Baked Cranberry Granola Bars
on Jun 18, 2024, Updated Oct 10, 2025
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These easy baked cranberry granola bars take just minutes to prepare and are baked to perfection for a delicious chewy and crunchy treat.
Why You’ll Love these Cranberry Bars
This recipe is vegan, gluten-free and nut-free so are suitable for dietary restrictions and school lunches. Here’s why we love it:
- Just 7 ingredients.
- Vegan, oil-free and gluten-free.
- Nut-free – lunch box-friendly!
- Great for hiking, road trips and snacking on-the-go.
- Delicious chewy middle and crunchy edges.
- Very easy to make.
If you love them, these Cranberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars and No-Bake Apricot Granola Bars are also super yummy.
Ingredients
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.
- Cranberries: You can use any dried cranberries. I like fruit juice sweetened if I can find them, otherwise any work.
- Oats: You can use instant oats, quick oats, rolled oats or large flake oats.
- Pepitas (Pumpkin Seeds): Use raw or unsalted roasted pepitas.
- Sunflower Seeds: Use raw sunflower seeds (no oil or salt).
- Ground Flax: Be sure to use ground flax and not whole flax seeds.
- Sunflower Seed Butter: This can be substituted with tahini to keep the recipe nut-free or you can substitute almond butter or peanut butter.
- Maple Syrup: Use pure maple syrup or substitute agave syrup.
How to Make Cranberry Granola Bars
Before you start, preheat the oven to 350 F and line a 7 or 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or use cooking spray.
Step 1: Blend the oats, flax, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and cranberries to break down the seeds and combine everything. It shouldn’t be blended into flour, just a few pulses or brief blend on high should be enough.
Step 2: Add the maple syrup and sunflower seed butter and blend to combine into a thick, sticky dough.
Step 3: Dump the mixture into the prepared baking pan and firmly press down into an even layer.
Step 4: Bake the bars for 25 minutes until golden brown on top then let cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes.
FAQs
Yes. You can substitute any nuts and seeds for a total of 1 cup. Try almonds, pecans, walnuts, sesame seeds, etc.
Yes. Let them cool completely then store in an airtight container for up to 1 week at room temperature.
Store them for 1 week at room temperature, up to 2 weeks in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer. I like to keep them frozen.
If you try these granola bars or any other recipe on Running on Real Food, don’t forget to leave a comment and a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comment section below. It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe, and I love to hear from you. And don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @runningonrealfood so I can see your creation! Thanks for trying my recipes!
More Recipes to Try!
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Chia Seed Granola Bars
Desserts
Tahini Hemp Seed Bars
Baked Cranberry Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp ground flax, 15 g
- 1 cup rolled oats, 100 g
- 1/2 cup pepitas, 72 g
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, 72 g
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 65 g
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla, optional
- 1/2 cup sunflower seed butter, 120 g
- 1/3 cup maple syrup, 100 g
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 7 or 8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper or coat with cooking spray.
- Add the flax, oats, sunflower seeds, pepitas and cranberries to a food processor and blend briefly to break down the seeds and combine.
- Add the vanilla, if using, and the sunflower seed butter and maple syrup and blend to combine into a thick, sticky dough.
- Dump the mixture into the baking pan and firmly press down into an even layer.
- Bake the bars for 25 minutes until golden brown on top then let cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes.
- If you used parchment paper, lift the bars out of the pan and cut into 16 squares or 12 bars. If you used cooking spray, cut them in the pan and remove one by one.
- Let the bars cool completely before storing. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 3 months.
Love these and the recipe is versatile so you can mix and match with other ingredients like chocolate chips, walnuts, etc. We love them for hiking and an everyday treat. I really like them straight from the freezer but they’re good at room temp too. If you try the recipe be sure to leave me a comment and star rating to let me know!
Is the calorie count for 1 square or bar? You have different sizes of 16 and 12.
It will always correspond to the servings listed at the top of the recipe card, in this case, 16 bars. Thanks.