These Homemade Healthy Granola Bars are full of good stuff – oats, wheat germ, flax seed, dried cranberries, and applesauce to name a few! They’re quick to make and are a great healthy snack to eat throughout the week. A family favorite!
I’m behind in sharing this yummy recipe with you because I had too great of a weekend! Our 4th of July was so fun. We hung out at the beach all day long and then watched the fireworks on top of our suburban. The perks of having a big car! We just had my two little guys since Justin is in Utah visiting his dad and Chance went to his friends cabin for a few days. Brock and Tate loved the fireworks, even though they were absolutely exhausted and passed out on the way home afterwards.
I couldn’t have asked for a better holiday – it was great! Cory goes back to work tomorrow and I’m sad about it. It’s been great to have him home with us for the last 10 days.
It will be nice to get back on a schedule though. And back to healthier eating. I’ve had a cold for the last few days. All of my boys had it and right after we got home from our Palm Springs vacation, I caught it. (Eye roll here.) Thanks a lot kids. 😉 I’m just now starting to feel a little better. I had to tough it out through the last few days and pretend I wasn’t entirely stuffed up and miserable.
I wasn’t very hungry for the first few days of my cold but just wanted to snack more than eat big meals. These homemade healthy granola bars saved the day. They surprisingly fill you up but taste like a dessert. It’s the best of both world’s for me. They’re healthy, filling and delicious. They’re soft and chewy too. Better for us old people with bad teeth that can’t handle the crunchy kind of granola bars. 😉
What’s great about these homemade granola bars, is that my kids will actually eat them. They have no clue that they’re eating something that’s much healthier than pop-tarts – haha!
I added dried cranberries to these but feel free to omit them or add in something else you like instead. Other dried fruit or even chocolate chips for an added treat, would be delicious.
These homemade healthy granola bars are great to make at the beginning of the week and eat all week long! Perfect for breakfast, a quick snack or dessert. You will love having this quick snack to grab when you’re hungry!

Ingredients
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup Truvia Brown Sugar Blend or about 3/4 - 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup wheat germ
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed
- 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries can substitute with other dried fruit or omit if desired
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 cup canola oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Spray a 9x13 generously with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, lightly mix together oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, flax seed, cinnamon, wheat flour, cranberries and salt with wooden spoon.
- Make a well in the middle of the oat mixture and add the egg, vanilla, applesauce, honey and oil. Mix with wooden spoon until just combined.
- Pour into prepared pan and press down evenly using your fingertips. Bake in preheated oven to 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through.
- Cool and then cut into bars. Serve and enjoy! Keep in airtight container to keep fresh.
If you liked this recipe, you might like these too:
Baked Apples with Yogurt & Granola
More Granola Bar Recipes from friends:
- The Best Dang Granola Bars EVER by Sugar Dish Me
- No Bake Chewy Granola Bars by Mandy’s Recipe Box
- Chewy Pretzel Peanut Butter Granola Bars by A Dash of Sanity
These look delicious! We are going on a trip next week, and I think these will make perfect airplane snacks. 🙂
I am loving everything about these bars! We live off snack bars during the week so definitely making these soon! And a beach day? Totally jealous!
Thanks Meg!! They’re so easy and so good!
Can’t wait to try these! We love soft granola bars too! 🙂
what could I replace flax seeds with ?
Thank you
Hi Sharon! You can just leave the flax seeds out!