Homemade cereal bars are one of the best ways to start your day. Plus, they’re simple and easy to make with only a few key ingredients and steps. You can completely customize them to your family’s tastes and add healthy, protein-rich ingredients to keep everyone full all morning. From sweet and salty to chewy and nutty and gluten-free options too, check out these healthy and filling cereal bar recipes to start your morning off right!
How to Make Cereal Bars: 8 Tips and Hacks
1. Prep Your Pan
Line an 8 x 10 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Leave a slight overhang so it’s easier to remove your bars at the end. Set aside.
2. Mix Together Wet Ingredients and Flavourings
The wet ingredients for cereal bars include nut or seed butter, a sticky natural sweetener like honey or maple syrup and coconut oil. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt these ingredients together. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, while stirring, then allow it to boil so the mixture thickens. Remove from heat, then add additional flavourings such as cinnamon, vanilla and salt if you’re using them.
3. Stir In Dry Ingredients
Once you’ve mixed together the wet ingredients, stir in the dry ingredients including the cereal and other mix-ins such as shredded coconut, dried fruits or chocolate chips. Mix until everything is well combined. Then press the mixture into the lined pan. Bake or refrigerate depending on the recipe.
4. Don’t Add Too Many Mix-Ins
It’s easy to get excited with all the ingredients you can mix into cereal bars. From nuts and seeds to dried fruits and chocolate, you can really get creative with your bars. However, it’s best not to go overboard with your mix-ins. This makes it more likely for your cereal bars to crumble and fall apart.
5. Ensure They Stick Together with Nut Butter
Nut butter such as almond butter or peanut butter is a key ingredient in cereal bars. To make sure your cereal bars stick together, melt your nut butter together with your syrup of choice (brown rice syrup, maple syrup) or honey. Since cereal bars contain a bunch of smaller ingredients, making sure they hold together is key.
6. Don’t Be Scared to Adjust Consistency
If your cereal bar mixture seems too dry, mix in 1-2 teaspoons of warm water at a time to help the ingredients bind and stick together. If the mixture seems too wet, experiment with adding more cereal, shredded coconut, ground flaxseed or almond flour to help everything bind together. Eggs, flax eggs and puréed bananas are also great binders.
7. Pack Your Cereal Mixture Into the Pan
Pack your cereal mixture down very tightly and firmly into the pan. Use a spatula or lay a piece of parchment paper over it and press down very hard with your hands. This is key to good cereal bars!
8. Refrigerate
Although cereal bars are fine to keep at room temperature, for the best texture, keep them in the fridge or freezer in an airtight container. This will keep them firm and chewy, plus they’ll also last longer!
3 Essentials to Invest In
1. Baking Tray
A baking tray is a must for making cereal bars. You can pretty much use any size, but an 8x1o inch pan is a good place to start.
2. Large Mixing Bowl
You’ll need a large mixing bowl to combine all your ingredients for the cereal bars together. Since you’ll be combining your wet and dry ingredients together and cereal bars are made in batches, you want to make sure your bowl is big enough to hold everything.
3. A Good Knife
Once your cereal bar mixture is ready (baked or unbaked), you’ll have to slice them into even bars. For this, you’ll need a good, sharp kitchen knife.
12 Healthy Cereal Bar Recipes
1. Healthy 3-Ingredient No Bake Cereal Bars | The Big Man’s World
2. Healthy Cereal Bars with Chocolate | Erin Lives Whole
3. Chewy, Crunchy Cereal Bars | Eating Bird Food
4. Healthy 5-Ingredient Granola Bars | Minimalist Baker
5. Soft and Chewy Granola Bars with Almond, Chocolate Chips and Dried Cranberries | Inspired Taste
6. No Bake Granola Bars with Cinnamon, Nut Butter and Seeds | Cookie and Kate
7. Healthy Peanut Butter Granola Bars | The Real Food Dieticians
8. No Bake Almond Cherry Granola Bars | Eat Well 101
9. Homemade KIND Bars | Eat Yourself Skinny
10. No Bake Sweet and Salty Cereal Bars | Deliciously Yum
11. Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cheerio Bars with Flax | Ambitious Kitchen
12. Healthy Granola Bars with Nuts and Seeds | Haute and Healthy Living
12 Gluten-Free Cereal Bar Recipes
1. Cereal Bars with Chocolate, Honey and Nuts | Gluten Free on a Shoestring
2. Chewy, Nutty Granola Bars | Love and Lemons
3. Oatmeal Raisin Granola Bars | Beaming Baker
4. Peanut Butter Cereal Bars | Plating Pixels
5. Gluten-Free Soft Granola Bars | One Lovely Life
6. Homemade Berry Chia Oatmeal Bars | Snixy Kitchen
7. Blueberry Crisp Granola Bars | Brewing Happiness
8. Apple Cinnamon Baked Bars | My Gluten-Free Kitchen
9. Vegan No Bake Gluten Free Granola Bars | Texanerin
10. Honey-Sweetened Almond Chocolate Chip Granola Bars | Cookie and Kate
11. Peanut Butter Cheerios Cereal Bars | My Recipes
12. Apple Cinnamon Gluten Free Cereal Bars | This Mama Loves
12 High Protein Cereal Bar Recipes
1. 4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cereal Bars | I Heart Nap Time
2. Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cereal Bars | A Treat’s Affair
3. Cereal Protein Bars | Chew Out Loud
4. Protein Cereal Bars | Cheat Day Design
5. Soft and Chewy Protein Granola Bars | Running with Spoons
6. Vegan Protein Cereal Bars | The Conscious Plant Kitchen
7. Protein Cereal Bars with Peanut Butter and Honey | Weelicious
8. Milk and Cereal Protein Bars | Hayl’s Kitchen
9. Banana Walnut Oatmeal Bars | One Green Planet
10. Protein Cereal Bars with Protein Powder | Cabot Cheese
11. No-Bake Oatmeal Protein Bars with Chocolate Chips | Jar of Lemons
12. Cereal Bars with Almond and Cranberries | The Foodie Affair
Cereal bars are a simple and delicious way to start your day. Try out these recipes to get your morning started on the right foot.
