Hazelnut Cherry Granola Bars (Gluten Free)

This Hazelnut Cherry Granola Bars recipe is made with wholesome, simple, healthy ingredients that are for sure available in your kitchen pantry shelf and waiting for you to make these delicious snacks. These granola bars  are dairy free, gluten free, can be made vegan. So tasty and fun to make!

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Not only they are simple to make but make a delightful breakfast on the go, perfect for lunch boxes and afternoon snacks. 

Additionally, these bars can be made as a no-bake option, just remove the peanut butter from the list, mix all the ingredients and refrigerate for a few hours, and your good to go.

You’ll also love these homemade and healthy granola bars which you can easily customize with whatever you like, choosing your own favorite crunchy and chewy ingredients!

Get ready for your house to smell like a delicious oatmeal pie! 

Why we love these granola bars

There are plenty of things our family loves about these homemade granola bars, but the main reason is that how healthy they are compared to the store-bought bars. Here are few of our absolute favorites♥️

• These bars contain Coconut oil – which has amazing properties including a long list of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Coconut oil is an excellent source of healthy fat. It has antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial properties, and helps to keep our brain healthy. A super healthy oil to incorporate in your daily diet. Read more about coconut oil in this detailed guide here.
• They have Oats – Oats are incredibly nutritious and are a powerful soluble fiber source
• Nuts – healthy protein, a great source of minerals and vitamins like calcium, magnesium and etc. 
• Egg-free
• Dairy-free
• Gluten-free for Gluten Free oats
• Vegetarian and Vegan friendly  (simply swap the honey for brown rice syrup or maple syrup)

What ingredients you need for Hazelnut Cherry Granola bars

Okay, don’t get overwhelmed with the wide list of ingredients in this recipe!

I promise it’s super easy to make and the hardest thing you’ll need to do is to prep your baking dish (less than 5 min).

For this recipe you’ll need 9 ingredients, but feel free to make your own customization where you swap or add some extra ingredients like seeds or other dried fruits.

• honey or brown rice syrup
• gluten-free oats
• pure vanilla extract
• salt
• unsweetened coconut flakes
• almond or peanut butter
• dried cherries
• hazelnuts
• organic coconut oil

This recipes makes 12 granola bars. You can also cut them in mini size or squares.

Baking sheet: I used 9.8-inch x 7.4 inch glass baking dish

How To Make Hazelnut Cherry Granola Bars

STEP 1

Preheat the oven to 300F.

Line a baking dish (I’ve used a 9.8-inch x 7.4-inch glass baking dish) with two strips of parchment paper that you are going to line across from each other on the baking dish. (Spray the baking dish first with a bit of cooking oil, it will help the parchment paper to stick.) Make sure to have enough overhang on the sides so you can easily remove the bars from the pan later. Set aside. 

STEP 2

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, stir.. Then add the honey and coconut oil and combine it really well using a silicone spatula or a spoon.

STEP 3

Transfer mixture to a prepared baking dish and press really firmly into an even layer. To even the surface you can use a bottom of a glass or a second baking dish the same size if you have. Just add another strip of parchment paper before you do that so nothing sticks to it. 

Bake for 30 minutes.

STEP 4

Remove from the oven and let it completely cool. This is important, don’t try to cut it while it’s hot and still in the pan! Transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.

STEP 5

Remove bars from baking dish using the parchment paper overhang on the sides and cut into bars using a very sharp knife. (Tip for cutting: cut a line in the middle first and then cut the bars on one side and then the other.)

Notes

Oats: Instead of oats you can use homemade almond or cashew meal or store-bought option. 

Vegan: simply swap honey to brown rice syrup or maple syrup

Easy Eggplant Recipes

If you like more easy eggplant recipes you must check these out!

• Homemade Granola Bar With Banana
• Easy Healthy Banana Bread
• Matcha Tea Porridge Bowl
• Mango Coconut Chia Pudding

How To Store Granola bars

Wrap the bars individually into parchment paper or simply cut parchment paper into strips (granola bar size wide) and place them in between your bars when stacked on top of each other in an airtight food container.

Best to be stored in the refrigerator (2 weeks) or freeze for up to 3 months.

Make No bake Hazelnut Cherry Granola bars

Simply add all the ingredients (nut butter is optional but usually added when baking) into a bowl, mix them as per this recipe instructions and instead of the oven place them in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

When making ”no bake” granola bars you can also add some superfoods for a proper energy boost!

Some days it’s crazy busy and I don’t have time for a proper meal so to compensate that I like to add superfoods to my smoothies and snacks.

If you haven’t tried superfoods yet you can start with Raw Beet Root Powder or Raw Spirulina Powder.

Here you can find more organic and pure vegan customizable ingredients for your snacks like Organic Hemp Seeds, Organic Chia Seeds, goji berries, and many more.

Hungry for more yummy gluten-free recipes? Check out those AMAZING Gluten-free recipe Cookbooks that I’ve been reading for inspiration:

The How It Can Be Gluten Free, Over 100 Gluten Free Recipes and Eat Happy: Gluten Free, Grain Free, Low Carb Recipes Made from Real Foods For A Joyful Life

How to customize your granola bars:

You can get super creative and every time have a different energy granola bar recipe! How amazing is that?

To make granola bars all you really need is to have the base ingredients ready like oats, honey, and nuts. 

Then you can customize it with anything you like:

• Toasted nuts like walnuts, pecans, almonds,  hazelnuts.
• Seeds like sunflower seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds. 
• Mini chocolate chips
• Dried fruit like raisins, prunes, dried cranberries, dates, goji berries
• Change the nut butter and you’ll get a totally different range of flavors. Options include almond butter, hazelnut butter, cashew butter, tahini. 
• Add a bit of spice in your life: cardamom or nutmeg is a great start!
• Add more fruit! No-bake granola bar ingredients can be – Organic Hemp Seeds, Dried Golden Berries, Goji Berries.

The possibilities are endless really, just mix and match different tastes but make sure to use high-quality products to have the best and healthy homemade granola bars.

I hope you’ll love this recipe as much as me and my family did!

Thank you for reading,

Julia

OUR FAVORITE EQUIPMENT FOR THIS RECIPE

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Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on the products used.

Full Nutrition Disclaimer can be found here.