These chewy peanut butter trail mix bars are filled with healthful, wholesome ingredients like almonds, oats, nut butter, and raisins. Add chocolate chips for delicious flavor and pop them into the refrigerator to set. They’re no bake, easy, and totally customizable based on what you have or like.
One reader, Tina, commented: “I consider myself a rather experienced baker but have never made granola bars before. I like the ease of swapping the nuts and raisins for whatever you have on hand or prefer to eat. These were absolutely delicious AND easy to make. Thank you so much for sharing. ★★★★★“
Always in my regular rotation of homemade snacks, these no bake peanut butter trail mix bars are my favorite pick-me-up. The combination of chocolate chips and peanut butter make it feel like you’re indulging, while the nuts and oats keep you nourished and satisfied.
It’s a fact: 1 batch disappears in 24 hours. Same exact story with my no bake coconut granola bars. (Please tell me you’ve tried those by now!)
While I’ve been making these for years, I recently made 2 small updates to the recipe. They used to crumble and fall apart easily. However, gently pulsing some of the ingredients together and adding a touch of coconut oil keeps these granola bars compact, while still offering plenty of texture.
Why You NEED to Try These Peanut Butter Trail Mix Bars:
- From mixing bowl to refrigerator in 15 minutes
- 9 simple ingredients
- No bake, chewy, soft, wholesome
- Most of the ingredients are customizable
- Sweet, salty, totally satisfying
- Freeze easily
As much as I love granola bars, I can’t always justify buying them at the store. Obviously store-bought is the more convenient choice, but these are so simple that I end up throwing 1-2 batches together at a time. You also have complete control over what you’re putting in them. Like my healthy berry streusel bars, no-bake chocolate fudge oat bars, and gluten free fudge no bake cookies, the ingredient list here is pretty small—and you can make substitutions based on what you have.
Customize Them (Ingredient Substitution Ideas!)
I’ve made the bars countless times and here are the swaps I know work:
- Instead of almonds or cashews, use all almonds, all cashews, or use all or a mix of peanuts, pecans, or walnuts. I don’t recommend skipping the nuts. If you love cashews, be sure to try my berry vanilla cashew snack bars, too!
- Oats are a key ingredient, so I don’t recommend any substitutions. However you can use quick oats if that’s all you have.
- If you don’t have ground flaxseed, add another 1/3 cup of oats in step 3. See recipe note.
- Feel free to use any dried fruit you enjoy. If the dried fruit you’re using isn’t small like dried cranberries and raisins, chop into smaller pieces.
- Instead of honey, you can use pure maple syrup, agave, or brown rice syrup.
- Feel free to use your favorite peanut butter, creamy or crunchy, natural or processed, or another nut butter you love like almond butter or cashew butter. All the same options work in these flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies, too.
- Coconut oil holds these bars together. Just like when we make pumpkin granola and granola clusters, I don’t recommend leaving it out. However, if needed, you can replace with butter because you need a fat that’s solid at room temperature.
- You can use regular size chocolate chips, but the mini size make these bars easier to cut. Feel free to skip the chocolate chips and replace with sunflower seeds, dried fruit, or chopped nuts.
Overview: How to Make Peanut Butter Trail Mix Bars
- Pulse some of the ingredients in a food processor. The food processor (or a blender!) is key in this preparation. Pulsing about 10x gently breaks down the nuts and oats, which guarantees the bars will stay intact.
- Pour the pulsed mixture into a large mixing bowl and add the rest of the dry ingredients. (Except for the chocolate chips—we’ll stir those in last!)
- Melt the peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil on the stove or in the microwave. Pour over dry ingredients.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Press tightly into a lined 8-inch baking pan or 9-inch baking pan.
- Refrigerate. The bars take about 1 hour to set up in the refrigerator.
- Cut into squares or rectangles.
All of the different textures—the dried fruit, the crunchy salty nuts, chewy oats, stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth peanut butter, and the dots of chocolate—work SO well together!
Are These Peanut Butter Trail Mix Bars Healthy?
I say this a lot with the lightened-up recipes I publish, but “healthy” is a relative term. In my eyes, these are perfectly healthy granola bars. They’re made with whole foods like almonds and fiber-filled oats, plus there’s no white flour or refined sugar. However, they may be too sugary for someone who needs to watch their sugar intake and they’re obviously not ideal for anyone allergic to nuts.
When it comes to labeling recipes as healthy, use the best judgement for YOU. 🙂
- I’m unsure of the nutritional information for these, but feel free to calculate it yourself using an online calculator and the exact products/brands you use.
