No-Bake Vegan Chia Seed Granola Bars
These no-bake vegan chocolate chip chia seed granola bars are easy to make in one bowl with just 6 simple ingredients.
You can also use chia seeds in these No-Bake Chocolate Coconut Chia Seed Bars and No-Bake Chocolate Chia Energy Bars.
Highlights
- Vegan and gluten-free recipe.
- Refined sugar-free.
- Can be made nut-free.
- 1-bowl recipe.
- No blending needed.
- 6 simple ingredients.
- No baking.
Ingredient Notes
- Oats: Quick oats work best in this recipe because they’re a bit finer and hold together easier. You can use rolled oats or old-fashioned oats if needed or even give them a quick pulse in a food processor to help break them down into a quick oat consistency.
- Peanut Butter: You can use any nut or seed butter like peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter or tahini.
- Chocolate Chips: Use dairy-free chocolate chips like Enjoy Life or Camino for vegan bars. Use dark chocolate for a lower sugar option or sugar-free chocolate chips like Lily’s if preferred.
- Coconut Oil: This is essential to the recipe and can’t be omitted. If you’re looking for an oil-free bar, browse all energy bars here, most of them don’t use oil.
- Maple Syrup: You can use agave syrup or brown rice syrup if preferred.
- Chia Seeds: For crunch, binding and nutrition! White or black chia seeds work.
This list is not complete. Please see the recipe card at the end of the post for the complete ingredient list with measurements and detailed instructions.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1. Add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and use a spoon to mix until it’s uniformly combined into a crumbly dough.
Step 2. Line a 7-8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper so the edges of the paper stick out over the sides of the pan.
Firmly press the dough into the pan, taking a few minutes to really work it into the corners and get it nice and flat. This will ensure they hold together well
Place the entire pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes then use the parchment paper to lift out the pan. Slice and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
These need to be kept cold to hold together properly. They’re okay at room temperature for a while but as the coconut oil starts to melt they won’t hold together very well, it will stay in bar form but be a little crumbly as you eat it. They’re absolutely awesome straight from the fridge or freezer, so stick to that for best results!
You can store the bars for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge or for 3 months in the freezer in a heavy duty freezer bag or container.
More Energy Bar Recipes
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Scroll down to the comment section to leave a star rating and review.
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Chocolate Chip Chia Seed Granola Bars
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 10
- Category: Snack
- Method: No-Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These simple, homemade granola bars feature just a handful of healthy ingredients. No baking required, vegan and gluten-free.
Ingredients
- 2 cups quick oats
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
- 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix well until thoroughly combined into a crumbly dough.
- Line a 7-8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper so the edges stick out over the sides of the pan and then firmly press the mixture into the pan. Spend a few minutes really pressing it in there, this will help them hold together properly once they’re done.
- Place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes to firm.
- Cut into 10 bars.
Notes
Please note these need to be kept cold to hold together properly. They’re okay at room temperature for a while but as the coconut oil starts to melt they won’t hold together as well. They’re absolutely awesome straight from the fridge, so stick to that for best results! They will keep in a well-sealed container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 281
- Sugar: 13 g
- Sodium: 57 mg
- Fat: 17 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g
- Fiber: 4.5 g
- Protein: 6.5 g
These turned out great! My daughter is allergic to peanuts and we successfully subbed in almond butter. I bet any peanut butter substitute will work just fine. This is a great addition to our snack portfolio for our clean eating food allergic family! š
These taste fantastic!
Hi, just wondered if anyone knew an alternative to the peanut butter as I have a nut allergy, but otherwise these sound awesome, can’t wait to try
Any other nut butter will work, or sunflower seed butter if you can’t have nuts! Or even tahini!
We used almond butter successfully. I am sure any other nut butter, or tahini or us butter will work
I am curious about the nutritional/calorie info….. Can you provide that information?
I’m sorry, I don’t actually have that. But you should be able to enter the ingredients into My Fitness Pal and get the nutritional info. Thanks!
Could I use old fashioned rolled oats instead of quick oats?
I’ve used rolled oats before but found they don’t hold together very well.
Oh, okay. Do you know if I could make quick oats from rolled oats by just pulsing them in the processor a couple times? I’ve never done it but I’ve heard that was a thingā¦ I just don’t want to buy separate quick oats for one recipe. Thanks!
This is one of the best and easiest recipes I have found on Pinterest lately. Can’t believe how easy the reipe is and how good the granola bars taste! Have made them several times now and I keep being asked for the reipe because they’re so delicious. š
Oh, that’s awesome! I’m so glad you enjoy them!
I just made these for my 3 year old and my husband and they are amazing. I like the sweet love, not too sweet. I added pumpkin seeds, ground flax Seeds, and hemp protein. I also made them with coconut peanut butter. They came out a bit crumbly but it was the additional dry stuff I put. In the future, I will add more peanut butter to compensate for the additional ingredients I added. So easy!! Thank you for sharing.
That’s so great! I’m so happy you enjoyed them.
These are wonderful. How many calories and/or carbs?
I entered everything into my app and this recipe is going to be approximately 364 calories if you make 8 bars, or 182 calories per square if you make 16 squares. This number will of course vary by brand.
Thank you for adding that information! Appreciate it.
Any ideas as to something Gluten Free to sub in for oats? I react to them.
Quinoa flakes? Ā Or gluten free oats like Bob Red Mills?
Yes quinoa flakes should work…or if you can do GF-certified oats.
Yum! These are so good and I love how quick and easy they are to make! They are my new go to granola bar. A favourite in my house. Thanks so much for the recipe!