Coconut Almond Granola Bars

Slicing coconut almond granola into bars.

Granola is good post-hurricane food.  It’s shelf stable, calorie-dense and tastes great!  Before Irma, while I was doing my storm prep, I bought several packages of granola bars, thinking they’d make good breakfasts or snacks during a time I knew we wouldn’t have power (or refrigeration).  They were good.  These Coconut Almond Granola Bars are better.

toasting almonds, oats, sunflower seeds and wheat germ

Our power is back on now, but after five days without, everything in our fridge was lost.  And we weren’t the only ones.  The grocery stores were very limited as well — they had to discard all their fresh, refrigerated and frozen items and hadn’t gotten new shipments yet.  I turned to my pantry for inspiration and decided on this simple granola.  

orange zest and honey in a pan with spoon

The ingredients in granola are generally wholesome and these bars with toasted almonds, old-fashioned oats, wheat germ and sunflower seeds are no exception.  Almond extract and fresh orange zest intensify the flavors of these bars.

toasted oats and coconut

I used a little sweetened flaked coconut as well.  Coconut is one of my all time faves!

Newsletter Signup
Join our community of food lovers!

Get my latest recipes, helpful kitchen tips and more good things each week in your inbox.

pouring liquid into oatmeal
mixing granola in a bowl

After toasting the dry ingredients, combine them with the honey mixture and stir-stir-stir to combine.  Transfer the granola to a baking pan lined with parchment paper and sprayed with vegetable spray.  Press the granola down into an even layer and bake.

baked granola with chocolate chips

When the granola has baked and is still hot, add the chocolate chips.  

adding chocolate chips to granola

Doing this when the granola is hot gives the chocolate a slight melty quality and allows the chips to adhere to the granola.  If you add chocolate chips after it’s cooled, they’d just bounce right off.

Coconut Almond Granola Bars with chocolate chips

and — here’s the hard part — let it cool completely to room temperature.  No sneaking, pinching or nibbling.  You have to wait for it to set completely.

Coconut Almond Granola Bars on parchment paper

Use a very sharp knife to slice the granola into bars and enjoy!

slicing the granola into bars.

More granola recipes you’ll love:

a coconut almond granola bar on a plate.

Tried this recipe? Leave a rating and review.

Your comments and shares are invaluable to me and the thousands of readers who use this site daily. If you've made the recipe, leave a star rating and review. We want to hear how you liked it.

We'd love it if you shared the recipe with your friends on social media!

Print Pin
4.17 from 6 votes

Coconut Almond Granola Bars

Crunchy and satisfying, Coconut Almond Granola Bars will fill you up and keep you going all morning!
Author: Lisa Lotts
Course Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword oatmeal
Dietary Restrictions Egg Free, Vegetarian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 16

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 cups old fashioned rolled oatmeal
  • 1 cup sliced almonds
  • ½ cup wheat germ
  • ½ cup sunflower seeds
  • 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
  • ½ cup honey I used a dark honey
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 ½ teaspoon almond extract
  • ½ teaspoon orange zest
  • ¼ cup mini chocolate chips
  • sprinkle sea salt optional

DIRECTIONS:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9 x 9″ baking pan with vegetable spray.  Cut a piece of parchment paper 8″ wide and 15″ long.  Place the parchment into the pan with extra paper hanging over the sides.  Set aside.
  • On a half sheet pan, toss together the oatmeal, almonds, wheat germ and sunflower seeds. Spread the mixture into a single layer and bake for 15 minutes, stirring two to three times during baking. Remove from oven and set aside.
  • Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.
  • Meanwhile, add the honey,  brown sugar, melted butter and almond extract to a small saucepan and heat, stirring constantly over medium heat until the brown sugar has dissolved.  Stir in the orange zest.
  • Transfer the oatmeal mixture to a large bowl and add the coconut.  Pour in the honey mixture and stir until well combined.
  • Press the granola evenly into the prepared pan.  Tip: Spray your fingers with vegetable spray so they don’t stick to the granola while you’re pressing it into the pan.
  • Bake for 15 minutes, spin the pan around 180° and bake for an additional 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips and a light sprinkle of sea salt (if using). Let the granola cool to room temperature before cutting into bars.

NUTRITION:

Calories: 194kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 33mg | Potassium: 156mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 50IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1.1mg

 

Don’t Forget To “Pin It” For Later!

Homemade granola is easy to make and these Coconut Almond Granola bars with a hint of orange are the BEST!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

9 Comments

  1. Pat Stoddard says:

    5 stars
    Bud just finished eating a bar and said it is even better than the pumpkin spice bars although he raved about them before he had the coconut almond bar.

    1. So glad that he liked them! I fixed the orange zest in the directions, too — Thank you!

  2. My kids are going to gobble these up – I can just tell – can’t wait to try them! They sound (and look) amazing!

  3. 5 stars
    So glad that you made it through the storm ok! As a major coconut lover, I can’t wait to try these granola bars out!

  4. Those bars looks gorgeous, I wish I could have some right now. I never tried to make granola bars before but right now I feel it’s the right time!

    1. I like to make my own, because I can control the ingredients and flavors. Hope you enjoy it!