Peanut Butter Trail Mix Bars
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars
- Category: Bars
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These healthy peanut butter bars will make you feel like you’re indulging! Bonus: they’re no bake! Bars are gluten free if using certified gluten free oats.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup (about 95g) whole almonds
- 2/3 cup (about 95g) whole cashews
- 1 and 1/2 cups (128g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats or quick oats, divided
- 1/3 cup (35g) ground flaxseed
- 1/3 cup (40g) dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup (50g) raisins
- 1/2 cup (170g) honey (or maple syrup or brown rice syrup)
- 3/4 cup (185g) creamy or crunchy peanut butter
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) coconut oil
- 1/3 cup (60g) mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan or 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides to lift the bars out (makes cutting easier!). Set aside.
- Pulse the almonds, cashews, and 1/2 cup (40g) oats in a food processor about 10x or until lightly chopped. (Without pulsing these ingredients, the bars will fall apart.)
- Pour pulsed mixture into a large bowl. Stir in remaining oats, the ground flaxseed, cranberries, and raisins until combined. Set aside.
- In a medium pan over medium heat or in a microwave-safe bowl, melt the peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil together. Stir to combine, then pour over the dry ingredients. Add the chocolate chips, then stir to combine everything.
- Transfer mixture to prepared pan. Using the back of a flat spatula, press the mixture tightly and firmly down into the pan. Make sure it’s compact, which helps guarantee the bars will hold their shape.
- Place in the refrigerator to set up for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
- Lift the parchment paper out of the pan and cut into squares or rectangle bars. Cover and store the bars for up to 1 week at room temperature or for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Layer the cut bars between sheets of parchment in a freezer-friendly bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8-inch Square Baking Pan or 9-inch Square Baking Pan | Food Processor | Glass Mixing Bowl | Silicone Spatula
- Ingredient Questions: I’ve made these bars countless times with all sort of ingredients substitutions. See all successful ingredient substitutions in the blog post above.
- Nuts: Instead of almonds and cashews, feel free to replace with your favorite nuts. I like to use salted nuts for a sweet/salty bar, but feel free to use unsalted. You can use raw or roasted, whichever flavor you prefer. I usually use roasted.
- Ground Flaxseed: If you don’t have ground flaxseed, replace with the same amount of whole oats. No need to pulse these with the ingredients in step 2. (Use in step 3.)
- Dried Fruit: Feel free to use any dried fruit you enjoy. If the dried fruit you’re using isn’t small like dried cranberries and raisins, chop into smaller pieces.
- Peanut Butter: Feel free to use your favorite peanut butter, creamy or crunchy, natural or processed, or another nut butter you love.
- Chocolate Chips: You can use regular size chocolate chips, but the mini size make these bars easier to cut. Feel free to skip the chocolate chips and replace with sunflower seeds, dried fruit, or chopped nuts.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Delicious and so easy to make! Can’t stand raisins so I doubled up the dried cranberries!
Hello Sally
I flipped the oatmeal bar ingredients on it’s head! Instead of honey I used sweetened condensed milk, ground almonds, and dried apricots.
Of course oatmeal, chocolate chips, peanut butter,
with a bit of butter.
Super yummy.
Thanks for the freedom to substitute!!
Would these bars fare well if they were mailed to my grandchildren in Minnesota and Colorado (from Massachusetts)?
Hi Dana, the bars can be left at room temperature for up to a week, so if they can be shipped in that amount of time they *should* be okay. They may get a bit sticky considering the warmer temperatures, but individually wrapping the bars should help. Hope they’re a hit!
Very good recipe! I put this into Chat GPT and it says each bar is 262.4 calories 5.7g protein 3.2g fiber, 17.6 grams of sugar. In case you don’t want to cut in 16 pieces the whole recipe is 4198 calories 52g fiber 281 grams sugar . Just divide those numbers by the squares you have.
I used protein oatmeal and the nuts I had – pecans and walnuts. Delicious and easy. Definitely a keeper.
Woahhhhh…. These are awesome. Exceeded my expectations. I did make the following adjustments: instead of cranberries and raisins, I use all dried cherries. I love the combination of dried cherries with dark chocolate, so I also used dark chocolate chips, which I chopped up a bit in my mini food processor. In lieu of, coconut oil, I used unsalted butter. In addition to almonds and cashews, I threw in some hazelnuts and just a handful of pecans. Used honey. These were fantastic. I was super curious with the protein content is… assuming the above changes, and producing 16 bars, my estimation was roughly 6 grams of protein per bar, and roughly 252 cal per bar. But the best part – my incredibly picky husband couldn’t get enough. 🙂 Thank you yet again for another incredible recipe!
I used pecans for all nuts and homemade pecan butter and mine turned out very wet. Should I decrease pecan butter or honey/syrup next time?
Hi Allison, pecans can be a bit “softer” than other nuts which may be contributing to that wetness. You can certainly try slightly decreasing the honey/syrup or the pecan butter next time. Thanks for giving these a try!
I have made these multiple times and they are fantastic. I am always asked for the recipe (and to make them again). People don’t forget them!
