No Bake Peanut Granola Bars are on our after school snack menu. They’re quick and yummy! Whip up a batch to share before your next play date, This simple recipe is sure to please those little snackers. If you can muster up some restraint and don’t eat them all in one setting. Store them in an airtight container. They’ll last about a week on the counter.
Several of you have asked about Flax Seed. You should be able to find it at your health food store. The Bobs Red Mill variety is carried at most stores. You might be able to find it in your store’s bulk bin. I find it’s just as easy to order it online. This is the kind I get: Now Organic Golden Flax Seed.
You can really make the granola bars delicious by making your own peanut butter. Check out my recipe for Homemade Peanut Butter here. In addition to the creamy variety you need for this recipe, I share recipes for crunchy, chocolate, honey and cinnamon raisin varieties.
- 2 Cups Quick Oats
- 1 Cup Rice Krispies Cereal
- ½ Cup Flax Seed*
- ¾ Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
- ½ Cup Honey
- ¼ Cup Brown Sugar
- ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
- Line an 8x8 baking dish with aluminum foil and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine Oats, Rice Krispies Cereal and Flax Seed.
- In a microwave safe bowl combine Peanut Butter, Honey, Vanilla and Brown Sugar. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until melted and smooth.
- Using a spatula or your hands, combine the peanut butter mixture with the dry ingredients.
- Press into the 8x8 baking dish and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, remove from baking dish and cut into bars.
- *If Flax Seed is unavailable you can substitute with an additional ½ Cup Rice Krispies.
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You have no direction as to when to add in the vanilla, you might want to fix that. My kids LOVED this recipe!
Thanks. Going to make these now! Anyone know how to figure the Weight Watcher points plus?
I used the Recipe Builder and it came out to 6 points plus per bar. If you substitute the peanut butter for PB2 its only 4 points, but I’m not sure how it will change the consistency (creamy vs. powdered).
Thanks for doing that Ellen! The only problem with using the powdered is that even reconstituting it with water might not help the bars bind together properly. If you give it a try, come back and let us know your experience.
I made these wth PB2. Thru tasted delicious but the texture was a little…damp. I stored them in the fridge and my kids still love them. They won’t stick around very long.
it does say it in step three 😉
Do you store these in the fridge?
I think it’s better to leave them at room temperature. If you put them in the fridge they get too hard for my taste.
if you don’t have quick oats can you use old fashioned?
I think so. Old Fashioned Oats are more dense than Quick Oats though. You might want to try using 1 1/2 cups and add the additional 1/2 cup as needed to the mixture for consistency.
How many calories in a serving
This sounds delicious ~ my kids (and I) would love it! Thanks for sharing at this week’s Project Inspire{d}. Pinning!
Can you freeze these?
I’ve never frozen them because we gobble them up too quickly. I know if you store them in the fridge they are too hard for my taste. If you do decide to freeze them, try one before you do and then a thawed one to see if there is a significant difference in taste.
Do not microwave honey, add it last to the warm ingredients. When honey is heated too much it is degraded—the nutritional qualities, texture and flavor are compromised. The natural enzymes in the honey (from the bees) are also destroyed.
Thanks for the tip!
Only if it’s raw. If it’s not raw honey it’s already been heated and lost all of it’s nutritional value before it was ever put in the jar.
Do you think you could use Chia instead of flax?
Sure! Definitely worth a try!
made these today and they are delish!! used chunky peanut butter, and old fashioned oats. definitely very hearty and yummmy.
my only issue is that they will maintain shape but fall apart when touched. suggestions?
I don’t really have a problem with them falling apart. Maybe because you used chunky peanut butter and that adds more weight?
Or could be the old fashioned oats instead of quick.
These are a winner! Just made them and my kids can’t get enough of them. Thank you!
Yay! I’m so glad you liked them.
Do you know if this is good as a replacement for Fiber Bars? I really need to start making our own Fiber Bars we need those in our house but they are SO expensive. Any ideas? Thanks!
