This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
Meet your new favorite snack bar…crisp, golden, and honey-sweet with that satisfying snap. These homemade oats ’n honey bars deliver the Nature Valley vibe, just fresher and a little more cozy from your own oven.
They mix up fast, bake toasty, and keep well for the week. Perfect for lunch boxes, hikes, or an afternoon pick-me-up with tea.
Half Baked Harvest At Home
20+ new recipes for wholesome comfort food made with everyday ingredients. Pre-order today! HBH At Home will be released on Tuesday, February 23rd!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Classic oats + honey flavor with serious crunch.
- Pantry ingredients, quick prep, and easy to customize.
Ingredient Notes
Oats: Rolled oats = chunkier texture and more crunch; quick oats = finer, maybe less crumbly
Honey: Use a mild, light honey for a clean flavor; strong varietals taste more floral/robust (still delish, just different).
Fat (butter or oil): Butter adds flavor; neutral oil can bake a touch crisper.
Salt: Even a small pinch sharpens the honey and controls sweetness.
Add-ins (optional): Sesame seeds, finely chopped nuts, or a sprinkle of cinnamon change texture/flavor.
The story behind the recipe
It’s snowing non-stop here. And to think two days ago I thought maybe spring might come a little earlier up here in the mountains.
Yeah, right. Those days of awesome sunshine and 30 degrees temps were short. Too short.
My die hard snowboarder brothers are pretty happy. Apparently, it was a major pow, pow day (Pow, pow is a lot of snow. I asked, they rolled their eyes.).
Ah, welcome to my life. Snowboard talk 24/7. Most the time I have no idea what everyone is talking about. I am in my own world thinking about Flourless Chocolate Cakes, Spring Pasta and those cute as can be Easter straws I got at Target thanks to Jessica.
So I tuned out the snowboard talk and day dreamed about Florida and palm trees and 80 degree weather. All while I stood by the heater (that is duct taped together, because the neck broke in half, jimmy rigged I think my dad calls it) that never leaves my side (never) and made granola bars.
Copy cat Nature Valley Oats ‘n Honey bars. They are the real deal.
My family loves these bars and I wanted to see if I could replicate them.
Mission accomplished! Oh, and they are SO easy. Like you need nine simple ingredients that you probably have on hand right now, five minutes of prep time and a little love from the oven. Then your golden! Literally they come out all golden and your kitchen will smell AMAZING. The smell alone is reason enough to make these.
Seriously, they are healthy, easy and in my opinion way better than the store-bought! Make yum today and eat them as a snack all week long!
Tieghan’s Tips
Line with parchment: Use parchment with overhang so the slab lifts out cleanly.
Press firmly: Pack the mixture very tightly with the flat bottom of a measuring cup. The tighter the pack, the crisper the slice.
Bake to color, not time: Pull when the edges are deep golden and the surface looks set and toasty; pale bars = softer, crumblier.
Cool completely in the pan: Let them cool until room temp and firm before lifting. Warm bars can fall apart.
Score before slicing: Lightly score the surface while barely warm for cleaner breaks, then finish slicing when fully cool.
Optional finish: A light drizzle of melted chocolate is a great idea
Press the mixture very firmly and bake until the edges are deep golden. Let the slab cool fully in the pan before slicing so it sets.
They were likely sliced while warm or not packed tightly enough. Score gently while just warm, then finish cutting once completely cool.
Yes, but the texture changes…quick oats make a finer, less chunky bar that can hold together a bit better. Rolled oats give that classic toasty bite.
Maple or agave will work for a vegan version, but the flavor is different and bars may be slightly less crisp. Choose a mild honey!
Just Like Nature Valley’s Oats ‘n Honeys Bars…..Actually they
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup rolled oats, use gluten free oats for a gluten free version
- 1/2 cup rice crispies cereal
- 3 tablespoons cornmeal
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons canola oil or I like to sometimes use coconut oil
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 9×9 inch square pyrex dish with parchment paper.
- Combine the oats, rice crispies, cornmeal, salt and baking soda in a medium size mixing bowl. In a glass measuring cup or microwave safe bowl mix the honey and canola (or coconut oil). Place in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stir to melt the coconut butter then add the vanilla and brown sugar. Whisk to combine and then mix the wet with the dry ingredients. Transfer the oat mixture to the prepared pyrex dish that is lined with parchment paper, and press down hard. I used the back of a measuring cup (spray or oil the bottom so it does not stick and press hard!) and it worked awesome!
- Place in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. The bars will be golden on top. Remove the bars (if your bars seem a little loose, I like to push down again on them to make sure the bars will hold together) and let the bars cool in the pan for 10-20 minutes then remove from the pan and then cut while the bars are firm, but still somewhat soft. Place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in a sealed container or wrapped in plastic wrap.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie
Maybe the spring forward will bring some spring weather. Hey, I can hope. Right?