I love your recipes . It’s a trusted site I always return to. Everyone loves your chocolate chip cookies. I have made many friends because of them, thanks. I wish you well in your future endeavors.
This recipe is FANTASTIC! I don’t have a food processor so I used a blender to pulse the nuts and oats. I used sliced almonds instead of whole almonds. After they chilled for an hour, I tried one and then found myself going back for more! I had planned to keep them in the fridge for up to 2 weeks but I don’t think they’re going to be around for even 2 days!! I plan to make more right away!
Delicious! Easy to make and I love it! Trying to make more food items from scratch to save money and also use less packaging. Love these delicious flavors!
Delicious and easy. I didn’t have flaxseed but put in chias
Yum! I lightly roasted the pulsed mixture before making these, and used melted butter instead of coconut oil as that’s what I had on hand. I might try adding cinnamon and incorporating apple too next time, so it tastes like one of my favourite store bought bars. Do you think I could grate some apple and dehydrate the shreds in the oven?
Hi Celine, You can replace some of the dried cranberries or raisins with your dehydrated apples. We haven’t tried dehydrating our own apples in the oven but let us know if you try.
I think these bars are good but also very sweet, even without the chocolate chips. I’m thinking of adding more PB and less maple syrup next time, do you think that would work?
Hi Brittany, you can certainly give it a try, but you may find the bars are a bit crumblier without the liquid sugar to help keep them together. Let us know how it goes!
I made this three times and love this recipe. . I add chia seeds and pastacios.Does it work with quick oats instead of old fashioned oats? Can you post the nutritional guide?
Hi Deb, you can use quick oats in this recipe, yes! And we don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
I’m looking forward to making this recipe, but I have a question about coconut oil. My coconut oil is not solid. It stays liquid in a bottle. Is there a coconut oil that is solid?
Hi Cassandra, yes, there is solid coconut oil that comes in a container, usually in the baking aisle of the grocery store. Coconut oil that stays in a liquid state has gone through extra processing and removed some of the fat that helps keep it solid at room temperature. It’s best here to use a fat that is solid at room temperature so that the bars stay together properly.
Thank you Lexi for your help! I made these granola bars again, replaced coconut oil with Earth Balance Soy Free buttery spread (it’s coconut free!) and they’re turned out great!
Easy to make and loved the flexibility being able to swap out the nuts and raisins! Delicious too!
Love this recipe! Already had all the ingredients in my pantry, plus a few bonus ingredients. This will be a new regular for us. Thanks, Sally!
As usual another delicious recipe. Love that they are no bake and easy to make. These are my new go to snack .My husband loves them too!!
Wondering if I could use chia seeds instead of flaxseed?
Sally can I add a bit of unsweetened cocoa powder instead of the chocolate chips?
Thank you
Hi Lulu, you could try adding some cocoa powder with the melted peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil in step 4. The bars may be a tad drier with that addition. Let us know if you try it!
My family & I love these! I wanted to try to modify them so I could use them for school (nut-free requirement). I substituted the nuts for a mix of pumpkin & sunflower seeds, added some chia & flaxseeds for variety & used a nut-free butter in place of the peanut butter – they also turned out great.
These are delicious. Thank you for sharing.
Hi! This recipe looks amazing! Any recommendation for a substitution for the coconut oil? (Allergy concern)
Hi KTM, you can replace with butter because you need a fat that’s solid at room temperature. Enjoy!
I’ve made this recipe – it’s amazing! But now I’m trying to remove all coconut oil from our diet and we are dairy free (so butter isn’t an option) – any other ideas? Is there a granola bar recipe like this (with nuts & flax & oats, etc) that doesn’t require coconut oil?
Hi Julie, could you try a plant-based butter by chance? You’ll need a fat that is solid at room temperature for these bars to stay together properly.
Delicious. Husband and picky 6 year old grandson highly approve
Thank you!
I made these yesterday, so delicious! I am making another batch today, and trying some substitutions…cherries and apricots instead of cranberries and raisins. I love your recipes so much, you are my first go-to when I want to try something new. Thank you!!
I love the recipe, would like to make in 9×13?
Hi Lynn, doubling the recipe should work well for a 9×13 pan.
I love this recipe and have made it many times, but I still can’t figure out how to make it so that the chocolate chips don’t melt. I stuck my finger in the PB/honey mixture and it wasn’t hot at all, just warm. I’m stumped.
Hi Heather! I would wait until it’s room temperature then… not warm at all.
It might also be the chocolate chips you are using. I use mini semi-sweet and make sure the granola and warm mix is really well mixed before adding the chips. Another option is to put the whole lot in the pan then sprinkle with chocolate chips before pressing them down.
These came out beautifully. I love melting the pb mixture first made it much easier to mix! Another nobake recipe I make does not say to melt first and its much harder as a result.
These bars are delicious and they are filling and a nice snack any time of the day.