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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Hello Jenn,
I just made your almond, blueberry & date granola bars with the following changes: natural peanut butter instead of almond butter; dried apricots instead of dried blueberries. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly. However, I ended up with crumbs – not bars. Although delicious, it is not what I wanted. Do you have suggestions as to what went wrong?
Hi Linda, I’m pretty sure the issue is the natural peanut butter. It doesn’t have the same sticky quality as processed nut butters that also contain sugar — it doesn’t stay emulsified. I hope that helps!
Jenn if you want to use natural peanut butter, what do you suggest doing to get the same “stick together” consistency?
Hi Amy, Unfortunately, I don’t recommend using all-natural peanut butter here. Sorry!
Hi Jenn, can you recommend a substitute for the butter. I cannot eat dairy. Thank you, Kelly
Hi Kelly, Although I’ve never tried it, I think you could substitute coconut oil for the butter here. I’d love to hear how they turn out if you make them! 🙂
These turn out equally delicious with coconut oil. They may even be better.
Oh and I meant to add, you could also use Earth Balance vegan butter or any of the vegan butter substitutes. Earth Balance is the only “butter” I use.
These are incredible. Soooo soooo good. I actually made them with a cornflake type cereal that had slivered almonds and dried cranberries in it (lightly crushed to the size of Rice Krispies) as was what I had. I cannot imagine them being any better with the Rice Krispies but will try next time. Worked very well with cornflakes.
My Costco has bags of mixed dried fruit that included blueberries, cherries and strawberries and used that instead of just blueberries.
Hi Jenn,
I’ve made these bars and my daughter loves them! I was wondering if I could up the protein by adding Raw Fit Vegan Protein Powder to the recipe and if so, do I need to add more liquid and what liquid do you suggest?
Thank you for the recipe as is. It is wonderful and so easy to make.
Hi Sandy, So glad your daughter likes them! If you add a few tablespoons of protein powder, I would the same amount of dry ingredients (equal parts Rice Krispies and oats).
Hi Jennifer:
Thought I had enough almond butter to make these but was short about 4T. Added peanut butter and it worked beautifully well!
Question: my son is vegan – would coconut oil work instead of butter?
Hi Connie, glad you liked these! I’ve never made these with coconut oil, but I suspect it should work.
Just made a batch using coconut oil and dried apricots instead of blueberries (didn’t have any on hand). Turned out just as good as the original recipe, but now my vegan son can also enjoy them Thanks for the recipe.
Glad to hear it – thanks for reporting back!
Hey Jen,
Can I substitute brown sugar with jaggery?
Hi Salina, I think that’d probably work (although I’ve never cooked with jaggery so I can’t say with 100% certainty).
Hi Salina, did you try with jaggery and how did it turn out?
Delicious! My 3yo had one for breakfast this morning and I heard him singing, “Yum, yum, yum!” This is a keeper.
Is there a substitute for the butter? Would it work with the same amount of coconut oil? Any other ideas?
Your recipes are INCREDIBLE! Reasonable and delicious!
So glad you like the recipes, Nylca! Yes, I think you could substitute coconut oil for the butter. I’d love to hear how they turn out!
So I tell my best friend of 40 years, Sunny J., that I was looking for ways to eat oats to lower my cholesterol. She had just made these granola bars and raved how delicious they were. She has never been wrong about something tasting delicious and she is a fantastic non-professional baker. So despite I hated baking I trusted her. I used all the ingredients except the dried blueberries (store didn’t have any) and added ground flaxseed meal. They came out amazingly delicious! My husband and son looked at them questioningly at first (have a history of sucking at baking) but now can’t stop eating them. My husband said how the sweet dates really shined through. I loved the texture of the Rice Crispies. I don’t feel guilty for eating these healthy granola bars and will make them again. I also tasted it before putting it in the oven and they were yummy without baking. Thank you for creating such a thoughtful melody of flavors and textures and to Sunny, ” Sharing is Caring” as you have always said!
These almond, blueberry and date granola bars were absolutely delicious and addictive. It took a little more time to make than other granola bars but it was worth it! I made one batch exactly as written but used dried cranberries instead of blueberries and swapped brown rice krispies for white. I also made another batch with semi-sweet choco-chips that I gently added at the very end before placing into the oven to bake. These bars were by far the best I have had (store bought or homemade)! My sister and best friend have requested the recipe and loves them, too. Make sure not to cut the bars too thick and definitely make sure to make two batches because it is so addictive!! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!