We love homemade granola and granola bars in our house. They make a great snack and I love that I can control what goes into them.
If you are looking for a healthy or semi-healthy snack for your kids this summer these are perfect.
And dark chocolate and cherry go so well together. You really can’t go wrong with that combination.
Yield: 18 bars
Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars
Homemade dark chocolate granola bars
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
7 minutes
Total Time
12 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 4 cups granola ( I use homemade granola)
- 2 cups rice krispy cereal ( I use the gluten free brown rice cereal.)
- 1 1/2 cups dried cherries
- 12 ounces dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine granola, rice crispy cereal, and cherries. And set aside.
- In a pan combine butter, brown sugar, and honey. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved.
- Pour mixture over oat cereal mixture and stir well.
- Quickly stir in dark chocolate chips.
- Press into a cookie sheet or large sheet type pan. Let sit overnight before cutting into bars.
Notes
If you are gluten-free be sure to use gluten-free granola.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
18 barsServing Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 446Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 121mgCarbohydrates: 56gFiber: 4gSugar: 39gProtein: 5g
Nutritional values are approximate and aren't always accurate.
Adapted from No Bake Granola Bars
We are on the same wavelength! Just made a very similar recipe for a batch of dark chocolate cherry granola bars today. I LOVE the dark chocolate cherry combo — thanks for sharing your version.
Lynn, I’m just wondering what size cookie sheet you use? Would a regular 9*13 baking pan work, or would they be too thick? Thank you for sharing the recipe. They sound so good!
I use a big cookie sheet/jelly roll type pan. I think a 9×13 would be pretty thick, but you could use a 9×13 and an 8×8 or something like that, 2 9×13 might even work. I hope that helps.
Lynn, you are truly amazing! I am still a bit of a cooking novice so I wanted to check with you about adding the chocolate chips. I made the oat mixture and then put in the chips, gave them a couple of quick folding turns and then dumped them onto the pan immediately because the mixture was still so hot. Even with just a few twist to spread the chips, the chocolate smeared everywhere and made a gooey mess. I let them sit on the counter for 12 hours today and when I put them up the chocolate was still soft and messy all over my fingers. It was a truly delicious problem to have…haha! 🙂 Should I have waited for the oat mixture to cool before adding the chips or was your chocolate still that soft after sitting overnight? Thanks! I just LOVE your site!
thats alot of honey, butter and sugar for me, any thoughts on how to lessen the sugar and fat in them and still get a good outcome?
I am excited to try these, I am allergic to nuts so I can”t eat most granola bars. 🙂 Thanks!
My daughter has nut allergies, so homemade granola and granola bars work great because you can control the ingredients. I hope you enjoy them.
I just made these and they look amazing! I sampled a bit of the butter mixture and it tastes almost like caramel…YUM! What is the best way to store these and how long do they keep? Can they be frozen?
We have eaten them for several days. I would say 3-4 days is good. I have frozen them and it works, but the texture does change slightly.
These granola bars are delicious! I didn’t have 4 c. of Granola, so I used 3 c. Nature Valley Oats & Honey Granola and 1 c. Multi-Bran Chex. For the Chocolate, I used a 10 oz. bag of Nestle Toll House Artisan Collection Extra Dark (61% cacao) chocolate chips. It’s hard to stop eating. They go great with a glass of cold milk!