Just Like Nature Valley’s Oats ‘n Honeys Bars…..Actually they’re Better.
Oh, you guys. It has been snowing. And snowing.
And then snowing some more.
Really, we got a lot of snow. And to think two days ago I thought maybe spring might come a little earlier up here in the mountains.
Yeah, right. Those days of awesome sunshine and 30 degrees temps were short. Too short.
My die hard snowboarder brothers are pretty happy. Apparently, it was a major pow, pow day (Pow, pow is a lot of snow. I asked, they rolled their eyes.).
Ah, welcome to my life. Snowboard talk 24/7. Most the time I have no idea what everyone is talking about. I am in my own world thinking about Flourless Chocolate Cakes, Spring Pasta and those cute as can be Easter straws I got at Target thanks to Jessica.
So I tuned out the snowboard talk and day dreamed about Florida and palm trees and 80 degree weather. All while I stood by the heater (that is duct taped together, because the neck broke in half, jimmy rigged I think my dad calls it) that never leaves my side (never) and made granola bars.
Copy cat Nature Valley Oats ‘n Honey bars. They are the real deal.
My family loves these bars and I wanted to see if I could replicate them.
Mission accomplished! Oh, and they are SO easy. Like you need nine simple ingredients that you probably have on hand right now, five minutes of prep time and a little love from the oven. Then your golden! Literally they come out all golden and your kitchen will smell AMAZING. The smell alone is reason enough to make these.
Seriously, they are healthy, easy and in my opinion way better than the store-bought! Make yum today and eat them as a snack all week long!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Just Like Nature Valley’s Oats ‘n Honeys Bars…..Actually they
By halfbakedharvest
Course: Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: bars, oat bar
You need nine simple ingredients that you probably have on hand right now, five minutes of prep time and a little love from the oven. Then your golden! Literally they come out all golden and your kitchen will smell AMAZING.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup rolled oats use gluten free oats for a gluten free version
- 1/2 cup rice crispies cereal
- 3 tablespoons cornmeal
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons canola oil or I like to sometimes use coconut oil
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 9x9 inch square pyrex dish with parchment paper.
-
Combine the oats, rice crispies, cornmeal, salt and baking soda in a medium size mixing bowl. In a glass measuring cup or microwave safe bowl mix the honey and canola (or 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!
-
Place in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. The bars will be golden on top. Remove the bars (if your bars seem a little loose, I like to push down again on them to make sure the bars will hold together) 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.
Adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie
Maybe the spring forward will bring some spring weather. Hey, I can hope. Right?
Shared with: Inside BruCru Life, Lil Luna, Chef In Training, Buns In my Oven, Foodie Friday Friends, Tidy Mom, Taste and Tell, Cheerios and Lattes, Somewhat Simple, Mom on Timeout, I Heart Nap Time, Fine Craft Guide, The Country Cook, Whipperberry, Chef In Training
We finally got a break from the snow here in Central New York this weekend. It’s the warmest it’s been in a while! I love those NV bars (messy as they are), so I’m excited about this recipe. I’m sure your homemade version is 10x better.
The ingredients says oil, the directions say butter……which did you use?
Oh, geez I have done this twice now! Use coconut oil. Sorry, about that!
Thanks!
I have an intollerance to Corn, so I can’t use cornflour, can I substitute it for something else?
Hey Annie!
You can swap in whole wheat flour or I have even left it out and the bars turn out pretty much just the same! Hope this helps and I hope you love these!
You could replace it with corn meal.
I mean, flax meal.
Lovely recipe. Thanks!
@Andrea: Thanks for the flax meal suggestion! It’s healthy and sounds like a perfect substitute!
Hope you love these and let me know how the flax goes!
I did one batch as directed and the corn meal was a little much for me so I replaced it this time with graham cracker crumbs. They are cooling right this minute.
LOVE these! We eat a lot of those around here and if they can be made at home, they’re way cheaper!! Thanks for the recipe!
DELICIOUS! I made this today and omg…sooooooooooo good! My 13 year son can’t get enough. I’m going to blog tomorrow with pics and a link to your site. Thanks so much. Love your recipes!
~Carly
YA!
So excited to see a recipe for these bars! Thanks for sharing, I look forward to making them.
They are better than the boxed ones! I cut them while warm and then let them cool to a crisp. I think if I waited, they would have all broke. Thanks for the inspiration!
Glad you liked them!
