Chewy Vegan S’mores Granola Bars

Once you learn how to make your own vegan granola bars from scratch, you’ll never go back to store-bought granola bars! These s’mores flavored, nut-free bars are the perfect treat for back to school, afternoon snacking, or even dessert!

This post is sponsored by One Degree Organics. 

These bars were inspired by one of my childhood favorites, Quaker Chewy Bars, but better! Not only do these vegan granola bars taste exactly like the bars I grew up with, but they’re also 100% vegan, gluten-free, require no baking and made with just a handful of ingredients (8 to be exact!).

And if you love s’mores as much as we do, be sure to check out our other popular vegan s’mores recipes: Vegan S’mores Baked Oatmeal, Summer Skillet S’mores, and Popcorn Krispies S’mores.

Ingredients You’ll Need + Substitutions

• One Degree Organics Sprouted Rolled Oats: For the best chewy texture and consistency, we recommend using sprouted rolled oats for the best nutrient absorption and digestion. The next best option would be quick oats, but quick oats are softer and will provide less texture.
• One Degree Organics Sprouted Rolled Oats: Rice cereal adds the perfect crispy texture to these chewy bars and keeps them from being too dense and heavy. Plus, they’re gluten-free and sweetened with coconut sugar.
• Graham crackers: Graham crackers typically contain honey so look out for these vegan options in stores near you –Kinnickinick for a vegan and gluten-free option, or the red Nabisco box (accidentally vegan) which is not gluten-free. 
• Vegan butter: If you’re looking for a good option, we like to use Country Crock Plant Butter. Refined coconut oil would be a good alternative as it’s neutral in flavor. Avoid using oils such as vegetable oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, or olive oil as these do not set the same once chilled.
• Mini marshmallows: Regular marshmallows typically contain gelatin, so for a vegan option check out Dandies or the mini Trader Joe’s marshmallows. If you can’t find mini marshmallows, you can use regular-sized marshmallows, just chop them into small pieces.
• Vegan honey: Believe it or not, store-bought brands of vegan honey exist! You can even make homemade vegan honey with apples. Or, try another liquid sweetener such as maple syrup, agave nectar, date syrup, brown rice syrup, or simple syrup but note that these will alter the flavor of the final bars. 
• Chocolate chips: Mini chocolate chips are key here as the regular-sized will be too big for the perfect bite! If you can’t find any near you, chopping up a homemade vegan chocolate bar also works well.

Equipment Needed

• 8 x 8-inch square pan
• Cooking spray or parchment paper
• Large bowl
• Rubber spatula
• Small pot
• Sharp kitchen knife

How to Make Vegan Granola Bars

1. Combine the dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, add the rolled oats, brown rice crisps, vegan graham crackers, and sea salt. Mix until uniform and set aside.
2. Cut the marshmallows. Take 2/3 cup of the vegan marshmallows and cut them in half. Set aside to fold into the granola bars.
3. Melt the marshmallows. In a small pot over medium-low heat, melt the vegan butter. Once melted, add in the vegan honey and the remaining marshmallows. Cook, stirring often with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, until the marshmallows are melted fully and somewhat resemble a thick, sticky syrup. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
4. Combine the wet ingredients and oat mixture. Pour the melted marshmallow mixture into the large bowl and mix until well combined.
5. Add the cut marshmallows and mini chocolate chips. Stir well until combined.
6. Transfer to your prepared dish. Press the granola bars mix down gently into an 8-inch pan until the mixture is in an even layer.
7. Chill for 2 hours. Place the granola bars in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to set and chill.
8. Cut and serve. Once sufficiently chilled, gently remove the vegan granola bars from the baking dish and cut them into bars. We typically cut ours into 12 long bars, but feel free to cut yours into squares or whatever shape you like. Enjoy!

Variations and Add-in ideas

This vegan granola bars recipe is specifically developed to make s’mores-inspired granola bars, but making vegan granola bars at home is incredibly customizable and easy to adapt to suit what’s in your pantry.

If you’re swapping the marshmallows and chocolate chips that are folded in at recipe step 5, make sure to keep the ratios the same. For example, if you replace the chocolate chips, replace them with no more than a 1/2 cup of another ingredient of choice.

• Skip the graham crackers: If you can’t find vegan graham crackers near you, replace them with an additional 1/2 cup each of rolled oats and brown rice crisps cereal.
• Add-in healthy fats: Try pumpkin seeds, slivered almonds, chopped peanuts, hemp seeds, or sunflower seeds.
• Other add-in ideas: Popular choices in vegan granola bars are dried fruit, desiccated coconut, vegan peanut butter baking chips, white chocolate chips, etc.

Storage Instructions

For best results, we recommend storing these chewy homemade granola bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator. When tightly sealed, these vegan granola bars can last for up to 2 weeks.

Alternatively, you can freeze these vegan granola bars for longer storage. To do so, cut the granola bars into your desired size then place them in a freezer-safe container with a sheet of parchment paper between each layer of bars. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months, then thaw at room temperature until soft again.

Tips for Success

• Chilling is necessary! I know you will be tempted to dig in right away but skipping out on this step will result in crumbly bars that will fall apart and make a mess.
• Don’t add the final marshmallows and mini chocolate chips too soon. If you add them in before folding in the wet mixture, they will melt from the heat of the melted butter and marshmallows.

More Homemade Vegan Snacks You May Enjoy:

• Pumpkin Spice Moringa Energy Bars – Loaded with easy to find ingredients and can be made in 30 minutes or less.
• Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Cookies – These are packed with wholesome ingredients and make the ultimate healthy snack.
• Edible Cookie Dough Bites – Safe-to-eat cookie dough bites that are made with just 5 simple ingredients!
• Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins (Gluten-Free) – The perfect snack for lunch boxes, after school treats, or even dessert!
• No-Bake Peanut Butter Breakfast Bars – The perfect quick, healthy breakfast bar to grab on your way out the door every morning.
• Oatmeal Breakfast Bars – If you feel like you never have time for breakfast, these are for you!

Print

If you make this recipe, please tag @sweetsimplevegan and #sweetsimplevegan, we love to see your recreations! 

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by One Degree Organics, but all opinions remain our own. This post may also contain affiliate links, which means we earn a small commission through your purchase(s), but your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting Sweet Simple Vegan!