Homemade Soft Granola Bar Recipe (Fruity Oaty Bars Recipe)

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Homemade granola bars are always delicious, but these homemade soft granola bars are something absolutely exceptional.  They're better than any granola bar you've ever bought, I promise you.

Three homemade soft granola bars on a white surface.

No Firefly/Serenity party would be complete without Fruity Oaty Bars.  And my husband's stash of snacks for work would be a much sadder place without them, too.

My version of Fruity Oaty Bars are a delicious, soft, homemade granola bar recipe that's been a favorite in our family for years.  We often mix up and modify the recipe to include different fruits and flavors, and no matter what we try, we always seem to love them.  

Ingredients for Soft Granola Bars Recipe on a wooden cutting board on a granite countertop.

Fruity Oaty Bars Soft Granola Bar Ingredients

  • 1 2/3 cups uncooked oatmeal
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup flour (I usually use whole wheat, sometimes even wheat germ)
  • 2 cups dried fruit
  • 1 t salt
  • 1/4 t cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup nut butter (I especially like cashew butter.  My husband Drew loves peanut butter.)
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
  • 2 T corn syrup
  • 6 T melted butter

Soft granola bars ingredients in a clear bowl on a granite countertop.

No special technique to this recipe.  Dump it in a bowl.  Mix it up.  I used dried cranberries, dried cherries, and dried apricots for my fruity oaty bars this time.   You could also mix in nuts, coconut, chocolate chips...  anything, really.

Unbaked homemade soft granola bars pressed into a silicone baking pan before cooking in the oven.

Press the mixture into a 9x9 pan.  If at all possible, use a silicone baking pan.  Seriously, it's my secret weapon for making caramels, bar cookies, granola bars--anything that benefits from being lifted out of the pan (usually with a parchment paper sling and copious Pam spray) and then cut.

Soft Granola Bars baked in a square silicone baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes.  Let cool COMPLETELY, and only then cut into bars.

Homemade soft granola bars baked, and just turned out of a blue silicone baking pan onto a wooden cutting board.

See?  Look how gloriously the whole thing pops right out of that silicone baking pan.

Homemade soft granola bars on a wooden cutting board.

These are fabulous for breakfast, snacks--and, of course, space cowboy birthday parties.

Firefly Fruity Oaty Bars on a white plate in front of figurines of the fruity oaty bars mascots from the Firefly movie.

You can even buy the Fruity Oaty Bars girls (produced by Quantum Mechanix) as a prop to go along with your treats!

Soft granola bars (Fruity Oaty Bars) at the Firefly birthday party, in front of the mascots for Fruity Oaty Bars from the Firefly Movie.

Who could resist those little bobble-heads?  They don't even need any subliminal messages for me to go nuts for these granola bars.

Printable Soft Granola Bars Recipe

Want a one page, printable version of this recipe for soft granola bars?  Click on the image below to print the PDF or download it to your device.

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Homemade granola bars on a cutting board and white surface, with text overlay reading "Soft Granola Bars."

Other Granola Recipes You Might Like:

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Other Firefly Birthday Party Ideas You Might Like:

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Nicole Wills, creator of Tikkido

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