With Father’s Day around the corner, it seemed as good a time as any to share this awesome chewy gluten free granola bars recipe with you. But you needn’t wait — did you know that January 21 is National Granola Bar Day? And weren’t you just saying you were hungry?
There are so many great occasions to make your own homemade gluten free granola bars. Like today, for example.
I don’t know what it is about Father’s Day, but all the stores promote buying Dad some soon-to-be forgotten gadget, gaudy tie or otherwise not-needed accessory. In my family, we try always to make something homemade as at least part of Dad’s gift — a card, a craft, a special food — it doesn’t have to be fancy, but it shows that at least he’s worth the time it takes to plan and make something special for him!
These snacks are really great for folks of any age: they’re portable and easy to eat on the run; they’re full of nutrition and yummy energy; they’re super tasty; and perhaps most importantly, they’re gluten-free!
Come to think of it though, there’s one more great thing about these bars: they’ll ship! So if your dad doesn’t live close, these would make a great gift!
So make these for your dad or special someone … or for yourself! Since you’re in charge, add the ingredients you like or have on hand, and choose only the ones that meet your family’s dietary requirements.
Gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, vegan, easily nut-free, but oh so full of flavor!
Feel good about all that healthy fiber and nutrition you’ll be getting from purity protocol certified gluten-free oats, nuts, flaxseed meal, veggies and fruit — the ones YOU like best — all packed into portable yumminess!
You can even cut the bars to whatever portion size YOU prefer. How handy, right?
Be sure to only use purity protocol certified gluten free oats — the fact that most granola bar makers do NOT use these safe, more expensive oats in their bars, is one reason I advocate for and often make our own homemade gluten free granola bars.
I can be confident in how they were grown, packaged and tested, and never have to worry about getting glutened. Sounds like a small thing to someone who doesn’t have to live gluten free, but it’s everything to us — am I right?
Here’s more information on how to find the right oats for you.
Enjoy!
Homemade Gluten Free Granola Bars Recipe
Homemade Gluten Free Granola Bars Recipe
Homemade gluten free granola bars are delicious, yes, but also make eating healthy and safe on the go easy!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup flaxseed meal or chia seeds
- ½ cup gfJules® Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
- 3 cups purity protocol certified gluten-free rolled oats, rice flakes, or quinoa flakes
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 cup grated carrots
- ¾ cup baking raisins (or boil raisins in water, drain, then add to the recipe) or sultanas
- ½ cup dried apples, chopped
- ½ cup dried bananas, chopped
- ½ cup figs, chopped (approximately 5 figs)
- ½ cup grated coconut (unsweetened)
- ¼ cup dates, chopped
- ¼ cup dried cranberries, blueberries, cherries or other dried berry of choice
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped (if making nut-free, substitute with sunflower seeds)
- ½ cup agave nectar, honey, or maple syrup
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup baking molasses
- ½ cup sunflower nut butter (if making nut-free) or “natural” peanut, almond, or cashew butter (like Earth Balance® Natural Peanut Butter with Flaxseed)
- ½ cup unsweetened apple juice or cider
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF.
- Line a jelly roll baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking oil.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flaxseed meal, gluten-free flour, oats, cinnamon, carrots, fruits and nuts of your choice (in similar proportions to those listed above). When fully combined, stir in the agave nectar, applesauce, molasses, nut butter, and juice, mixing with a large wooden spoon until totally incorporated. The mixture should be wet enough to press together for baking.
- If you like your granola bars with lots of crunchy texture, use this wooden spoon or stand mixer (with flat paddle) mixing method. If you prefer a smoother texture, where the individual ingredients are more integrated, use a large food processor to combine all the ingredients — if your processor bowl is 14 cups or smaller, this may have to be done by dividing the ingredients in half and mixing in two batches.
- Scoop the combined mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking pan and press down with the back of a rubber spatula or your wet hands.
- Bake for 30 minutes or just until the edges begin to brown slightly.
- Remove from the oven and cut into bars using a pizza cutter before fully cooled. To remove bars when cooled, simply lift the foil edges out of the jelly roll pan and store the cut bars in a zip top bag at room temperature or freeze.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 28 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 189Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 0mgSodium 24mgCarbohydrates 34gFiber 3gSugar 23gProtein 3g
Please keep in mind that nutrition information provided is per serving, which may vary. While we have taken care to provide you with the most accurate nutritional values possible, please note that this information may differ significantly depending on the exact ingredients and brands that you choose to use to make this recipe. Additionally, where options are given for ingredients, the resulting calculation may include all ingredient options instead of only one per line, skewing the totals significantly.
