Chewy Coconut Granola Bars

8 Reviews
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Photo: Johnny Autry; Food Styling: Charlotte Autry; Prop Styling: Leigh Ann Ross
Hands-on Time
15 Mins
Total Time
35 Mins
Yield
16 servings (serving size: 1 bar)
By Karen Levin
June 2012
RECIPE BY Cooking Light

Super easy to make, these are perfect for breakfast, car, or snack.

Ingredients

  • Cooking spray
  • 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
  • 3 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2/3 cup)
  • 1.6 ounces whole-wheat flour (about 1/3 cup)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 2 tablespoons fat-free milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups whole-grain granola
  • 3/4 cup chopped dried mixed tropical fruit
  • 1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

Nutritional Information

  • Calories 154
  • Fat 5.8g
  • Satfat 1.5g
  • Monofat 2.5g
  • Polyfat 1.1g
  • Protein 2.7g
  • Carbohydrate 23.4g
  • Fiber 1.7g
  • Cholesterol 26mg
  • Iron 1mg
  • Sodium 148mg
  • Calcium 36mg

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°.

Step 2

Coat a 13 x 9-inch metal baking pan with cooking spray; dust with 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour.

Step 3

Weigh or lightly spoon 3 ounces all-purpose flour and 6 ounces whole-wheat flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Combine sugar, oil, milk, and eggs in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until smooth. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Fold in granola and fruit. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with coconut.

Step 4

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until golden. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Chef's Notes

This recipe also appeared in the December 1999 issue of Cooking Light.

MyRecipes is working with Let's Move!, the Partnership for a Healthier America, and USDA's MyPlate to give anyone looking for healthier options access to a trove of recipes that will help them create healthy, tasty plates. For more information about creating a healthy plate, visit www.choosemyplate.gov.

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Ratings & Reviews

jmeleeS's Review

Katieann77
June 18, 2012
These bars have loads of potential - easy to make, and I like the idea of making my own granola bars. However, part of the reason I don't care for store-bought (in addition to the preservatives / fillers) is how sweet they are! Unfortunately these bars are WAY too sweet made as is - both granola and the fruits have tons of sugar in them so the brown sugar amount stated in the recipe is just overload. I used a mix of dried apricots, strawberries, kiwi fruit, mango, and pineapple for my version. The chewiness of the bars is excellent (though I had to cook for 30 minutes, not 20 to get them browned); I just wish they were less sweet. Not sure how to make again with the same texture while cutting down on the sugar so unfortunately I probably won't make these again.

Jtpmom's Review

haileej88
June 08, 2012
I have been searching for a good granola bar recipe for a long time. This one is pretty good. I made several changes however. I thought that using granola and 1 1/4 cup brown sugar would be WAY too sweet so I toasted 1 1/2 cups rolled oats to sub for the granola and used 2/3 cup brown sugar. I also substituted some ground flax for some of the white flour, used unsweetened coconut, and dried cherries and blueberries for the fruit. I figured out the nutritional value of my version and despite the fact that I used a lot less sugar and just oats instead of low fat granola (which is loaded with sugar) my calorie count was only a few calories off from the CL version (same serving size) So, I would say that they have way understated the nutritional value and they never show the sugar content which in my version still had 13g of sugar per serving. They were tasty though!

crosscourt's Review

amy987
May 29, 2012
N/A

Katieann77's Review

jmeleeS
May 13, 2012
I sub'd part of the AP flour for ground flax meal (.5 oz) and used my kids' favorite dried fruit that i had on hand, apricots and raisins, and chocolate chips. I didnt have any coconut on hand, but will addbit next time. It's more like a blondie than a chewy granola bar, but it's now a family favorite!

SarahE516's Review

KathleenPE
November 10, 2009
These taste very nice, but they are more like muffins in texture, not as dense as I was hoping for. I used all whole wheat flour, and based on other reviews I reduced the sugar to 1/2 C.(used honey). It was still a tad sweet for the kind of snack I was going for. The granola and fruit really do provide a lot of sweetness. If I make these again I will make some changes, perhaps adding a lot more filler, and making my own mixture of oats, nuts, fruit, and maybe some bran.

KathleenPE's Review

crosscourt
June 29, 2009
My family loved this recipe. Even my picky kids liked them and my non-sweet-liking spouse. I made the recipe exactly as-is. Yes, they are sweet, but we liked them that way. The texture was chewy as expected. I made a second batch the next day and froze most of them for last-minute snacks when we go out in a hurry.

haileej88's Review

SarahE516
March 27, 2009
To me it tasted more like a crisp you would serve with ice cream rather than a granola bar. I would definitely use less sugar and I would probably use applesauce instead of oil. The fruit and granola really give it enough sweetness-the extra 1 1/4 c of brown sugar give it that dessert like taste. I will bypass this recipe in the future.

amy987's Review

Jtpmom
March 22, 2009
I make these just as the recipe says- well I guess not. I make my own granola and add any mixture of dried fruit that I have on hand. They are great for kids lunches.