Granola Bites
When I made these homemade granola bites for the first time, my husband couldn’t eat one without singing the Chia Pet jingle, so I couldn’t eat one without hearing it over and over again in my head. Thankfully, we make them now, it’s just a one to two time of the jingle before we move on!
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Granola Bites
The recipe was inspired by Melissa’s Clean Snax and had a bit of an issue reaching for bite after bite of the crunchy snacks until the package was empty. I love each of the four flavors I tried, but the coconut and cranberry were definitely my favorite.
This recipe for homemade granola bites is my version of those snacks to tide me over between containers. Yeah, the struggle is that real!
My recipe calls for ground and whole chia seeds. Fair warning, for those of you unfamiliar with chia seeds, the whole ones can stick around in your smile after eating.
I love the extra crunch they offer (and the fact they make you feel full), but I understand they aren’t for everyone. You can easily omit the whole seeds, however, and double the ground version.
The great thing about this recipe is how easily you can swap out ingredients for what sounds good or what you have on hand. Try pecans instead of almonds or dried apricots over cranberries. You could probably do a different kind of nut butter as well – the options really are endless.
I’m seriously debating adding cocoa nibs in for a more dessert-oriented snack that I don’t have to feel guilty about. See all the other tasty + homemade snack recipes I’ve shared!
Cooked or Uncooked Granola Bites?
Since first making this recipe in 2016, I’ve experimented with it a number of times. One follower noted that cooking the granola bites removed the benefits of eating local honey, so I experimented with not cooked granola bites!
Basically after you pat the mixture into the pan, you just leave it covered in the refrigerator and pull off pieces as desired.
The flavor is basically the same and I love not having to add an extra bit of time and energy to the baking process.
So obviously, you can can bake them for a delicious snack you can easily keep out of the refrigerator for a few days. Or to get the great benefits of local honey, you can just make the mix and enjoy from the refrigerator!
GRANOLA BITES
Ingredients
- 1 Cup rolled oats
- ½ Cup finely chopped almonds
- ¼ Cup ground chia seeds
- ¼ Cup whole chia seeds
- â…“ Cup chopped dried cranberries
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ Cup honey
- ¼ Cup peanut butter
- 2-3 teaspoons water
Instructions
Cooked Method
- Combine ingredients oats through peanut butter. Mix thoroughly. Add water one teaspoon at a time until mixture looks moistened and sticks together.
- Line bread baking pan with parchment paper. Firmly pat mixture evenly into bottom of pan. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or overnight).***
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Meanwhile, remove bread pan from refrigerator. Pull granola mix out of the pan using parchment paper.
- Gently cut granola into 1-inch square bites. Some pieces may fall off during cutting – press them back into square shape. Place squares on parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake 15-20 minutes.
- Let cool. Can be stored at room temperature, covered, for up to 5 days.
In addition to being delicious, the real reason I bought Melissa’s Clean Snax is because it is the only granola I had found that did not contain oatmeal. I can no longer find Melissa’s Clean Snax near me or online in single container quantities. Do you have a recipe without oatmeal?
Hi Teri! I don’t have a recipe for these without oatmeal, sadly. I know you can buy the individual containers from the melissa’s website, but they are part of a case of 12. It is a lot of containers, but at least they’re small so the snax can stay fresh. I do think Sprouts grocery stores also carry the single containers, but I don’t know if you have that store near you. I wish I was of more help on this. If I get around to creating an oatmeal free option, I will certainly let you know!