Only SIX ingredients! My No Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bars are so quick and easy to prepare. A great make-ahead breakfast or snack!

I know you came here for granola bars, but I just need to get this out.

We surprised the kids with a trip to Disney World!!

What a week we've had! It was totally unplanned.
Chris and I were in the office, procrastinating over work and feeling a little bored a couple of weeks ago.
For some reason we started talking holidays, and before we knew it, we'd used up all of our savings and booked Disney. Talk about mid-life crisis!
We got the tickets on the Friday and flew out on Monday morning last week. We told the kids a few days beforehand that we were going on a boring business trip to Stuttgart (don't ask me why we chose Stuttgart, I have no idea!) and they needed to come with us. Then we broke the news to them at the airport.

If you saw my Instagram stories, you'll have seen that Gracey was over the moon, and Lewis just basically stood there in shock 🙂
In fact I'll show you a couple of clips.
Here we are on the way to the airport:

And at the airport:

So we spent the whole week flitting between parks, going on the biggest, scariest rides we could find and consuming large amounts of frozen lemonade (it was close to 100F every day).

Now we're back home, tired, skint and trying our best to get back into work mode. Must not use up our overdraft and book another holiday....

Now these granola bars were something I really wish I'd made to take with us. It's nearly impossible to find places for Breakfast in Disney (well breakfast that doesn't cost $30 a head whilst Pluto and Mickey bound around the tables).

Made with 6 ingredients and loaded with cranberries and chocolate chips, they're so good!

We start by mixing together rolled oats, mixed chopped nuts, chocolate chops, dried cranberries, peanut butter (plenty of peanut butter - one of the few times I really love peanut butter) and honey.

Spoon the mixture into a lined square tin:

Top it with baking parchment and then place another same-size tin on top. Then use every muscle you have to press that top tin down, compacting the mixture as much as possible.
I won't lie, I place the tin on the floor and stand on top of it. Nothing like a slightly overweight lady to squash that mixture flat.

Next remove the top tin:

Then peel off the top layer of baking parchment and sprinkle on extra chocolate chips and cranberries - pushing them in a little as you go.

Place the tin in the freezer for an hour to firm up, then remove the tin and liner and cut into slices.

You may find some of the edges are still a little bit crumbly, but they should hold together well, so long as you've used the correct amounts of peanut butter and honey, and you've compacted the mixture enough. Those few crumbly bits are the cook's treat (of course).

How long to they keep for?

Wrapped and refrigerated, these granola bars will keep for one week

Can I freeze granola bars?

Yes, wrap/cover the bars and freeze for up to a month. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight before eating.

Can I make granola bars gluten free?

Yes, simply replace the oat with gluten free oats (oats are in theory gluten free, but they're often packed in environments where wheat, barley and rye is present. So you need to get certified gluten free oats).

Other topping ideas for granola bars:

Other dried fruits such as blueberries, raisins, dates, cherries and pineapple
Replace the chocolate chips with white chocolate chips or butterscotch chips
Drizzle with melted chocolate and sprinkle on finely chopped nuts and/or freeze dried raspberry or strawberry pieces

Other on-the-go breakfast ideas:

Banana Oat Cookies
Banana Bread Energy Balls
Rhubarb and Marzipan Breakfast Muffins
No Bake berry Bakewell Granola Bars
Honey filled Breakfast Popsicles with Greek Yogurt
Grapefruit Breakfast Donuts
Peanut Banana Oat cookies
Or how about this peanut butter and jelly frozen yogurt bark from my friend Ciara at My Fussy Eater

Love peanut butter?

Try some of these savoury peanut butter dinner recipes:

20 minute peanut butter chicken
Thai Chicken Salad with Easy Peanut Dressing
Thai Style Peanut Pork with Broccoli
African Stew with Chicken and Peanut

The No Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bars Recipe:

Overhead image of peanut butter, chocolate and cranberry granola bars chopped into slices

No Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bars

By: Nicky Corbishley

Only SIX ingredients! My No Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bars are so quick and easy to prepare. A great make-ahead breakfast or snack!

5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 10

Freezing time 1

Total Time 1 10

Course Breakfast, Snacks

Cuisine American, British

Servings 12 bars

Calories 273 kcal

Ingredients

▢ 220 g (2 cups) whole rolled oats
▢ 65 g (½ cup) chopped mixed nuts
▢ 65 g (½ cup) chocolate chips
▢ 90 g (½ cup) dried cranberries
▢ 270 g (1 cup) smooth peanut butter
▢ 85 g (¼ cup) honey

INSTRUCTIONS

Place the rolled oats and chopped nuts in a large bowl. Add in all but 1 tbsp of the dried cranberries and all but 1 tbsp of the chocolate chips and mix together.
220 g (2 cups) whole rolled oats, 65 g (½ cup) chopped mixed nuts, 65 g (½ cup) chocolate chips, 90 g (½ cup) dried cranberries
Add the peanut butter and honey, and stir until combined.
270 g (1 cup) smooth peanut butter, 85 g (¼ cup) honey
Spoon the mixture into an 8×8 inch (20x20cm) square baking tin that has been lined with baking parchment.
Flatten the mixture with the back of a wooden spoon, then place a piece of baking parchment on top.
Place another same-sized tin on top and squash the tin down so the mixture is well compacted. The more compacted it is, the less likely the granola bar will fall apart when cut into slices.
Remove the top tin and baking parchment that’s on top of the mixture and sprinkle on the reserved cranberries and chocolate chips. Push them in with your fingers.
Cover the tin and place in the freezer for one hour. Remove from the freezer, take out of the tin and peel off the parchment paper. Place on a chopping board and cut into 12 slices.
Serve immediately, or wrap and place in the refrigerator (you can store them at room temperature, but keeping them in the fridge will help to keep them firm).

✎ Notes

Nutritional information is approximate and is per serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 273kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 9gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 123mgPotassium: 232mgFiber: 4gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 15IUCalcium: 27mgIron: 1.4mg

Keywords no bake, Quick and Easy

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Hi I’m Nicky

I love to cook and I want to share with you my favourite, delicious family friendly recipes. I want to inspire you to create fantastic food for your family every day.