Crunchy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Oats ‘n Honey Bars
Yup! Just like Nature Valley’s, but better!
Now I know I posted these copycat Nature Valley Oat’s ‘n Honey Bars a few months ago, but those were just the original. I mean we love the original over here, but we equally love the peanut butter.
Really though, did you think we wouldn’t? They’re sweet, crunchy peanut butter bars!
And I mean it is pretty obvious we love us some peanut butter over here.
Wasn’t it just last week that I posted this heavenly, insanely delicious, perfect warm weather treat? Yeah, I am talking about you, Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Fudge Brownie Ice Cream! And exactly one week earlier I post this crazy Grilled Banana Bread Peanut Butter S’more Sandwich!
Oh fudge, this is getting embarrassing. Not even four days earlier I posted these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Special K-bars. Yeah, those bars have an entire peanut butter layer!
So I think I need to lay off the peanut butter for a while…..
Unless of course I come up with yet another delicious way to use it. Then I will just HAVE to tell you about it. Cause really I can’t hold in the excitement. It’s pathetic.
Really, sometimes after I take pictures and I feel like the picture turned out just the way I wanted them to, I get SO excited to share the recipe with you guys. Like I think to myself “oh, they are going to LOVE this!”.
Seriously, could I get any weirder?
I actually made these because Asher wanted some more bars to have as snacks. The girl loves her snacks. She has been asking for me to make these for days. I finally gave in……like always.
That girl knows exactly how to work me.
Really she has got me wrapped around her cute little muti-colored painted finger nails, that she keeps reminding me, “Tiegy, they really need to be redone”.
These are really simple.
No, really they are. Five minutes prep, one bowl and 20 minutes in the oven. DONE!
Really you can’t get to the store and back faster than that. Plus, these things are awesome! They taste better than the ones from the shelf. Asher approved. And trust me, she’d tell you if they were bad.
I know from experience.
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Crunchy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Oats ‘n Honey Bars
By halfbakedharvest
Course: Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: oatmeal bar, peanut butter
These bars are awesome! They taste better than the ones from the shelf.
Ingredients
- 3 cups rolled oats use gluten free oats for a gluten free version
- 1 cup rice crispies cereal
- 1/4 cup roasted peanuts chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons peanut butter divided
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 9x13 inch pyrex dish with parchment paper (do not skip this step).
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Combine the oats, rice crispies, chopped peanuts, salt and baking soda in a medium size mixing bowl. In a glass measuring cup or microwave safe bowl mix the honey, 1/2 cup peanut butter and coconut oil. Place in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stir to melt the coconut butter then add the vanilla and brown sugar. Whisk to combine and then mix the wet with the dry ingredients. Transfer the oat mixture to the prepared pyrex dish that is lined with parchment paper, and press down hard. I used the back of a measuring cup (spray or oil the bottom so it does not stick and press hard!) and it worked awesome!
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Microwave the remaining 2 tablespoons of peanut butter for 30 seconds. Drizzle over the top of the bars.
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Place in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. The bars will be golden on top. Remove the bars and let the bars cool in the pan for 10-20 minutes then remove from the pan and then cut while the bars are firm, but still somewhat soft. Place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in a sealed container or wrapped in plastic wrap.
Peanut Butter, Crunchy, Oatmeal goodness!
Oh my goodness these look amazing!!! And the peanut butter are my favorite! These are pinned and on my “to make” list 🙂
Thank you!! Hope you love them and thanks for pinning!
I love these SO much Tieghan. Way better than buying them!
Thank you, Dorothy!! I bet Jordan would love them, Asher sure does!!
I bet these are so good! I’ve been wanting to make some homemade bars and what better way than with peanut butter!
Peanut Butter make everything better!! Well, at least I think so! Thanks Megan!
Tiegan, I want to make everything you post! I would love to highlight your recipes at ON THE MENU MONDAY but I can’t copy your images. You have the BEST Recipes. Thanks for sharing!
These look just like the store-bought ones! Can’t wait to try 🙂
Promise they are better!! Thanks Liz!
Yum! These look like they would make the perfect afternoon snack! Pinning 🙂
Thanks Nicky and thanks for pinning!
Yum, these look so delicious and would be great for my school recess 🙂 I love Nature Valley oats n honey bars!
Thank you!!
That hand picture of your little sister pretty much just makes this post for me. Too.adorable 🙂
HA! Thanks Averie, She is the best little “helper”!
These are AMAZING my friend. Truly – a must make. I love those crunchy Nature’s Valley bars! I grew up eating them before swim practice everyday. This is so much better than buying them too – cheaper and healthier. Pinning!