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(Note: this recipe was previously shared by NFCA during their webinar, “The Gluten-Free Athlete: Improving Performance Through Diet” and this recipe, as well as over 149 more, is also available in my newest cookbook, Free for All Cooking: 150 Easy Gluten-Free, Allergy-Friendly Recipes the Whole Family Can Enjoy!)
can you tell me the nutrition info for these bars please. I love all of your products and am looking forward to making these.
Hi Dotty, I’m so glad you’re enjoying my gfJules products!! I’ve just added the nutritional to this recipe, but note that it’s based upon ALL these ingredients being added, and one thing that’s so great about this recipe is that you can pick and choose what you’d like to add, so that will change the nutritional content a lot. I was hesitant to add a nutritional panel because of that, but with that caveat, you can use it as a general guideline!
Enjoy!
~jules
Are all your recipes low glycemic – for diabetes
Jules, I have a teen in a sport. I’d like to MAKE some of his GF pre-work-out bars and bagels. We need HIGH CARB ideas that are more like whole grain (longer lasting)>> He has a TERRIBLE time gaining weight and he needs more carbs than the normal athlete. Any guidance would be appreciated! Thanks!
You can add protein powder to bar recipes! I’ve seen recipes for them and for protein cookies. I make a baked gf oatmeal with protein powder and it works great. Good luck.
I love that! Sneaking protein powder into recipes is my jam!
~jules
Hi Jules,
I am just wondering if you have a fig newton recipe? I see there is a nut fruity bar recipe in your cooking book…could you use that dough recipe and then put the fruit paste as the filling, fold, then bake?
Thanks!
these bars are great! this week I tried a higher protein version: I cooked 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups water. Then I spread the quinoa on a parchment covered jelly roll pan and dried/toasted it in a 375 degree oven until it was a nice golden color and crisp. I ended up with 2 cups crucnchy quinoa. I then used 1 cup oats and the 2 cups quinoa in the bars. Quinoa flakes are expensive. These turned out great. Thanks for the recipe Jules.
JoAnne- I LOVE your modification! I’ll have to give that one a try, myself! Thanks for sharing!
I notice in the recipe it says that it makes 28 bars. However, in the nutritionals, it says 40 servings. Does that mean each bar would have 195 calories?
Can you make this recipe without flaxseed meal or substitute with some other ingredient? I cannot tolerate flax.
Jean- you absolutely can make a substitution in this recipe for flax. That’s one of the neat things about this recipe is its versatility (and forgiving nature!). You could leave it out altogether, or add extra chopped nuts or coconut … whatever suits you!
I’m also wondering about gluten-free dried fruit. We have a local store that sells “homemade” dried fruit. What should I be asking to find out if it would be gluten-free?
Tracy- you’ll want to be sure they are not dusting the fruit with any flour to keep it from sticking together. They could use corn starch instead, but you need to ask to be sure.
These look absolutely awesome! Can you post the nutritional facts on these as I am counting carbs, fat, protein and fiber while losing weight and these look so good I want to make them so bad but can’t until I know the facts…please do share! Thanks so much!
Lana – I will try to get the nutritionals for this recipe for you. I would love to get nutritionals for all my recipes … we’ll see if I can pull that off someday! : )
This sounds great! Do you have any idea where I can find nut-free dried fruits, though. The cranberries and the raisins shouldn’t be a problem, but in the past I have had a hard time with things like dried bananas and apples.
Michelle – I’ll look around for you and see what I can find. Luckily, apples and bananas are super easy to dehydrate yourself! Also, you can sub out those ingredients in this recipe for other dried berries, figs, etc. and still make the recipe deliciously, but safe for you.
Going to try this on the wknd Jules! Thanks so much- I can tolerate those Glutino bars, but they’re so expensive and your recipe sound way healthier! (I might have to pop in a few Ecuadorian chocolate chips though)
Thanks!!
OOh Cheryl, Ecuadorian chocolate chips?!?? I’m drooling! ; )
Would it be possible to make it without the coconut? I would think that would help “glue” it together – but my family isn’t a big fan of it…..
Pam – absolutely you can make without the coconut. This recipe only uses 1/2 cup anyway; just try to keep the proportions roughly the same between flour, oats, fruit. That’s one reason I love this recipe, because you can really pick and choose ingredients!