Blueberry Granola Bars
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These blueberry granola bars are crispy, chewy, and hold together like a dream—perfect for lunchboxes, snacks, or grabbing on your way out the door.
Meet my favorite blueberry granola bars. They’re crispy, chewy, and just rich enough—packed with nuts, cereal, coconut, and dried blueberries, all held together with a sweet almond butter–date paste. Unlike most homemade bars, they hold together like store-bought (in a good way). Pack them in lunchboxes, stash them in your bag, or grab one off the counter—they won’t crumble.
The secret is puréeing the dates with the liquid ingredients to make a sticky paste that binds everything together, plus a quick stint in the oven to help them set. They come together quickly, but do need a few hours to firm up after baking—and they’re even better the next day.
If you’re looking for more granola bar ideas, check out my Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars and my Crispy Honey Nut Granola Bars. I also share a wonderful peanut butter granola recipe in my first cookbook.
“These were absolutely delightful. I made a double batch and just know they will disappear fast!”
What You’ll Need To Make Blueberry Granola Bars
- Pitted Medjool Dates: Add natural sweetness and help bind everything together.
- Unsalted Melted Butter: Adds richness and helps the bars hold their shape.
- Light Brown Sugar & Honey: Boost the sweetness and give the bars their chewy texture.
- Unsalted Creamy Almond Butter: Adds nutty flavor and acts as the glue that holds everything together.
- Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats & Crispy Rice Cereal: The base of the bars—oats add heartiness, while the rice cereal keeps them light and crisp.
- Unsweetened Flaked Coconut, Almonds & Dried Blueberries: The mix-ins that bring texture and flavor—chewy, crunchy, and just a little bit sweet in every bite.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-BY-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the binding mixture. Place the dates, melted butter, brown sugar, honey, almond butter, and salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade (or a blender) and process until smooth and thick.
Pro Tip: Peanut butter is a fine substitute for the almond butter, but for best results, stick with a smooth and creamy commercial almond (or peanut) butter. (I don’t recommend all-natural or chunky nut butter.)
Step 2: Combine the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, rice cereal, coconut, almonds, and dried blueberries.
Step 3: Combine the dry and wet ingredients. Transfer the mixture to a large pot or microwave-safe bowl and bring to a boil. , then use a rubber spatula to gently fold everything together until the dry ingredients are evenly coated.
Pro tip: If you don’t have one of the dry ingredients on hand, you can replace it with an equal amount of one of the other dry ingredients—just keep the ratio of wet to dry ingredients the same.
Step 3: Press, bake, and cool. Transfer the mixture to a 9 x 13-inch pan lined with foil and press firmly into an even, compact layer using the bottom of a glass or measuring cup. Bake in a 350°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool completely on a rack before cutting—a few hours at least. (They’ll fall apart if you cut them while warm.)
Step 4: Cut and serve or store. Use the foil overhang to lift the uncut bars out of the pan and onto a cutting board, then cut into 16 bars with a large chef’s knife. Wrap the bars individually for easy on-the-go snacking, or place them in an airtight container. They will last nicely for up to a week at room temperature. Freeze for longer storage.
Pro tip: For the cleanest cuts, use one smooth downward press of the knife rather than a sawing motion, and wipe the blade clean between cuts.
More Portable Snacks You’LL Love
Blueberry Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 3 oz pitted Medjool dates (see note)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons honey
- ¾ cup unsalted creamy almond butter (see note)
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2½ cups crispy rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies
- ½ cup unsweetened flaked coconut
- ¾ cup coarsely chopped almonds
- Heaping ⅓ cup dried blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Line a 9 x 13-in (23 x 33-cm) pan with aluminum foil, so that it hangs over the edges, and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place the dates, melted butter, brown sugar, honey, almond butter and salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade, or use a blender. Process until mixture is smooth and thick. Transfer to a large pot (or microwave-safe bowl) large enough to hold all of the ingredients; don’t worry if the butter separates. Bring the mixture to a boil on the stovetop (or in the microwave), whisking to combine. Take off the heat.