These look amazing! I am pinning as I am a big fan of the store-bought versions!
Thanks for pinning!
These look so yummy. I just bought a box of these. I need to make these instead. Thanks for the recipe. Just pinned it!
Thanks for pinning!
Oh my gosh, those look exactly the same! I adore those bars and just bought a big box from Costco. Would love to be able to make these myself. Pinning!
Thanks for pinning!
Heavenly! I am a granola bar addict! Thanks for Sharing at Show Me Your Plaid Monday’s!
Totally pinning for later! Thanks for sharing! Also I would have had to ask about the “pow pow” too haha 🙂
Thanks for pinning!
We love Nature’s Valley granola bars too. So excited to try this version!
These look so good! I definitely want to make them.
These look amazing!!!! I wanted to ask if you tried adding other things to them like dried fruit or cut up almonds?
No, I have not. I would think a small amount of either though would work fine!
Yeah!!! I love making things I love homemade. I just pinned these and will be making them. Why buy them if you can make them better yourself? Thanks for this!
I totally agree! Thanks for pinning!
I made these today with my 6 & 3 yr old boys. They were a hit! Only had an 8 x 8 pyrex so the bars came out a little chewy but still great!!!
Ya! I am so excited you guys liked them! Thanks for sharing!
Totally going to make these for my boys!
These look so good! Can’t wait to make them, thanks for sharing the recipe! 🙂
-Kayla
We always make our own granola bars but the ones we make are thicker and cakey so I’m eager to try your recipe that looks more like a traditional granola bar. Thanks for the recipe.
I will definitely be trying these! I’m visiting from the Pinterest Power Party and am pinning this. Have a great day!
Another amazing recipe! So in love with your blog!!! Couldn’t find if you have an instagram account:(
http://dcinstyle.com/
Thank you and I do have on instagram account. These is a button on the right hand side of my page but here is the link http://followgram.me/halfbakedharvest
Mmmmm… these look delicious! Can’t wait to try them!
Thank you and let me know if you do!
Thanks so much for coming to (link) party with me… I hope you’ll come again next week to Super Saturday Show & Tell! http://www.whatscookingwithruthie.com xoxo~ Ruthie
OH MY WORD! I keep clicking on all the links I love from the Time to Sparkle link party and I keep clicking on your links 🙂 I live in Africa, and oooobviously have been having to live without my absolute FAVORITE granola bars- these. Definitely giving them a shot!
Oh my goodness! These look amazing! My family would love them!
Thanks!
THANK YOU!!! I’ve been trying for years to find a recipe that looks and tastes like our family’s favorite granola bars – this looks perfect!! I cannot WAIT to try your recipe! Thanks so much for sharing! 😀
I am so excited you are so excited about these! Let me know what you think!
I saw your link over at Plaid and Paisley. I love Nature Valley Honey Oat bars. I will have to try these out.
Hope you like them!
Do you think you could add some protein powder to these?
Honestly, I am not sure. What I would do is for every tablespoon of protein powder you use remove a tablespoon of cornmeal. Hope these these turn out great for you and let me know if the protein powder works!
I cannot wait to try these! I love these granola bars and would love to make them! thanks for posting- saw you on High Heels and Grills – xoxo Brook
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you like these!
I’ve given up on Spring coming, every time I turn around it’s snowing again. These look so yummy, I am making them today for an afterschool treat. Thanks! Found you over on Mom on Time out’s link party.
Hope you and your kids like these!
Love the idea of making these homemade! They sound great:@)
Thank you!
These look great! I’ve been trying out new granola bar recipes and these are making their way to my list! Thanks!
Thank you and I hope you like them!
These granola bars look really good! I usually make them with dried fruit, but these sound like a really crunchy treat!
They are crunch and delicious! Let me know if you give them a try!
Oh my gosh, I totally pinned these for later this week! I found your link on the Marvelous Monday linky party and I’m SOOOO glad I did! My husband loves these, but they aren’t GF or nut free, so they are off limits at our house. Now I can make them for him!
I love homemade granola bars. These look like you bought them and I know they are better because homemade is always better.
We may have met by chance…but we become friends by choice.
http://simpleesue.com/try-one-new-recipe-a-week-strawberry-cream-omelet/
I agree homemade is always better!
I love homemade granola bars. You can add whatever you want and they are convient to take with!
I totally agree!
<3
Oh yum! We love these here at our house as well. I just pinned this! Thanks so much!
