3 Vegan Caramel Granola Bar Recipes with Chocolate

We’ve got not one, two, but three granola bar recipes which are vegan and use cruelty-free ingredients that are perfect for those who are also lactose intolerant. These vegan caramel granola bars are all about hitting that sweet spot where dessert meets snack. They’re rich without being over-the-top, chewy without falling apart, and each one comes with its own layer of chocolate, because we’re not here to eat plain oats and feel sad about it. And because one version is never enough, we’ve got three ways to spin it, depending on your mood: nutty, crispy, or straight-up gooey.

1. Granola Bars with Date Caramel

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups Medjool dates, pitted
• 1 cup almonds, chopped
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

Instructions:

1. Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with parchment paper.
2. Place the dates into a food processor and mix until you get a dough-like consistency.
3. Add all the ingredients into a bowl and mix to combine. The rolled oats should be completely coated and start to stick together in clumps.
4. Once thoroughly mixed, transfer the mixture to the parchment-lined baking tray. Wet your hands with a bit of oil and firmly press the mixture into the pan.
5. These bars don’t need baking, so after pressing down, freeze for 15-20 minutes.
6. After freezing, remove the bars from the pan, onto a cutting board and cut them into 8-10 even bars.

2. Easy Vegan Salted Caramel Granola Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups rolled oats
• ½ tsp sea salt
• ¼ cup ground flaxseed
• ½ cup unsalted peanuts, almonds, or cashews, chopped
• ¾ cup sunflower seeds
• 12 soft medjool dates, pitted and stems removed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Juice from ½ lemon
• ¼ cup almond butter
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
• ¼ cup semi-sweet dark chocolate chips
• ½ tsp coconut oil
• 1-2 tsp flaked sea salt

Instructions:

1. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with parchment paper, with enough overhanging the sides, for easy removal of the bars once set.
2. Take a big bowl, mix the oats, sea salt, ground flaxseed, peanuts and sunflower seeds. Set aside.
3. Take a blender or food processor, add the pitted medjool dates, vanilla, lemon juice, almond butter, and melted coconut oil. Mix until it’s smooth and even. Make sure to stop and scrape the sides to get an evenly done mixture.
4. Scrape this mixture into the oat bowl and stir until everything is evenly coated. If it seems too rigid to be worked with a spoon, use your hands.
5. Transfer the mixture into the prepared dish and evenly spread. Use your hands or the back of a tumbler to flatten and smooth the top of the mixture.
6. Refrigerate 2 hours for the mixture to set up.
7. After 2 hours pull out from the fridge, and run a knife along the edges of the pan. Take them off the pan using the parchment paper. Then cut it up into 15 equal portions.
8. Take a small bowl, add the chocolate chips and coconut oil. Melt in the microwave for 1 minute, pausing 1-2 times in between to stir. Once smooth, drizzle over the squares. Sprinkle flaked sea salt over them, then refrigerate for 1 hour for the chocolate to harden.

3. Baked Vegan Caramel Candy Bars

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 2 tbsp coconut flour
• 3 tbsp softened coconut oil, use refined for a neutral flavor
• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
• A pinch of salt

Caramel Layer:

• 1/2 cup cashew butter, unsweetened
• 1/2 cup almond butter, unsweetened
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Coating:

• 1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate chips
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• Sea salt, to top

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Take a bowl and mix almond flour, coconut flour, coconut oil, maple syrup and a pinch of salt. Flatten it on a 8-inch baking dish lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake the crust for 12-15 minutes, you should have some browning at the edges. Remove from the oven, let it cool for 5 minutes, then top with the caramel.
4. For the caramel layer, whisk the almond with the cashew butter, maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla until smooth, the same bowl as the crust.
5. Pour this over the crust. Use a spatula to spread it around carefully to avoid breaking into the crust. Freeze the bars for 1-2 hours, until firm enough to cut.
6. Once they’re frozen, start melting the chocolate chips with the coconut oil in the microwave or using the double boiler method. Let it cool a little and pour them over the caramel layer. Freeze for 5 minutes to harden.
7. Once the chocolate hardens, use a sharp and large knife to cut the bars into 16 pieces.
8. Top the bars with sea salt and serve. Keep extra in the fridge for upto 2 weeks.