Shared with: Inside BruCru Life, Lil Luna, Chef In Training, Buns In my Oven, Foodie Friday Friends, Tidy Mom, Taste and Tell, Cheerios and Lattes, Somewhat Simple, Mom on Timeout, I Heart Nap Time, Fine Craft Guide, The Country Cook, Whipperberry, Chef In Training
These were fantastic except that I messed up and read the amount of salt incorrectly. Luckily I like salty things. Oops.
Hey Haleigh,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad it was enjoyed! xTieghan
Can I use quick oats instead of rolled oats? Looking forward to trying these but keep buying the wrong oats 🙁
Hey Jen,
I am so sorry but I have not tested this recipe with quick oats, so I am unsure of the results. I hope you love the recipe. Please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy New Year! xTieghan
These turned out absolutely beautiful- however I made a few adjustments.
1. Instead of cornmeal I used wholemeal self-raising flour.
2. I omitted the brown sugar, vanilla and baking soda.
3. I baked at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes then lowered the oven temperature and kept cooking until really golden brown- around an additional 20 minutes. Cooled off in the oven as well.
These are amazing- so crunchy, tasty and much healthier than the original!! Really recommend.
Hi Lucy! I am really glad this recipe turned out well for you! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
why aren’t mines cruncher ? let them cool longer ?
why did mines come out soft like they break . how do i get them crunchier ? let them cool longer ?
I had the same issue…my bars crumbled. But the taste is amazing! I will try these again.
Hey Heather,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am thrilled that it was enjoyed! Have a great Sunday:) Sorry about the crumbles! xTieghan
Hi! Can I use sunflower oil instead?
Hi Toia,
Yes that will work! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Made these! They’re good, my husband likes them too and we both love the Nature’s Valley ones, but the store bought ones are sooo bad for you. These don’t taste exactly like those – they taste healthier, which is probably a good thing! 😉 Cheap to make, super easy, will be making more! Thank you!
I am so glad you liked these and I love when things taste healthier.. especially when they are! Thank you for trying these! xTieghan
Thanks, these look amazing! If i want to add something like blueberries, what would i need to change to make it work?
HI! I don’t recommend adding any additions to these bars as they will crumble once baked. They are a tight packed bar, so I worry the berries will cause them to not hold up. If you would really like to add fruit, I recommend 1/2 cup dried blueberries and pack them tightly into the mix before baking. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan! First of all thank you for this recipe (and for many more I made already). Second, I would make those just for a smell. It’s absolutely irresistible. However I have a problem with this recipe. I made these bars 3 times already and they keep falling apart. I use your recipe from the book and it slightly different, but very close. What can I do to keep them in bars form and not create a granola?
Hi! Can you give me any more info in how you are baking the bars? The time at which you cut the bars is VERY important If you wait too long they will crumble. Hope I can help!
Enjoyed reading the article above , really explains everything in detail,the article is very interesting and effective.Thank you and good luck for the upcoming articles!
Thank you so much!
I just looked at a box of Nature Valley’s Oats ‘N Honey bars yesterday. They admit using genetically modified ingredients. If people have not looked into GMO’s, they should!
Thank you Pat!
I know this is, oh, 4 years late… but, rice krispies are not gluten free because they have malt flavoring (derived from barley).
To make this gluten free they’d have to omit the rice krispies as well as use gluten free oats. Kelloggs tried to make a GF version but they were discontinued since they were never able to keep them from being contaminated.
Oh wow, I did not realize those were not gluten free! Thank you for letting me know!
I made these bars they were great. I add cranberries and walnuts to batch.
The second batch I put Sugar Free Strawberry Jam between to layers of the oatmeal and honey.
Sounds amazing! Thanks so much for making it!
In case anyone is still struggling wit their bars flaking apart, we found an easy solution. The first time they were a mess, but the second, we put the cornmeal and oats in the food processer briefly (pulsed about 10 times), then added the rest of the dry ingredients. We also upped the salt and added a little caramel extract. The texture was much better and they didn’t get crumbly at all. The taste was a little more on par for us as well. Hope that helps!
Thanks for helping out Sarah (:
I tried these today and it was a fail 🙁 at 20 minutes the bottoms were burning..it was cuttable but they were overdone and deep brown . I followed the recipe exactly, even the pressing down before and after. I will try lowering the temperature or cutting the cook time a but
Hi! I would cook at 325 degrees F and start checking them around 15 minutes. SO SORRY that they burned for you!
Awh sorry about this Debbie. Yes, try it again and let me kow how it goes! Thanks!