Michelle Darmody: How to make crunchy granola bars — and the mistakes to avoid

"Similar to making a batch of granola, the smell of the baking bars fills the kitchen and gently wafts throughout the house and lingers long after the tray comes out of the oven."

Granola bars are the slightly healthier cousin of the flapjack. 

Flapjacks are most often made with golden syrup and are sweeter and crisper than a granola bar. 

Granola bars are usually packed with more ingredients and are softer to bite into. 

I love this recipe because of its versatility, it is basically a binding agent for seeds, nuts and dried fruit. The honey does not stick things together as firmly as golden syrup, so they have a nice crumble to them. 

This does make the bars a little more difficult to store however, so I find it best to eat them when fresh.

Similar to making a batch of granola, the smell of the baking bars fills the kitchen and gently wafts throughout the house and lingers long after the tray comes out of the oven.

The delicious nutty, sweet smell is definitely one of the benefits of making your own bars. You can also tailor them to your family’s preferences, and as with most baking at home, you have much more knowledge of what exactly is in what you eat.

The word granola was coined by the patriarch of the Kellogg family, based on a similarly named cereal called granula: the u changed to an o after a court battle.

The first granola bar is said to have been invented in California in the seventies. 

When a more mobile morning snack was called for, the owner of a health food shop baked the granola ingredients into a bar that was portable and filled with nuts, oats and honey. 

They have since been made and enjoyed around the world. (If making these for kids, remember that nuts are often off limits in classrooms.) 

Crunchy Granola Bars

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

The delicious nutty, sweet smell is definitely one of the benefits of making your own bars. You can also tailor them to your family’s preferences, and as with most baking at home, you have much more knowledge of what exactly is in what you eat.

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 35 mins

Total Time

 55 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 100g butter

• 3 tbsp honey

• 100g brown sugar

• 210g porridge oats

• Zest 1 orange

• 100g peanuts, chopped

• 100g mixed seeds

• 100g dried cranberries

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 160ºC/gas mark 3.

2. Line a 7 x 10-inch baking tin with parchment.

3. Melt the butter, sugar and honey together over a very low heat. Remove it from the heat.

4. Stir the oats and zest into the honey mixture until all the oats are coated.

5. Stir in the peanuts, seeds and cranberries.

6. Scoop the mixture into the tin and press it down well.

7. Bake in the centre of your oven for 30 minutes.

8. When it is still warm, press a long knife into the bake to make indentations of where you would like to cut it.

9. Allow to cool in the tin.

10. Use the parchment to remove the slab gently from the tin onto. A chopping board.

11. Cut out the slices along the indented lines.

Baker's tips:

• When lining the tin, I cut a rectangle of parchment about two inches wider and longer than the base of the tin. Then make diagonal slits at each corner and fold the sheet of parchment to fit the tin base and the slits will allow it to fold easily in each corner.
• Do not let the honey and sugar mixture boil. I use a heavy based saucepan like a cast iron one which heats more slowly and at an even pace to prevent the butter from browning and the sweet ingredients boiling and crystalising.
• You can add a teaspoon of vanilla to the liquid after it has been heated if you would like a smooth vanilla flavour throughout your bars.
• Oats soak up the sticky liquid mixture and help combine all the ingredients. Standard porridge oats are best. You cannot use instant oats for this recipe. You can use the jumbo ones, but I think the bars are more likely to crumble. You can use gluten-free oats if you wish.
• One of the biggest reasons bars become crumbly is lack of baking time. If you feel they are browning too much before the allotted baking time, remove them from the oven, cover with a sheet of tinfoil and then pop them back into the oven so they bake through and allow all of the ingredients to get a chance to bind.
• Chia seeds have unusual powers. If you have ever made chia seed pudding you know what I am talking about. Once soaked in water or another liquid they form a thick gelatinous substance. If you are having issues with granola bars crumbling, you can add a teaspoon of chia seeds when you are adding in the oats. They will help to create a stronger bond.
• Storing the bars in an airtight container in the fridge can help prevent them from crumbling apart. It is best not to stack the bars on top of each other just have one layer if possible or if you must pile them put a layer of parchment between them. I find it best to eat the bars within two or three days.

Three delicious variations

Chocolate and hazelnut granola bars

Chocolate and hazelnut are a great combination and elevate the bars. 

I use dark chocolate as it is my favourite, but you could use a lighter one if you wish. 

Add 150g of chopped hazelnuts and 150g of chopped dark chocolate and stir them into the mixture instead of the peanuts, cranberries and seeds. 

If you want to go one further, you can also add two teaspoons of cocoa powder.

Sweet granola clusters

After the slab of granola bar has been baked, allow it to cool for ten minutes and then lift it from the tin. 

Break the slab into clusters and spread these out on a large baking tray.

Place the tray into the oven and bake at 160ºC/ gas mark 3 for another ten minutes.

Date and almond granola bars

Dates are naturally sweet, and sticky so make wonderful binding agents in bars like these.

Medjool dates are always my preference. Chop 150g of Medjool dates after removing the stones and add 150g of chopped almonds. 

Stir them into the mixture instead of the peanuts, cranberries and seeds.