These don’t pack nearly the same fiber punch as the Fiber One bars. I think they are around 3-4 grams per bar. However, Flax seed both whole and ground are an excellent source of fiber. You could cut back on the Rice Krispies a little and add a little more Flax to boost the fiber content a bit.
Thanks! I’ll have to try that!
Can you just add more oatmeal in place of the Rice Krispies?
Did you use whole flax seed or ground?
I use the whole flax seeds to help with the consistency. You could also use the Old Fashioned Oats. They are usually a little thicker than the quick oats so start with 1 1/2 cups. Then add the last 1/2 cup gradually until your consistency is right. You might not need all of it.
I have made these many times and you can add choclate chips after you add the wet to the dry ingreadients and let them cool for a few minutes.. add a nice peanut butter chocolate taste.
I’m out of rice krispies so I crushed up chocolate chex which are gluten free of course. Can’t wait to see how they turn out.
Oh come back and let us know! That sounds delicious.
Awesome! Used sunflower seeds because no flax, and added butterscotch chips. We didn’t need to refrigerate them, and I used my kitchenaid mixer which made them a breeze to mix thoroughly. Thanks for the recipe!
Um, butterscotch chips is genius. I’m adding those next time!!!
Hey, is it okay if i link to your blog? Thanks!
Sure!
I just made these and they are so DELICIOUS!! In addition, I added walnuts, almonds, dried blueberries and cranberries. The only problem I had was them falling apart when I cut them. Not sure what I did wrong, but would like to hear if anyone else has had the same problem.
I think it’s the added weight of all the nuts and berries. The original recipe is very lightweight because it’s just seeds and rice krispies. You might need to add a bit more of the honey, peanut butter, brown sugar mixture to get it all to stick together better.
super tasty! thanks for the recipe
i used the original recipe and i was able to cut most of them successfully the first day but on the second day all the pieces crumbled. such a shame b/c it has a great taste to it
I made this, heating the PB & honey mixture in a pot on the stove on low. I used Mom’s Best Cocoa Rice Crisps instead of rice crispies. They are a different shape (flat, not puffs – my hubby says they look like cocoa pebbles), but that shouldn’t matter. They are fine when refridgerated, but crumble when left at room temp. Any thoughts on why?
Very yummy, though! And I recommended the cocoa rice crisps instead of plain rice krispies.
We made this again and this time, no problems with crumbling. I did add a bit more honey (probably less than a teaspoon). The other difference was that this time I used a new jar of honey (the last one was getting old and firm). Not sure which made the difference, but I’m thinking it was the new honey…
Thanks for sharing! I made mine a little differently. I didn’t have any rice krispies so I used peanut butter toast crunch. I also decreased the flax seed to 1/4 cup and added some chocolate chips and melted some chocolate chips to spread on top. It was good, but a little too sweet for my taste! They cut into bars beautifully! Next time I’ll be sure to use rice krispies and not add the chocolate on top, only some chips in the mixture and keep it closer to the original recipe. I think it will be perfect that way!
Very good and delicious. I added some dried cherries and chocolate chips (about a 1/4 cup each). I increased the peanut butter to 1 cup to accommodate the extras.
It’s a very simple recipe that can be adjusted to suit tastes. I’m thinking of adding some chopped peanuts next time. I froze the bars in plastic baggies so that we wouldn’t eat too many at once. They are hard when they first come out of the freezer but soften up very quickly.
Great to have on hand! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Wondering if almond butter would work for this. It’s a different consistency than peanut butter (runny and more oily)…perhaps more oats to soak it up?
I’ve never tried any nut butter other than peanut. You might just need to experiment with the dry ingredients to see how much you need to add to get the consistency right. Oats and Rice Krispies help absorb. I know the oil may also prevent them from binding so you might need to add a bit more honey if they are crumbly. Come back and let us know how it goes. Good luck!
These are great. I didn’t have flax seed, but I did have flax meal, so that’s what I used. For me that will probably work better because the kids will be fooled, lol. I rolled mine into balls and added some mini chocolate chips. Really really good, thank you!!
I thought that flax seed didn’t do you any good unless you ground them up?
You are right, Mary B. Great nutrition when ground, not whole.
