Recipe: Homemade Cereal Bars + Granola

We have been eyeing this recipe on Great British Chefs "Cooking with Kids" app, and since we still had some leftover organic rolled oats, we decided that we should finally give it a go.

This cereal bar or better known as granola bars in the US has all of my children's favorite ingredients. Granola is a popular breakfast and snack food  containing rolled oats, nuts, honey, and dried fruits which are baked until crisp. It can also be pressed and made into a granola bar.

A really easy one to make and you can get your kids to participate. This recipe is supposed to produce cereal / granola bars, however not all of the mix stuck together, so we got half granola bars and half granola, but that is no matter, as it was still very nice to eat. My kids loved munching it on it as their evening snack. These are not too sweet, and pretty addictive. Do store them in an airtight container in the fridge as it helps them hold the shape better.

Homemade cereal bar, also known as granola bar

To those who wish to attempt this recipe, you may need to increase the amount of honey you add in to successfully create the granola bars. I followed the original recipe, and did not want to increase the honey too much in case it was too sweet, but maybe I should have to get better looking granola bars. Most other granola recipes I have seen uses quite a lot of sugar and honey. If you have any other tips which you wish to share, do let me know in the comments below. Appreciate it!

If they don't hold their shape well, don't worry - just have them as granola. Tastes just as great!

Homemade Cereal Bars + Granola

Recipe adapted from Great British Chefs - Adam Gray

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Makes 12-15

Ingredients
120ml of rapeseed or canola oil
5-6 tbsp of clear runny honey
200g porridge / rolled oats
25g pumpkin seeds
110g walnuts roughly chopped
50g almond flakes
90g of dried apricots, roughly chopped

20g dried cranberries



1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (no fan). Line a 24cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper and set aside.

2. In a saucepan over medium heat, add the oil and the honey, stir until the honey is hot and remove from heat.

3. Add the oats, dried fruit, nuts and seeds, stirring well to ensure the ingredients are mixed thoroughly.

Mix the ingredients well

4. Once mixed, make sure it's sticky enough to hold together by pressing in your hands, if not add a little more honey. Scoop the mixture into the lined baking tin, pressing down firmly.

5. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges turn a golden brown colour.

6. While still warm, score into 12-15 individual bars. Leave the cereal bars in the tin to cool completely, then serve or store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. (Note: Due to Malaysia's hot climate, we keep this in the fridge to keep them firm as they tend to go too soft when left in room temperature)

*Your child can help mix the ingredients (Step 3) as well as pressing it into the baking tin (Step 4).

*I am submitting this to the Little Thumbs Up "Oats" event organized by Bake for Happy Kids, my little favourite DIY and hosted by Vivian Pang's Kitchen. You can link your oat recipes here.


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