Thank you ad thanks for pinning!
Great recipe for granola bars, we love the nature valley granola bars, so I’d love to try this recipe out.
Thank you! Let me know if you gives these a try!
I. want. one !!
My kids love granola bars and I am going to have to try making some soon! Thanks for sharing at Time To Sparkle!
My daughter loves the Nature Valley version. I’m anxious to try these! Thanks for sharing!
I hope you guys loves these! Let me know what you think!
Help. I let the bars cool 10 minutes and the minute I tried to remove them to cool the rest of the way, they fell apart. What did I do wrong?
Did you use the correct amount of honey? Or did you bake them long enough? Did you line you dish with parchment? I actually just made these again today and they turned out great!. It is really important to push down hard on the bars before baking (spray or rub your hands with oil first) and you can even do this after you take them out of the oven (while they are still in the pan). Also, i think cutting them before they get to hard is a good idea, maybe about 20 minutes after you take them out of the oven. Sometimes when they get to hard, they can crumble when you try to cut them into bars. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any more questions!
Yes to the honey, parchment paper, and I baked them for 23 minutes and they were turning brown when I removed them. I will try pressing down harder next time.
Did you cut them while in the pan?
I love Nature Valley granola bars, but because of nut processing issues, my kiddos can’t have them. So, thank you so much for this recipe! I can’t wait to get baking. 🙂
I am so glad you found this!! I hope you and your kids love the bars!
I Just wanted to let you know that you are featured in this weeks Manic Monday http://bobbiskozykitchen.blogspot.com/2013/04/manic-monday-party-30.html
Thank you! So glade you liked these!
These look so fantastic! I love these bars, so homemade must be even better. Have you ever tried shipping these? One of my friends loves granola bars, so I’m sure he’d love getting some in the mail if I made them. I’m just worried about how well they would keep after being in the mail for a few days…
I have never shipped them, but I would think if you packaged them really well they would be ok!! They lasts for weeks!
Awesome! Thanks so much. I’ll definitely be making these to include in my next round of care packages!
We love this recipe so much! Shared it today (with a few changes for our family) with my readers at http://www.created2fly.net/2013/07/friday-feature-oats-n-honey-granola.html
Blessings!
Tonya
Ya! So happy you guys loved these Tonya!!
If you would like to grab a button for your blog, please feel free! It’s located in the left column.
Blessings!
Tonya
Thanks Tonya!
why do you use the rice cereal? do you know if there is a substitute for that? thanks!
The rice cereal helps with the texture of the bars. You might be able to sub another unflavored cereal, but the texture will be different and I do think the rice cereal is the the best. If I were to use another cereal though I would use cheerios or corn flakes, but again I am not sure on the result of the bars then.
Hope these work out for you and I hope you love them!
I don’t have cornmeal and do not normally buy it can I replace it with something else?
Hi Christine! If you do not have cornmeal try using whole wheat flour or even all purpose. I do not think the texture will be as awesome, but it should work!
Hope you love these!
these are awesome!!! do you have the nutrition stats for them?
Hi Kathleen! Thanks so much, but I am sorry to say I do not have the nutrition info on these. You can calculate them for free online though!
Tieghan, I’ve been cooking a variety of your recipes for the past week and I have to tell you, every single one has been a hit. Tonight we had the polenta/mushroom/marinara sauce from one of your recent posts. I am never in the habit of commenting on blog posts but I need to start!
These granola bars look delicious. I’m wondering how I could incorporate apples into the mix?
Thanks!! 🙂
So happy you are loving my recipes! Thanks for making them!
I would just stir in 1 cup dried apples. Should work great! Let me know how it goes!
Can I substitute the honey for agave nectar?
Hey Sidney, I am not sure. Agave will give the bars a blander flavor. I would stick with honey, but let me know what you do. Hope they turn out great!
Do I have to you rice crispies?
I would, they add a nice crunch and help hold the bars together. You can use brown rice krispies if you need too.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Very excited about this. Think I could sub in Vegetable oil or crisco for the coconut oil or canola? (my canola smells bad and I don’t have Coconut oil….)
Hey Jenna! I would stick with the coconut oil, it helps bind everything together. If you can’t get coconut oil, try butter.
Hope you love these!!
I’ve made them twice now and I LOVE THEM… i use the crumbs in my yogurt sooooooooooo good… i added almonds to mine just because I love nuts…
So excited you love these! Thanks!
