These no bake, chewy peanut butter granola bars are a breeze to make and so addicting! They’re gluten free and grain free, with both vegan and paleo options. Perfect for quick snacks, these homemade grain free granola bars are perfect right out of the fridge or freezer.
Not joking – I actually cannot stop eating these bars right now! Don’t say I didn’t warn you – they’re WAY addicting.
After making my original grain free granola bars with raisins and chocolate chips, I knew I needed to try a peanut butter version. I just put it off for way too long!
Now I do realize – peanut butter is not paleo and this is a paleo site! Yes, these things are true. And if you want to make these strictly paleo, you totally can.
But if you give into real peanut butter cravings now and then like I do, these are going to be your best new granola bar friends! They’re completely grain free, vegan, and refined sugar free.
And, I actually had to wind up making 2 batches of these, due to a camera memory card FAIL, which means that they’ll be a thing for me for quite awhile. Luckily the kids enjoy them too!
What You Need to Make Grain Free Peanut Butter Granola Bars
The ingredients are really similar to my other granola bars, just with lots more nut butter! Here’s everything you’ll need to make the granola bars:
- pecan halves or walnuts
- almonds
- unsweetened coconut flakes
- fine sea salt
- organic coconut oil, melted (use refined for neutral flavor)
- peanut butter or other nut butter like almond, cashew, walnut, or sunflower butter (for paleo)
- pure maple syrup, or raw honey (for paleo)
- pure vanilla extract
- mini chocolate chips, dairy free, soy free
How to Make These Peanut Butter Granola Bars
A food processor makes chopping the nuts so much easier, so I highly recommend it!
Place the nuts in the food processor and pulse several times to “chop” them into a crumbly texture – a few larger pieces are a good thing – don’t overmix!
Transfer the nuts to a large mixing bowl and stir in coconut flakes and salt to evenly combine.
Place the melted coconut oil in a medium bowl and whisk in the peanut butter and honey or maple syrup. Once mixture is smooth and well combined, stir in the vanilla.
Pour the wet mixture into the large bowl with the dry ingredients and stir to fully combine – I used a silicone spatula for this step. Thoroughly mix to make sure all the dry mixture is coated. Once coated, gently stir in the chocolate chips.
Line an 8 x 8” or 9 x 9” square pan with parchment paper along the bottom and sides, with extra up the sides for easy removal. Transfer mixture in and press down, using your hands, or another piece of parchment paper to get it packed tightly into the pan
Cover the top with parchment or plastic wrap, then set in the freezer for at least 1 hour to firm, or longer if you have time.
Remove pan from freezer and grab two ends of the parchment paper to remove the bars, set on a cutting board.
Using a long very sharp knife, cut into 15-20 bars. See below for the best way to store these granola bars.
How to Make These Grain Free Granola Bars Paleo and Vegan
The swaps for this recipe are really easy. By subbing in a different nut butter, you can make them paleo!
I recommend almond butter, cashew, hazelnut, sunflower, walnut, pecan – or anything else you can think of!
To make them vegan, all you need to do is use maple syrup instead of honey.
The bars will be a little bit less chewy using maple syrup rather than honey, but it’s not a big difference. You can also use a sticky sweetener like agave for a vegan version.
How to Store These Granola Bars
Since these granola bars are no bake and contain coconut oil and peanut butter, they’ll need to stay in the refrigerator to stay solid.
They’ll keep well in the refrigerator for up to one week, and you can also freeze them for up to 3 weeks to keep them for longer. They’re actually delicious right out of the freezer too!
I hope you enjoy these grain free granola bars as much as I do! Grab your ingredients because it’s time to no-bake (haha) – let’s go!
Grain Free Peanut Butter Granola Bars {Vegan, Paleo Option}
Grain Free Peanut Butter Granola Bars {Vegan, Paleo Option}
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups pecan halves or walnuts
- 1 1/2 cups almonds
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tablespoons organic coconut oil melted (use refined for neutral flavor)
- 2/3 cup peanut butter or other nut butter like almond cashew, walnut, or sunflower butter (for paleo)
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup or raw honey (for paleo)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips dairy free
Instructions
- Place the nuts in a food processor and pulse several times to “chop” them into a crumbly texture - a few larger pieces are a good thing - don’t overmix!
- Transfer the nuts to a large mixing bowl and stir in coconut flakes and salt to evenly combine.
- Place the melted coconut oil in a medium bowl and whisk in the peanut butter and honey or maple syrup. Once mixture is smooth and well combined, stir in the vanilla.
- Pour the wet mixture into the large bowl with the dry ingredients and stir to fully combine - I used a silicone spatula for this step. Thoroughly mix to make sure all the dry mixture is coated. Once coated, gently stir in the chocolate chips.
- Line an 8 x 8” or 9 x 9” square pan with parchment paper along the bottom and sides, with extra up the sides for easy removal. Transfer mixture in and press down, using your hands, or another piece of parchment paper to get it packed tightly into the pan.
- Cover the top with parchment or plastic wrap, then set in the freezer for at least 1 hour to firm, or longer if you have time.
- Remove pan from freezer and grab two ends of the parchment paper to remove the bars, set on a cutting board.
Using a long very sharp knife, cut into 15-20 bars. You can wrap them in parchment individually storing in the fridge (for up to two weeks) or freezer for longer.
- Bars will start to melt around room temp due to the coconut oil, so they’ll need to be kept chilled to stay firm. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition is calculated for a single bar based on 20 servings.
Nutrition
Want More Paleo + Vegan Treats? Try One of These!
Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies
Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Triple Chocolate Fudge Brownies
Chewy “Oatmeal” Raisin Cookies
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Delicious! These will be great for breakfast! Added 2 TBSP of cocoa powder in place of the chocolate chips, and used 1/3 cup peanut butter and 1/3 cup almond butter, because I like what each of them brings to the party. The only problem now is to hold myself back from eating the whole pan.
So thrilled you enjoyed them!
Very tasty
Might try cranberries and white chocolate
Also love the idea about adding cocoa powder
Will definitely be making again !!!!
These are delicious! I forgot the chocolate chips and I loved the way they turned out. My family and I can’t stop eating them! I might try them with almond butter next time instead of pb. A solid recipe I’ll be making again and again, thank you for sharing!!
These bars are so delicious! Even my husband loves them! I used honey instead of the maple syrup and did not add the coconut. This will be added to my core of favorite recipes! Thank you!!!
I’m so thrilled you all enjoyed them!
Would it be possible to use Gluten Free Oats instead of the nuts to keep it school friendly?
These are so good! I used peanut butter this first time making them, and now, I’m going to use almond butter so I can eat some. My family (who has several of gut issues and food sensitivities) is pumped and loving them! Thank you for sharing your recipes with all of us! Your cookbook is a staple for yummy treats in this house.
I forgot to rate the recipe with stars. Oops! 5 stars for sure!
Delicious! I used half peanut butter and half almond butter I also used honey instead of maple syrup.
My family loves these! I used 1/4 cup of maple syrup and used 2 tbs of honey. They were amazing!
I made these and they worked well, my only question is do you have any other ideas on anything I could use besides peanut or nut butter? My boys who have peanut allergies can’t stand the taste of nut butters because they are too similar to peanut butter so they won’t eat them.