No-Bake Fruit & Nut Granola Bars

Made with just 7 ingredients, No-Bake Fruit & Nut Granola Bars are quick to make, budget-friendly and great for lunch boxing & afternoon snacking.

This post was made possible by our friends at Made In Nature!

Healthy snacking made simple and delicious!

No-Bake Fruit & Nut Granola Bars are prepared in less than 10 minutes and made all in one bowl. Thanks to the quick oats, there is no food-processing needed making that one less dirty dish you’ll have to wash…a win in my book! You’re going to love the simple combination of your favorite nut butter, quick oats, the added crunch from crisp rice (aka: Rice Crispies) cereal, the touch of sweetness from the honey, the flavors from the Made In Nature dried fruit, the nuts as well as the chocolate chips and a dash of cinnamon if you wish.

And what’s better than knowing exactly what’s going into your food? When you purchase a box of granola bars, not only is it more expensive (we’ll get to that topic in sec.) but the ingredient list can get pretty lengthy, full of uncertain ingredients and added processed sugar is almost always a given. Additionally, making homemade granola bars is super easy, it’s fun, it’s versatile and it’s the perfect recipe to get kids involved in the kitchen.

Made In Nature snacks are available at Wal-Mart!

That’s right, you know we love our Made In Nature dried fruits & snacks and now they are available nationwide at Wal-Mart stores. Right, smack dab in the middle of the produce section! How convenient.

Made In Nature does not “mess around with food. Nature got it right the first time, and they’ve got mad respect for that”. We love that about Made In Nature and also that they’re products are USDA Certified Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, made with no sulfurs, additives or preservatives, and allergy & vegan friendly. So hit up your local Wal-Mart and grab yourself a bag of Made In Nature dried fruits or snacks. The Nutter & Jelly Nut Butter Figgy Pops are my personal favorite. In fact, they were even featured in our exclusive newsletter that we send out once a month to our subscribers. In that newsletter we include 5 things we’re loving lately.

A budget-friendly recipe. 

If you’re conscious of your spending like Jess and I are, or maybe you have a grocery budget you try to stick to, another perk of making your own granola bars is that it’s incredibly budget-friendly. And with Wal-Mart having such great prices and now offering a number of Organic food options, it results to even a greater savings! Lets compare purchasing a box of granola bars with making your own…..

The cost of a box of 6 organic granola bars is $3.29. That’s $.54/bar.

Now lets break down the cost of making the No-Bake Fruit & Nut Granola Bars:

• 2 cups Great Value Quick Oats ($.50)
• 1 cup Great Value Rice Crispies ($.12)
• 1 cup Great Value Organic Natural Peanut Butter ($.57)
• 1/4 cup Great Value Organic Raw Honey ($.66)
• 1/2 cup Made In Nature Fruit Fusion such as Mountain Gold Superfuel Blend ($1.59)
• 1/4 cup allergy-friendly mini chocolate chips ($1.02)
• 1 Tbsp. chia seeds ($.20)

All items purchased at Wal-Mart.

Total: $4.66 ($.29 for 1/16 of the recipe or 1 bar)  

By making your own granola bars, you reduce the cost by 46%. I’d say that’s worth 10 minutes of your time.

If you liked how we broke down the cost of the recipe and compared it the store-purchased version, please let us know in the comments below and we’ll do our best to continue to share this kind of information.

Mix-and-match your favorite ingredients.

Like our Trail Mix Energy Bites, No-Bake Fruit & Nut Granola Bars are very versatile in that you can mix-and match your favorite ingredients or use what you have on hand. For instance you can use whatever nut butter you like (I’ve made them with both peanut butter and cashew butter), you can change up the dried fruit and nuts, and you can make them nut-free by using sunflower seed butter and a combination of Made In Nature Dried Fruit and seeds of your choice. 

So without further ado, it’s time to give these No-Bake Fruit & Nut Granola Bars a try.

Pro tip: when pressing the dough into the pan, you want to be sure you really put some muscle into it and press it down very firmly. This will help the bars to really hold together nicely. I also recommend that you store them in the fridge as this will also help them stick together.

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Let's Get Cookin'

No-Bake Fruit & Nut Granola Bars

Made with just 7 ingredients, No-Bake Fruit & Nut Granola Bars are quick to make, budget-friendly and great for lunch boxing & afternoon snacking. A gluten-free recipe that’s prepared in less than 10 minutes. For a nut-free version, use sunflower seed butter and do not add any nuts.

• Author: Stacie Hassing
• Prep Time: 10 min
• Total Time: 10 min
• Yield: 16 squares 1x
• Category: Snack, Gluten-free

Print Recipe

★ 1 from 1 reviews

Ingredients

• 2 cups quick oats, uncooked
• 1 cup crisp rice cereal
• 1 cup nut butter (peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter or a mix)
• 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
• Dash of cinnamon, optional
• 1/2 cup dried fruit & nut/seed mix such as Made In Nature Fruit Fusion Mountain Gold Superfuel Blend (available in the Wal-Mart produce section)
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1 Tbsp. chia seeds

Instructions

1. Line a 9 x 9 square baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, crisp rice cereal, nut butter, cinnamon and honey. Stir until well combined. If too dry, add 1 tbsp. additional nut butter at a time. If too wet, add 2 Tbsp. quick oats at a time.
3. Fold in dried fruit, nut/seeds, mini chocolate chips and chia seeds. Once combined, transfer to the 9 x 9 inches square pan.
4. With hands, press very firmly into the pan. If dough is sticking to hands, brush or spray hands with oil.
5. Place in the refrigerator and allow to chill for 30 minutes before cutting into squares.

Notes

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 square
• Calories: 185
• Sugar: 3g
• Sodium: 40mg
• Fat: 10g
• Carbohydrates: 20g
• Fiber: 3g
• Protein: 6g

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This post was made possible by our friends at Made In Nature. Though we received compensation for this post, the opinions expressed here are  – as always -100% our own. Thank you for supporting the great companies we work with thereby allowing us to continue creating great recipes and content for you.

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About Stacie Hassing

Stacie is a Licensed and Registered Dietitian from rural southern Minnesota where she and her husband reside on 5 acres with their two pups, Walter & Lucy. She’s a creator of simple and wholesome recipes, a lover of nature, a crossfitter, a seasonal runner, and she’s on a mission to inspire as many as she can live a healthier and happier life from the inside out.