Thanks Sally!! And thanks so much for pinning!
Those sound fantastic! I’ve always wanted to make my own bars like this cause my fiance and I usually eat some kind of bar in the morning for breakfast. Thanks for the inspiration!
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow
Thank you! Hope you guys love them!
So weird.. my hubs was just talking about these. He is allergic to PB & nuts (ahhh!), but he use to be able to eat NV granola bars – the non-peanut butter varieties – be now there is an allergy warning on all varieties. He was saying how he missed them and I needed to find a way to make them! I can swap Sunbutter for PB…gunna try these!
Ya!! You should also check out my Original ones without peanut butter!! Here is the link:
Hope you guys love these!
Thanks so much for the recipe! I made these today and they were a huge hit…crunchy, just sweet enough and totally satisfying 🙂 I had a hard time getting my peanut butter (organic) to drizzle, so I added a little coconut oil to it and that worked perfectly!
Smart thinking on the coconut oil!! I am so glad you love these! Thanks for making them and letting me know ho much you love them! I love comments like these!
Keep bringing the peanut butter treats…you know I don’t mind at all!!! I love your cute little helper/food taster!
Hehe! Thanks Jocelyn! Asher LOVES these bars!
This is exactly what I need for my kids after school snacks! Thanks so much for sharing!
I hope they love them! Thanks Adelina!
Yum!
I would love for you to link up to my TGIF Link Party! Who knows, you just might be featured next week!
http://apeekintomyparadise.blogspot.com/2013/05/a-peek-into-my-paradise-tgif-link-party.html
Cathy
Thank you Cathy!
These bars are looking fabulous !!
I’m saving the recipe as I’m definitely going to try this recipe
Thanks!!
Thanks Winnie!! Hope you love them!
I’m definitely going to make these – the hubby will love me. He absolutely adores Nature Valley bars.
Ps. Love your blog – so glad I found it!
Ya!!! Thank Laura!! I am so glad to have you as reader!! Your kind words mean everything to me!
These look great! I would love to include these in my weekly meal plan next week!
Thank you, Kristen!! Hope you give them a try next week!! Plan them girl!!
Asher is adorable! And love her nails!
Ha! Thanks you Nessa! I will tell her you said so!
these are my son’s absolute favorite snack – I cannot wait to make them.
Oh I hope he loves them, my little sis did!!
Just found your lovely blog. The layout and photography are amazing. I can’t believe you are only 19. Well done and I shall be back for sure.
Carolyn
Aw thank you Desire!! That is so nice and I am so glad you like my site! Thanks for checking it out!!
I love Nature Valley Granola Bars but gave them up when I stopped eating processed food. I will have to try these. They look just like the ones you find at the store!
They are better, I promise!! Thank for reading Victoria!
Can you substitue a different oil, like canola for the coconut oil? Coconut oil just has so much saturated fat in it. This will probably affect the texture, but since you’re melting it I thought it might not.
You could try, but I am not sure the bars will hold up as well. Either way the taste will be delicious. I would try it, my guess it it will work fine. Hope you love these!
My family loves Nature Valley bars so when I found these on Pinterest I had to give them a try. By far these are so much better! My husband likes them fresh out the freezer and everyone I’ve given a sample to gave me positive feedback like I’ve never received before! My first batch with regular peanut butter was not too crunchy but tasted AMAZING. Any tips on how to get them a little crunchier? Cutting them up was kind of a disaster, they just fell apart.
So glad you liked these!! Here are my tips. Before you put the bars in the oven push down on the bars as hard as you can with the back of a measuring cup (rub the back of a measuring cup with some oil so is does not stick to the bars) before baking and then again after they come out of the oven. Then the only way to get them crunchier would be to bake longer, maybe 5 to 10 minutes. Also, I would let them sit in the pan for 10 minutes and then cut them well they are still soft. If they are completely hard when you try and cute them with will probably crumble on you.
Hi. Made these bars today and they were delicious! Thanks for posting the recipe! I was wondering how many calories you think are in a single bar?
Hi Kathleen!! Thanks so much for making these and I am so happy you loved them! I really have no idea how many calories are in each bar. If I had to guess I would say they around the same (or less) as the store bought version, which is 90 calories per bar. Again, though I do not know this for sure.
Hope this helps and thanks again!
Tieghan. ok great! Thanks for getting back to me.
