Chewy Trail Mix Granola Bars Recipe

Name: Chewy Trail Mix Granola Bars
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Ingredients: 3 cups old fashioned oats ((certified gluten free, if necessary)); 2 Tablespoons honey ((can use agave syrup for vegan)); ½ cup raw sunflower seeds; ½ cup raw pumpkin seeds ((also called pepitas)); 2 Tablespoons chia seeds; 1 cup dried apricots, (chopped); ½ cup raisins; ½ cup dried cranberries; ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips ((dairy free, if desired)); 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; ¼ teaspoon salt; 2 cups water

5/20/20

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Cupcakes & Kale Chips is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Chewy Trail Mix Granola Bars are perfect for lunchboxes, trips to the park, long car rides, or to power the kids (and yourself) through busy days. These healthy gluten free snacks have dried fruit, whole grains, seeds, and even a little chocolate for good measure. But this easy recipe is also nut free and dairy free, making it an allergy-friendly treat to pack!

Chewy Trail Mix Granola Bars Recipe Image with Title

Originally published on October 7, 2014. Updated with new photos and more useful information.

Snack snack snack snack snack snack. If you’ve been around my blog for any length of time, you know that my boys are always eating. Don’t get mad at me, but those of you that have picky kids or kids who barely eat, I really have no idea what you are dealing with.

That whole strategy of not giving your kids snacks between meals so that they actually eat their breakfast, lunch, and dinner – yeah, it pretty much doesn’t apply in my house.

They have breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, seconds, before bed snack. And that’s a normal day, which doesn’t account for when they ask for extra snacks.

I think my kids are Hobbits.

If you’ve got eating machines, or kids with allergies, kids that require you to have a snack packed no matter where you go, or you just like to make a big batch of stuff ahead of time during your weekend meal prep, these Chewy Trail Mix Granola Bars are for you!

Three Nut-Free Trail Mix Bars on a cutting board

Nut-Free Granola Bars

Chewy Trail Mix Granola Bars have been satisfying my boys’ munchies lately. Sweet and chewy with just a bit of crunch, and a touch of chocolate to make them happy campers, but packed full of wholesome ingredients. They are gluten free snacks that kids and parents love!

And speaking of campers, these bars have no nuts or peanuts or peanut butter, so you can pack them for camp or school, or a trip to the playground!

Here is a brief overview so you can see just how easy it is to make. Scroll down to the printable recipe card for the full quantities and details.
But don’t skip my PRO TIPS below!

Ingredients

Old-fashioned oats – NOT quick or instant oats
Honey
Raw sunflower seeds
Raw pumpkin seeds – also called pepitas
Chia seeds
Dried apricots – cut into pieces. BRIANNE’s PRO TIP: spray your knife with a little cooking spray to keep them from sticking
Raisins
Dried cranberries
Chocolate chips
Cinnamon
Vanilla extract
Salt
Water

Equipment

10×15 inch baking sheet
Parchment paper – this makes it much easier to remove the bars from the pan
Food processor – this recipe comes together in a food processor. I like my Hamilton Beach Stack & Snap Food Processor.
Spatula

Directions overview – scroll to the recipe card for the full set of instructions

Preheat oven to 325°F and line pan with parchment paper.
Pulse all of the ingredients except the water in the food processor until combined and slightly chopped. THen add the water and pulse until mixed.
Press down firmly in the prepared pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned and firm, but still chewy and slightly moist on the bottom.
Transfer pan to a rack to cool completely then cut into bars.

Gluten Free Trail Mix Snack Bars stacks on parchment paper

Variations

As I mentioned, these trail mix bars don’t have any nut or peanut ingredients, nor do they contain eggs, so they are allergy-friendly. To make them completely allergy-safe, you’ll need to read the labels on your ingredients to ensure they aren’t cross-contaminated, and you can make these additional substitutions if needed.

Gluten-free – be sure to use certified gluten free oats and confirm that all of the other ingredients are not a risk for cross-contamination. If you are new to this, check out my resources on gluten free foods and what to avoid on a gluten free diet to help you with reading labels.
Dairy free/vegan – choose vegan chocolate chips to make these completely dairy free. For strict vegan, substitute agave in place of the honey.
Other variations – you can omit the chocolate chips or substitute with additional dried fruit or even white chocolate chips. If nuts aren’t a concern, you can use your favorite in place of the seeds. And you can certainly change up the dried fruits, using dates for the apricots or even things like dried cherries and blueberries for the raisins and cranberries.

Table with trail mix granola bars being cut, stacked, and wrapped in parchment paper

Storage

Place the trail mix granola bars in an airtight container or in plastic storage bags.

These bars can be kept at room temperature for a short time, but since they are moist, you’ll want to keep them in the refrigerator to keep them from getting moldy too quickly. They will last for about a week.

If you want to stock up on nut free and gluten free snacks, since this recipe makes about 30 granola bars, you can definitely store some in the freezer. I like to wrap several together in plastic wrap, then place them all in an airtight container before freezing. This will prevent moisture from collecting on the bars when you open the container to take some out. You can also wrap them individually, if you prefer.

Allergy Friendly Trail Mix Granola Bars with oats, fried fruit, seeds, and chocolate chips

For even more easy gluten free recipes,
keep up with me on…

Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

More favorite gluten free snack bar recipes

More allergy-friendly snacks

Cinnamon Apple Energy Balls
Mini Zucchini Carrot Muffins (or Gluten Free Zucchini Carrot Muffins)
Tropical Trail Mix from Allergy Awesomeness

I hope you’ll leave a comment and give it a FIVE STAR rating or share a review on Pinterest or photo on Instagram!
Tag me @cupcakekalechip and use #cupcakesandkalechips!

PIN THIS RECIPE!

Four Nut-Free Trail Mix Granola Bars on a piece of parchment paper

Print Recipe

5 from 3 votes