- While the mixture is still hot, add the oats, rice cereal, coconut, almonds, and dried blueberries. Use a large rubber spatula to gently fold the mixture until the wet ingredients evenly coat the dry ingredients. The mixture will be thick. Be gentle so as not to crush the rice cereal.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and, using the bottom of a glass or dry measuring cup, press firmly into an even, compact layer. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Set the pan on a rack and let cool completely, a few hours. (Please do not attempt to cut the bars while still warm, as they will fall apart.)
- Use the foil overhang to lift the uncut bars out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Using a large chef’s knife, cut the block into 16 bars. Wrap the bars individually with foil or parchment paper for easy on-the-go snacking, or place them in an airtight container. The bars will keep for up to a week at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Turned out great in terms of consistency and appearance. For my taste they were too sweet and the blueberry flavor did not come through. Would love to find a more healthful granola bar recipe.
How long should you boil the date /sugar /butter mixture?
They taste very good but mine still crumble very easily even when completely cool!
Hi Jen, you really aren’t cooking the mixture, just heating it enough so that it gets well combined. (So after it comes to a boil, it doesn’t need to be cooked any longer.) If these were crumbly, it could be that you didn’t keep them in the oven quite long enough. Also, did you press the mixture into a compact layer on the baking sheet before baking?
A great snack and my kids love them too! They’ve become a favourite in our house!
These bars have a nice, less sweet meld of flavors than Jennifer’s no-bake, chewy chocolate chip granola bars. In our house, they appealed more to the grown-ups than the kids. Because the clean-up from all that peanut butter was a lot stickier, we won’t make these bars nearly as often as the others.
Love this recipe and can’t wait for more. Question, first batch fell apart- was delicious but was missing the chewy everyone else raves about. The second batch held together (baked a bit longer per other review/response) but still didn’t have the chew. What do you recommend?
Hi Elaine, the date mixture should definitely give the bars a chewy consistency. Is there any chance you could’ve measured something incorrectly?
Jenn, is there a good substitute for dates? I’m having a difficult time finding them in the regular grocery store. I love granola bars but we are limited with store bought due to nut allergies in our house. Almonds are safe for us and I can’t wait to try these!
Hi Sarah, You could try dried apricots.
I made these just before leaving on a vacation to MT, as I thought they would be good for snacks in the car. I wrapped individually and put in a plastic bag and they stayed fresh all week. My husband and friends loved them – the chewy texture had them fooled into thinking there was marshmallow in the bars! Will make these again and try with peanut butter and mini chocolate chips.
I have never reviewed a recipe before however these granola bars were nothing short of spectacular, I had to say something! I had to make them two weekends in a row because they absolutely disappeared after 2-3 days. I cut the second batch into 24 pieces just so they would last longer. There is the perfect balance of chewiness and crunch, the end result looks exactly as pictured. Thank you so much for such a wonderful recipe, I cannot wait for the cookbook to come out!
Thanks for the feedback, Janice…I’m so happy you enjoyed them! There’s a peanut butter granola bar similar to these in the cookbook 🙂
Is there any substitute for Rice Krispies ……
leaning toward less processed grain, paleo or gluten-free substitute? Thanks
Hi Debby, The rice cereal gives these bars a really nice crispy texture. That said, you could always replace the cereal with more oats.
Not to butt in, but I use puffed rice. It’s not as crisp as Rice Krispies but gives nice body to the bar. Plus, it’s just rice—no other ingredients involved!
These were fantastic, well worth the effort! I made them to take to an adult ed. class where everyone raved about them. I had one small problem; even though I pressed the mixture very firmly into the pan, many bars crumbled. Any ideas why? I used coconut oil and omitted the shredded coconut, but that shouldn’t have made a difference.
Hi Marlene, Glad everyone enjoyed the bars. It sounds like they may not have cooked long enough – next time try keeping them in the oven a little longer — they definitely shouldn’t crumble. Hope that helps!