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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!
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!
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!
What You’ll Need
- 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
- 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.
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.
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.
More favorite gluten free snack bar recipes
- Apricot No-Bake Energy Bars
- Cinnamon Apple Breakfast Bars
- No-Bake Honey Nut Granola Bars
- Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
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!
Chewy Trail Mix Granola Bars
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
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a 10×15 in. baking pan with parchment paper.
- Place all the ingredients except the water in a food processor and pulse until combined and slightly chopped.
- Add the water and pulse until thoroughly mixed.
- Spread evenly into the prepared pan and press down firmly with a spatula.
- 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.
- Cut into bars about 1 inch wide and 3 to 4 inches long.
- Store in the refrigerator.
Notes
Did you make this?
Leave a rating below and tag @cupcakekalechip on Instagram and hashtag it #cupcakesandkalechips
Enjoy!
Just a thought, just because they are seeds does not mean they are nut free. Seeds I found at the supermarket were processed in a facility that also processes nuts. So the seeds may be contaminated.
That is true, so it is important to read labels carefully.
These look so good! I love dried fruit. I’d like to try the oat bran cookies and the baobab because I have no idea what that fruit tastes like.
The trail mix is what I’d like to try
almonds!
MMM i can’t wait to try them
The berry edamame mix looks good! I love edamame!!
I can’t wait to try the Mango & Strawberry Fruit & Veggie Snack Bars
snack bars – always looking for new ideas that are quick in a pinch!!
I would love to try the Superfruit snack bars! We have tried the trail mix and it is great!
I would try the Chewy Trail Mix granola bars first.
I want to try to boabab bites! Love new food experiences!!
I think I’d definitely like the Mango & Raspberry snack bars. My son would too, they are actually his favorite fruits 🙂
I’d like to try the snack bars or the cookies! They both look so good.
The mango and raspberry bars would be a hit in my house! We would love to try them.
I want to try the rice pop clusters
I’m thinking I would really like to try the rice pop clusters!
I would love to try any of them but the Baobob snacks sound interesting.
I would try the Red Fruit & Chia Snack Bars. I like “bars’ that can be easily transported in a purse since you never know when you are going to need one.
I love discovering new healthy brands!! I’d love to try the trail mix, bars and rice pop clusters! I want it all!! 😛 and love these granola bars!
The Rice Pop Clusters
I would like to try the trail mix. Thanks for the giveaway.
I’d love to try the oat bran cookies, what a perfect mid-day snack!!
My boys like those!
Oat bran cookies sound good.
i’d love to try the rice pop clusters…sounds fun & snacky 🙂
They totally are!
I want to try rice pop clusters.
I make my own granola all the time, but for some reason haven’t ventured into the granola bar territory. Maybe it’s time to give that a try with these – they look delicious!
You should try them. I love homemade granola, but bars are definitely more portable, especially for my little guys!
Those look amazing! It is hard to find a good granola bar recipe without nuts so you can send them to school. And I love how little sugar is in these, it’s amazing they stay together with only 2 tablespoons of honey! I can’t wait to try these out. Pinned!
They stayed together really well. My guys carry them all over the house.
i would want the trail mix because I love trail mix and they have good blends
The Rice Pop Clusters sound interesting! I would try them first.
The baked rice chips!
I want one of these bars! Love the big apricot chunks!
The big chunks are awesome!
Oh and I would like to try the snack bars!!
I loved our granola bars and so did everyone else. Thanks so much for creating yours with ours in mind. Cheers, Tara
A great recipe. Thanks for the inspiration. With a kid in my son’s class with a severe nut allergy, I’m looking for new ideas all the time!
These look so tasty! Perfect lil snacks!
My boys are loving them!
The edamame trail mix sounds unique and delicious!
I would like to try the superfruit snack bars