Hello
Do you have any idea if you have to use “regular” peanut butter or could I use “natural” peanut butter? Sometimes, recipes don’t work with the natural peanut butter (just crushed peanuts, kind you have to stir)
Thank you
Hi Kelly, I would recommend not using natural peanut butter. I think the oils would cause the bars to not stick together. Hope you love these!
Just made these. They’re nice and peanut buttery, but definitely less salt next time…
Thanks Sarah! Sorry there was too much salt for your taste though!
Please make sure that if you are making these gluten free that you also use gluten free rice krispies and that all other ingredients are gluten free as well (sometimes peanuts have gluten added for anti-caking so be VERY careful that ALL ingredients are gluten free!). Just using gluten free oats doesn’t make them gluten free! Also, ensure that there is no cross-contamination with gluten at any time!
If you want a gluten free version, do not use rice cereal unless it is certified gluten free. Otherwise, maltodexterin will swoop in with a dangerous promise of gluten
what can you use if you can’t get hold of coconut oil? really fancy making these but not sure i will be able to get this in the UK..
Hi! You can buy coconut oil on Amazon, but if you would rather try swapping butter. Not sure how well it will hold together, but it should taste great! Hope that helps and let me know if you have any more questions.
Ok, well…I can’t say I really enjoyed these. They taste NOTHING like nature valley bars. I only use normal people butter…you know, the ones with just peanuts and salt! That other stuff with sugar and all that other crap is not peanut butter to me. i would have appreciated knowing that Skippy or Jiff is what is required for this recipe. Normal regular peanut butter doesn’t work! The bars fall apart completely and have zero sweetness. Just a very bland bar.
I only buy natural peanut butter as well, so I read through the comments before I made these. After reading your post, I made a couple of changes and they came out great! First, I always toast my oats with butter and canola oil, no matter what recipe I’m making, using Ree Drummond’s method from her recipe for granola bars on The Pioneer Woman blog, this added 2T butter and 1/8c of oil. Ree’s recipe also adds salt to the oats. I also added 1/8c of molasses, and 1/2c of wheat germ. They were just a bit warm still when I cut them and they held up nicely. My biggest critic will be home from school soon, so we’ll find out how good they really are, lol, but I like them.
So happy you liked these and I love the idea of toasting the oats. Sounds awesome!!
Thanks so much! 🙂
I am so gonna make this. I love peanut butter.
I only have one question, can you put them in the freezer?
They can be stored in the freezer. Hope you love these!!
These are soooooo good. Thank you. 🙂
So happy you love them! Thanks!!
These look amazing! My daughter was just diagnosed with a peanut allergy (and my husband and I LOVE peanut butter!), so what could I use in place of peanut butter? Thanks for your help! I love your site!
Thanks so much! You can swap almond or any other nut and or seed butter. Also, I have a version of these with out any nut butter. Here is the recipe:
Hope you guys love these!
Hi. I tried these bars and they are amazing! But I was wondering, would it work with almond butter? Would it stick as good as with peanut butter? Thanks!
HI! I am not sure, but typically the two can work hand in hand, so I would say yes! Let me know how it goes.
Its was great! I did everything the same except I used almonds and almond butter instead of peanuts and peanut butter. Awesome recipe!!!
So happy you loved these! Thanks!
These bars look and taste amazing but I’ve made them twice now and each time they crumble apart. I have been pressing down quite hard prior baking and using plenty of peanut butter to bind the bars but the edges of the pan crumble when I remove the parchment paper before cutting. Do you have any suggestions to keep the bars whole?
Thanks!
Hey Bailey,
so happy you love these, but sorry they are crumbling on you. Do you cut the bars once cool or while they are still warm? If you try cutting them while they are still slightly warm and allowing the to cool completely before storing this might help.
These are soo awesome!! I made them just like the directions the first time and loved them! The second time I added a few mini dark choc chips and some ground flax and they were great too! I also loved how easy they were to make! Thanks for the recipe! Will be sharing with friends &family!
Question for you – why do you need baking soda? Have only ever used it in cake and pancake recipes or added to chickpeas to soften and speed cooking. Just curious as to what purpose it serves.
All the granola bar recipes I’ve tried have crumbled, so I got smart. I added in 1 Tbsp of cocoa powder with the dry ingredients to make this more chocolatey and used canola oil instead of coconut oil, then when I made it I put the mixture into muffin cups and pressed down as hard as I could with a spoon. Cooked for 10 min and they held up! Ended up with 18 beautiful granola cups! I’m trying to cut back on sugar here so I’m going to try using some applesauce instead of some of the honey. Will update with how that goes. Love this recipe!
