Homemade Granola Bars without Nuts
Soft and chewy, homemade granola bars without nuts! These granola bars are quick to throw together and bake. They serve as an easy breakfast or snack option. Most granola bars utilize a nut butter in the recipe but these homemade nut free granola bars are allergen friendly. They are held together with mashed bananas and filled with oats and protein powder.
Homemade granola bars without nuts
Recently my kids discovered a love of granola bars. A sweet friend of mine made a postpartum snack kit for me and it included a variety of different granola bars for middle-of-the-night nursing sessions or something easy to grab throughout the day. It was such a blessing to have! My kids discovered the stash of granola bars and were sold. I set out to find a simple and delicious granola bar recipe.
Granola bars can become expensive for how quickly my kids go through them. Making them homemade has helped to save money. I also enjoy knowing all the ingredients going into them. Most recipes require some form of peanut butter, almond butter, etc. There is not a single nut butter out there that someone in my family isn’t allergic too. I am thankful to have this simple no-nut granola bar recipe on hand now.
Ingredients
- Bananas: Serve as a great binder to hold all the ingredients together.
- Quick Oats: Its not a granola bar without the oats!
- Pure Vanilla Extract: Adds wonderful flavor.
- Chocolate Protein Powder: Helps keep you fuller for longer.
- Water: Without the water, the ingredients will be too dry to stick together.
- Optional Mix-in’s: Chocolate Chips, Dried Fruit (cranberries, raisins, apricots), sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.
- Any of these mix-in’s go great in the nut free granola bars. Adding 1/2 cup is a good amount.
How to make granola bars without nuts
- Start with preheating your oven to 350 degrees and line a 7 x 11 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl: mix together mashed bananas, quick oats, protein powder, vanilla extract and water. I personally just used a fork to mix them together and it only took about a minute. You can also use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
- If you desire any other mix-ins (chocolate chips, dried fruit, sunflower seeds, etc.) go ahead and stir in a 1/2 cup of them.
- Spread evenly in the baking pan.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
- Store in fridge for up to 4 days.
Substitutions
Quick Oats: You can sub them for rolled oats. Rolled oats are thicker and chewier so it depends on the texture you desire.
Vanilla Extract: You can sub this out but I would add cinnamon or honey for a bit of flavor.
Chocolate protein powder: If you still want to add some protein to this recipe but can’t do the protein powder, this can be subbed out for a nut butter if you do not have allergy restrictions. They also make sunflower butter, granola butter, or wowbutter which is nut free.
Equipment Needed
7 x 11 inch baking pan
Parchment paper or non stick spray for your baking pan
What protein powder to use?
This completely depends on your preferences and allergies. Personally, I prefer a whey based protein powder that is plain chocolate. Keep in mind, shared lines may be an issue if the company also produces a flavor of protein powder that contains nuts. I found this article super helpful on allergen friendly protein powders!
Why to include protein powder
Most homemade granola bars include peanut butter or a form of nut butter. One of my toddlers has a peanut allergy and my husband and I both have different tree nut allergies. This made finding a nut butter to use near impossible. I love this recipe because it doesn’t contain peanut butter or tree nuts. When you remove the nut butters this can take out a portion of the protein found in granola bars. That is why I put protein powder in this recipe to help add protein and to leave you fuller for longer.
More recipes without nuts you will love!
Trail Mix for Kids without Nuts
Storage
You can store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can freeze them as well. Place in a single layer in a gallon sized Ziploc bag. You can freeze multiple layers of bars. Be sure to separate with a piece of parchment paper between the layers.
Homemade Nut Free Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 5 ripe bananas mashed with a fork
- 3 cups quick oats gluten free if needed
- 2 servings (about 60 grams) chocolate protein powder of your choice
- 1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp. water
- Optional Mix-in’s: chocolate chips, dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, apricots), sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 7 x 11 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl mix together mashed bananas, quick oats, protein powder, vanilla extract and water. You can use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. I have also just used a metal fork and it worked great!
- Stir in 1/2 a cup of any additional mix-in’s.
- Spread evenly in the baking pan.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
- Store in fridge for up to 4 days.
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