These are awesome! I didn’t Have rolled oats, honey or rice krispies so i subbed quick cooking oats, maple syrup and cheerios and they were soo yummy! And just like nature valley..THANK YOU!!!!!!
Just made my 1st attempt at making these. My Husband is addicted to Nature Valley Bars, he was so excited to try them he insisted on taking them out of the tin early & eating it warm. He loved them, he’s already eaten 2 & is chomping at the bit for a 3rd he he… I think they will take even nicer once they have properly cooled & have turned crispy.
I would love to know how many calories each bar works out at for the ingredients amount listed.
Hi! I can not wait to make these! I am always secretly jealous when I buy the NV bars for my daughter because I can’t have them! I’d love to make a double (or even triple!) batch. Have you ever frozen them? How long should they last otherwise?
Thanks!
Select elective courses at the university level that provide you the
fundamental knowledge needed to create tales on architecture.
Super disappointed these didn’t come out. Mine were crumbly, didn’t even stick, not even granola like. I’m an expeienced cook, so it’s not my error.
I’m sorry but I have to say this. It doesn’t matter how experienced you are, you can always make a mistake.
So I have attempted making these bars two times, and I just can’t get them to stick together! Every time I make them, let them
Cool for 10 minutes then try to cut them, I end up with chunky granola instead of bars that look like the picture! Can anyone tell me what I might be doing wrong?
Hi, Have you tried cutting them right when you take them out of the oven?? Maybe for some reason that might work for you. Let me know and sorry for the trouble!
It has emerged that fashion blogging in the UK has
come to be increasingly prominent amongst any age groups.
could I add spices like cinnamon and cloves or do you think the flavor would be too overpowering for these. they sound amazing and I want to try them but I was curious how you thought cinnamon would change the taste
I think that cinnamon would be just delicious!! Hope you love these! THANKS!
Hey there,
These look fantastic, have been buying the natures valley ones and want to try making my own. Could anyone tell me the rough calorie count per bar? Are they about the same as the natures valley? Single bar has around 100cals, the two pkt is 200cals. I know I can add it all up and divide by the amount of bars, but if someone else has done it already would be great to save the effort. Thanks Lara.
This looks delish!!! One question though.. do you think the brown sugar?
I made these bars this morning and they were very crumbly. I pressed them into the pan very firmly with the bottom of a measuring cup as mentioned in the directions and then I pressed them again after they came out of the oven but when I cut them they just crumbled. Any suggestions as to what I did wrong?
Did you cute them warm out of the oven?
Will all purpose or bread flour work instead of cornmeal?
Hi! All-purpose flour will be fine. Hope you love these!
I’m making these right now!!
yay! hope you love them!
Hi Tieghan,
I love your blog and these look awesome. I just have two questions. Could I use sunflower oil instead of coconut oil as the latter is not very cholesterol friendly (both hubby and my eldest son are on cholesterol lowering medication)?
Is there anything I could use instead of rice krispie cereal as I can’t get hold of it here in Greece? Thanx ever so much
Hey Tatiana!
Yes, you can use sunflower oil and just replace the rice krispie treat with more oats. Let me know if you have questions. Thanks so much!
Hmm these look delicious, thanks for posting up this recipe, looks quite simple to make.
Simon
Thanks Simon! Hope you love the bars!
Mine just feel apart and advice on what I might have done wrong. Also I added a plethora of nuts.
Hi Juan, did you add a little more nuts? That is most likely your issue because the bars need a certain amount of “glue” aka, honey to stick together and if you add more to the mix, they will not stick as well. Let me know if you have questions. Thanks!
Total fail ? I was so excited. They crumbled apart when I cut them. They do smell wonderful though.
So sorry to hear that Shannon! Did you use enough honey?? It is really important to push down hard on the bars before baking (spray or rub your hands with oil first) and you can even do this after you take them out of the oven (while they are still in the pan). Also, i think cutting them before they get to hard is a good idea, maybe about 20 minutes after you take them out of the oven. Sometimes when they get to hard, they can crumble when you try to cut them into bars. Let me know if you have other questions!!
I am so freaking excited about this recipe!!!!! But I have two questions:
1. Can I make this as loose granola vs bars?
2. Do you have a “chewy” version of the recipe?
My parchment paper stuck to my bars. ? I couldn’t salvage all of them but they were definitely tasty! I broke them into small pieces for cereal for my daughter. She was so excited that had a bowl for supper!