These look amazing! Could I make them chewy by under-baking them?
I am not sure, but possibly. Totally something you can try!! 🙂
Made these bars today with less honey and added a little coconut since I used peanut oil instead of coconut oil. Loved the flavor and not too sweet. Unfortunately when I tried to cut them after 12 minutes, they mostly crumbled. The crumbs are delish though.
Ye, you have got to let them cool, BUT if you are OK with crumbs those are delish too! 🙂
Thanks!
These were really good. I did not have coconut oil or rice krispies. Instead I used butter and capt. crunch cinnamon rolls. I sprinkled with nutella. Next time I make them I will use less peanut butter and add dried fruit.
So what does the baking soda do for this recipe, especially such a small amount?
HI! The baking soda just makes these a little lighter and less dense.
Just made these the other night! Love the flavor but when I cut them they got very crumbly….so now I just have a bunch of broken pieces. Any advice on how to get them to stay intact?
Hey Aimee! Did you cut them while warm or cold? I have found it best to cut these while still slightly warm! So happy you like these!
Thanks for the quick reply! I will try cutting them sooner next time 🙂
Hope that works for you! Have a great weekend!
Hi this recipe looks really good and I want to try it. I have no rice crispies. Can I leave it out? Or what can I substitute instead for it?
HI! Use equal amounts oats for the crispies. Thanks!
These look great but are they crunchy? Do you have a chewy version?
These look great but are they crunchy? Do you have a chewy version of gronola bars u could charge the recipe to?
Thank you! Yes, they are crunchy. here is a chewy bar:
Thanks for the recipe me and the kiddos made these today and they were crumbly, i pressed really hard and let cool for about 10 min before attempting to cut. They were still warm. It created a crumbly mess but the flavor is great. Not sure what the issue is as other posters mentioned…
Hey! So you probably needed to let the bars cool more like 15 minutes. Cutting needs to happen at just the right time or they will crumble on you. I have also found that cutting them in the pan help them hold their form as well. Please let me know if you have any questions. Sorry for the trouble!
the directions and ingredient list don’t match
Hi Tina, what does not match?
Would love to try this. Is there any substitute for coconut oil?
You can swap it for butter. Let me know if you have other questions.
I love this recipe!! I burnt mine tho! Boo!! But even burnt they tasted really good! ???. They didn’t hold together so well tho. Maybe I didn’t compact it well enough? Or the bars were too fat? IDK. I think I used a 9×13 pan. Oooohhh! I used a metal pan. Could that be why? Any thoughts??
HI! It sounds like maybe it was the burning that was the issue. Everything else that you did sounds like it should have worked! Please let me know if you have other questions. Glad you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
They didn’t hold together…..just crumbled?What did I do wrong?
I am sorry for the trouble. Can you give me some more info on how you baked this? It is hard to help without any details.
I made the original bars from Half Baked Harvest. Delicious but definitely no where near bar form. Just crumbles together. Any advice? Followed recipe exactly —no substitutions. Thanks
HI! Are you firmly pressing the bars in the pan? How long are you waiting to cut them after taking them out of the oven. Hope I can help!
I’m going to have to give them a try. My husband eats the store bought kind every day.
That is amazing! I hope he loves these just as much! Thank you Kim!
Amazing recipe !!!! I’ve made this for my hubby this afternoon. He’s a big peanut butter lover !! Can’t wait to make him taste !!!!
Awh so sweet! I hope you both love these bars Lexie! xTieghan
What can I substitute honey with?
Hi there! The honey is pretty essential to this recipe, so I don’t recommend subbing it out if you can avoid. If you have to use something else, try maple syrup or agave nectar. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
Such a nice recipe; I will surely make it. I lied it so much. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Hi! These (and the originals) look exactly like what I just tried to make last night and failed miserably. All the easy no bake oat and peanut butter energy balls or bars are fine but they don’t.. travel well. SO I was on the hunt for something I could bake first and the bars that came out were softer and super.. super dry. They weren’t awful but unless you had milk on hand nah-uh. So I saw in the original recipe version, you said the cornstarch could be omitted or replaced with flour and that’s great, buuut I have a question about the rice krispie part. Could I omit that? Or replace it with another cereal? (Cheerios or Chex? Which I realize are bigger…) and could you add almond slices to this without severely ruining it? Just kinda.. looking at what I have in the pantry/fridge to make this work in between the “need to have this now for work days” and the food shopping trip.
Hey Amanda,
Thanks so much! Sure, I bet you could add these without having any issues. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan