Packed with protein, fiber, and nutrients, these seedy oat and flax granola bars are chewy and delicious with the perfect amount of sweetness.
Homemade granola bars are a fabulous way to pack in whole grains, seeds, fiber, protein, and nutrients into a quick snack. The best part? They are portable and packed full of energy to get you through a long drive in the car, a day at the beach, or a 10 hours work day! My bars are always changing based on what nuts and dried fruit I have in the house, but the core of my Seedy Oat and Flax Granola bars stays the same to give that energy and satisfaction. As with many of my recipes, it is more about the method than the ingredients themselves.
Ingredients
- Oats: A fantastic source of fiber and iron, I like to use rolled oats.
- Chopped nuts or seeds: I like to use a mixture of whatever I have on hand. Walnuts, pecans, almonds, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds.
- Flax seed: Mostly tasteless, but adds very important omega 3 fatty acids.
- Wheat germ: Another mostly tasteless addition, it’s another great source of fiber and B vitamins and toasts nice and crunchy.
- Shredded wheat biscuits: Made with whole grain, and delicious as a bowl of cereal in the morning, it’s chalk full of antioxidants and fiber.
- Dried fruit: Adds natural sweetness to the bars, and another ingredient where you can use what you have, I’ve used dried cherries, dates, and apricots.
- Cinnamon: Sweet and warm, cinnamon adds a new level of flavor to the granola bar.
- Eggs: Packed full of protein, and binds the bars together.
- Vanilla: Enhances the sweetness of the fruit and other ingreidents.
- Honey: Along with the fruit, it adds natural sweetness to the bars.
- Chocolate chips: Semi-sweet or dark mini chocolate chips are my favorite to use in the bars.
- Salt: A natural flavor enhancer that helps to balance out the bars.
How to Make Seedy Oat and Flax Granola Bars
Start your seedy oat and flax granola bars by putting your chopped nuts and seeds, oats, and wheat germ on a baking sheet and toasting in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes.
Toasting your nuts and grains releases the natural oils and enhances the flavor, so you don’t have to add any oil or extra sweetener!
Once out of the oven, add the toasted oat mixture to a food processor with your dried fruit of choice, shredded wheat, cinnamon, and salt.
Pulse until smooth and fully combined.
Then in a large bowl, crack the 4 eggs and drizzle in the honey and vanilla.
Whisk together until eggs are beaten and fluffy.
Then stir in your oat and fruit mixtures.
Finally stir in the mini shocolate chips until fully combined.
Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and press to flatten the granola mixture together. Throw back in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes.
Take out of the oven and let cool fully, then use a knife or a pizza cutter to slice into bars.
Eat them at home or take with you on the go, and enjoy your Seedy Oat and Flax Granola Bars! Store them at room temperature or in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is the best binder for granola bars?
If you don’t want to bake them, honey can work well to bind your granola bars! Otherwise, like in anything baked, eggs work well.
Are granola grain bars healthy?
Homemade granola bars usually are very healthy, but be careful with store-bought. They can frequently have the same amount, or even more sugar than candy.
IS granola a wheat or oats?
Most granola is made of oats and nuts, but frequently can have other types of grain included. You an make wheat-free granola though to be gluten-free.
More Snacks
- Homemade Nut Free Protein Bars
- Peanut Butter Drizzled Popcorn
- New England Hermit Cookie Bars
- McDonald’s Shamrock Shake (Healthy Copycat)
- Air Fryer Sweet Potato Chips
Did you try this recipe and like it? The next time you make it, snap a picture and share it to your socials! Tag @thelemonbowl and #thelemonbowl so we can admire and share your dish.
Feel free to change up this recipe as much or as little as you wish. I’ve made these bars with dried apricots, dates and prunes. I’ve made them with chocolate chips and without (bet you can’t guess which ones tasted better). However you make them, my Seedy Oat and Flax Granola Bars will keep you and your family satisfied.
No fork required.
Seedy Oat and Flax Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups oats
- 2 cups chopped nuts/seeds ((walnuts, almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds, etc.))
- 2 tablespoon flax seed
- 2 tablespoon toasted wheat germ
- 3 c large shredded wheat biscuits (or 2 squares)
- 2 cups dried fruit ((cherries, dates, apricots, raisins, etc.))
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅔ cup honey
- ⅔ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
- Spread oats, nuts, seeds and wheat germ on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven for 10 minutes, turning once half-way through. Set aside to cool.
- In a food processor, pulse the toasted oat mixture with the shredded wheat, salt, cinnamon and dried cherries until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, wisk eggs with vanilla and honey. Add the oat mixture and stir until combined.
- Stir in chocolate chips then pour mixture into pre-sprayed pan.
- Press on the granola mixture to flatten and bake for 25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into bars.
Hi Liz
I am so excited to have found your blog! Do you have a suggestion for substitution of Wheat Germ and Shredded Wheat? The wheat germ I think I could just leave out, but having a hard time finding a good sub for the shredded wheat :)
Thanks for all you do!
So glad you found it!! You could replace the shredded wheat with half oats and half nuts and use flax seed meal for the wheat germ!
Q…I’m celiac (so gluten free) and I can work with nearly everything in the recipe, but trying to figure out what to sub for the shredded wheat. Is it used for texture and nutrients, or is it a binder of some kind? If I know what it’s used for, I can figure out a substitute.
These look great – thanks!
I love the bars but I got about 6 bars and it didn’t fill up the whole tray. Could I of over pulsed them? Also, I used quaker oats squares 1 cup and pulsed them. Can you tell me what I did wrong? Thank you
Hi Gianna – Thank you for letting me know what happened. I think I determined that the wrong pan size was suggested for the amounts given. I have since revised the recipe (basically doubled it) which fits perfectly in a 9 x 13 pan. Please accept my sincerest apologies that this was not done before. This is a recipe that we make all the time and I truly think you’ll love it if you give it another chance with the changes I’ve made. Again, thank you for your feedback – it is very much appreciated!!
Thanks for revising it. I love the bars and will definitley make them again. I am just wondering if I can lower the calories alittle by using maybe only egg whites, 1 1/2 cup of craisins and agave instead of honey? What do you think?
P.S. I used agave on your old recipe and it was delish!
You could certainly try the egg whites – I would just use two egg whites for every egg. As for agave, I don’t use it because it’s so highly processed (more so than corn syrup I learned!) so I can’t tell you how to swap it for honey. I do know it’s not low calorie so just be sure you calculate accurately if you’re serious about counting calories. If you really wanted to lower calories, I would just use less dried fruit and nuts. :)