Oh no!! So sorry that happened!! At least she liked them!
I tried these today and it was a fail 🙁 at 20 minutes the bottoms were burning..it was cuttable but they were overdone and deep brown . I followed the recipe exactly, even the pressing down before and after. I will try lowering the temperature or cutting the cook time a but
Hi! I would cook at 325 degrees F and start checking them around 15 minutes. SO SORRY that they burned for you!
Awh sorry about this Debbie. Yes, try it again and let me kow how it goes! Thanks!
In case anyone is still struggling wit their bars flaking apart, we found an easy solution. The first time they were a mess, but the second, we put the cornmeal and oats in the food processer briefly (pulsed about 10 times), then added the rest of the dry ingredients. We also upped the salt and added a little caramel extract. The texture was much better and they didn’t get crumbly at all. The taste was a little more on par for us as well. Hope that helps!
Thanks for helping out Sarah (:
I made these bars they were great. I add cranberries and walnuts to batch.
The second batch I put Sugar Free Strawberry Jam between to layers of the oatmeal and honey.
Sounds amazing! Thanks so much for making it!
I know this is, oh, 4 years late… but, rice krispies are not gluten free because they have malt flavoring (derived from barley).
To make this gluten free they’d have to omit the rice krispies as well as use gluten free oats. Kelloggs tried to make a GF version but they were discontinued since they were never able to keep them from being contaminated.
Oh wow, I did not realize those were not gluten free! Thank you for letting me know!
I just looked at a box of Nature Valley’s Oats ‘N Honey bars yesterday. They admit using genetically modified ingredients. If people have not looked into GMO’s, they should!
Thank you Pat!
Enjoyed reading the article above , really explains everything in detail,the article is very interesting and effective.Thank you and good luck for the upcoming articles!
Thank you so much!
Hi Tieghan! First of all thank you for this recipe (and for many more I made already). Second, I would make those just for a smell. It’s absolutely irresistible. However I have a problem with this recipe. I made these bars 3 times already and they keep falling apart. I use your recipe from the book and it slightly different, but very close. What can I do to keep them in bars form and not create a granola?
Hi! Can you give me any more info in how you are baking the bars? The time at which you cut the bars is VERY important If you wait too long they will crumble. Hope I can help!
Thanks, these look amazing! If i want to add something like blueberries, what would i need to change to make it work?
HI! I don’t recommend adding any additions to these bars as they will crumble once baked. They are a tight packed bar, so I worry the berries will cause them to not hold up. If you would really like to add fruit, I recommend 1/2 cup dried blueberries and pack them tightly into the mix before baking. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Made these! They’re good, my husband likes them too and we both love the Nature’s Valley ones, but the store bought ones are sooo bad for you. These don’t taste exactly like those – they taste healthier, which is probably a good thing! 😉 Cheap to make, super easy, will be making more! Thank you!
I am so glad you liked these and I love when things taste healthier.. especially when they are! Thank you for trying these! xTieghan
Hi! Can I use sunflower oil instead?
Hi Toia,
Yes that will work! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
why did mines come out soft like they break . how do i get them crunchier ? let them cool longer ?
why aren’t mines cruncher ? let them cool longer ?
These turned out absolutely beautiful- however I made a few adjustments.
1. Instead of cornmeal I used wholemeal self-raising flour.
2. I omitted the brown sugar, vanilla and baking soda.
3. I baked at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes then lowered the oven temperature and kept cooking until really golden brown- around an additional 20 minutes. Cooled off in the oven as well.
These are amazing- so crunchy, tasty and much healthier than the original!! Really recommend.
Hi Lucy! I am really glad this recipe turned out well for you! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
Can I use quick oats instead of rolled oats? Looking forward to trying these but keep buying the wrong oats 🙁
Hey Jen,
I am so sorry but I have not tested this recipe with quick oats, so I am unsure of the results. I hope you love the recipe. Please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy New Year! xTieghan
These were fantastic except that I messed up and read the amount of salt incorrectly. Luckily I like salty things. Oops.
Hey Haleigh,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad it was enjoyed! xTieghan
I haven’t made these, yet. I noticed that one bar of your recipe has almost as many calories as 2 bars of Nature Valley. Are your bars bigger? Thanks!
Hey Dawn,
They are thicker than one bar. I hope this helps! xTieghan