at first, but then the bars didn’t hold together than well. So taking the advice of previous reviews and fiddling around with the recipe to suit our own tastes, I came up with the following variation: 2 cups of rolled oats and 2 cups of quick oats, only ½ cup brown sugar, butter instead of margarine, omit flaxseed meal and replace with extra fruit (I used raisins and chopped apricots), replace the corn syrup with honey, and replace the listed honey with peanut butter. I also used whole wheat flour and unsweetened coconut. And since my siblings don’t care for sunflower seeds, I ground them up in a food processor to make them less noticeable. Thanks for a nice basic recipe.

From: notmarcia

On Jul 10, 2004

Great recipe! Easy to make and delicious. I substituted flax seeds for the flax seed meal. To cut down on the sweetness next time, I think I'll reduce the brown sugar a little. Recipe as written is kid tested and kid approved.

From: Kat

On Jan 9, 2005

For mine, I used mixed grains (rolled oats, barley, wheat, triticale, rye, spelt), pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, unsweetened coconut, sliced natural almonds (awesome texture in this), dried blueberries and cranberries. Instead of the 1/2 cup corn syrup and the 1/4 cup honey I used: 1/2 cup honey (a local creamed honey) and 1/4 cup natural cashew butter (because that's all I had left in the jar!) Turned out great (stuck together well), but still a little too sweet for my liking, will try reducing brown sugar next time. Actually, now I wonder what substituting molasses for the honey would do. I wonder what adding 1/3 cup or so of cocoa would be like?

From: anotherjenny

On May 12, 2005

Yum! These granola bars have a chewy texture and are just fabulous. They are so easy to make, no oven required! I made a few substitutions, of course...used wheat germ instead of oat bran and I left out the coconut b/c we don't like it. The kids LOVE it, and I love being able to give them something healthy for a snack. Will definitely make these again, many times over!!

From: Marg (CaymanDesigns)

On Apr 5, 2007

I think next time I will try toasting the oats before mixing all the ingredients together. The recipe worked well and the flavor was pretty good except for the kind of strong 'raw oat' flavor. Other than that, everything came together well. I didn't have any flax seed meal so I used wheat germ. I also used real butter instead of margarine. I lined the pan with foil and sprayed that too. That way when it was time to cut the bars, I could just lift the foil out and use my pizza cutter to cut them. UPDATE: I sent these in a care package to my nephew & he loved them.