For those that asked- I put this into the My Fitness Pal with the measurements as the recipe calls for. I made 16 bars and they are 179 calories each. I was surprised how high the calorie count was!! But they’re so good! This is not my first time making them and won’t be my last.
I made these for my son. He’s deployed. I vacuum sealed them and crossed my fingers they would still be good by the time they reached him. He said please make more. He and his buddy are addicted. So I just made another batch and I will be mailing them tomorrow. He said they arrived in perfect condition. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe. 🙂
Aw, that’s makes me smile. So glad you could send a little treat their way. My brother-in-law is in the Navy. The boys and I will have to make him a batch next time he ships out. Great idea! 🙂
Also made these granola bars. I used crunched up honey nut chex instead of rice krispies, and added butterscotch chips. They came out awesome!! I can’t stop eating them! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I added sliced almonds to these bars and they turned out delicious! will be making these a lot!!!
These look great! Any sub you may know of for the honey? I run a daycare with several small children. So no honey here!!
You can try agave nectar. I don’t know how exactly that will affect the binding properties but for sweetness it will be the perfect swap. Use equal parts agave as honey.
I put cranberries and raisins in them….they look awesome…in the freezer now…can’t wait..:)
You can pulse old fashioned oats in a food processor a couple of times and they will be like quick cooking oats. Old fashioned oats are more dense so the bars can tend to fall apart. This is an easy solution.
Thanks Jessie! Great tip!
You’re welcome. I am making two batches of these today. The first batch will be bars. The second batch I am going to try to make “bites” or “poppers”. Years ago there were granola bites my son loved so I am going to try making my own. Instead of pressing them into bars, roll small amounts into bite size balls. Perfect bite size granola bar poppers!
Thank you for this recipie! Love peanut butter and granola! Thank you also for the question I was going to ask, may I use chia instead of flax, great idea, can’t wait to make them, hopefully share with co workers, if they make it that far!
I just made these this morning and theyvare really good like the recipe and comments said, but they are really peanut butter tasting for me. My daughter liked them also, but said the same thing. Maybe I will add less peanut butter next time and more rice krispies. Like I said they are really good and worth tweaking the recipe.
Hmmm, I’ve been looking for a good granola bar recipe. My boys love granola bars, but I don’t always like all the ingredients included in the store bought bars. These look de-lish. Thanks so much for sharing at Inspire Me Wednesday. Featuring you in this week’s issue.
These sound super delicious and so healthy. Thank you for sharing at Share It One More Time. Cathy
It seems like a very easy and good recipe except putting honey in the microwave. It will kill all the good stuff in the honey! I think it would be better to just cook it in a sauce pan on the stove.
These look delicious! I love that they use flax and oats, both of which are staples in my pantry.
I’m dropping by from the Show and Tell link party. These sound so yummy and easy to make! I’m definitely going to make these — like all the time!
I have a link party that I am trying to grow. I invite you to share this idea — and a couple of others — at my Grandma Ideas Sharing Time link party at https://grandmaideas.com. I think my readers would love this idea as much as I do.
The party goes from Wednesday through Friday night at midnight. I hope to see you there.
All the best,
Nina
My boyfriend and I love these granola bars! Quick question, what is the calorie count for one bar? Thanks!
Made this tonight, and my kids all loved it. I pressed some mini chocolate chips on top before chilling. Yum! Thanks for the recipe!
Can I replace the peanut butter with tahini? Just to make it more nutritional.
I’ve never done it but you can try! Let us know how it goes.
Thank You for sharing! I really like these & have made a few times since finding on Pinterest! Eating gluten free now & this has become a favorite recipe now of mine.
So glad you like it!
What to do if i want to eliminate the Rice Krispies?
Hello from Greece! I just made it and its delicious, though I changed the recipy a lil. Instead of flax seed, I put chia seed and at the end, I poured some blueberries. Thank you !!!
I helped my granddaughter make these for a fund raiser. Everyone loved them. People came back for more. Sold out quickly!
Has anyone tried making these without the brown sugar? Hoping I can make them work with just agave so my diabetic dad can eat them.