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My Keto Granola Bars Make Breakfast So Much Easier
If you’ve ever checked the label on most store-bought granola bars, you know they’re basically candy bars in disguise. I wanted a better option, so I started making my own keto granola bars at home… and haven’t looked back. These sugar free granola bars have that perfect chewy-crunchy texture without oats. Here’s why you’ll love them:
- Sweet, nutty, & chewy – These started as a Kind bar copycat more than a regular granola bar, but after tweaking the binder, I ended up with something I like even more — a perfectly chewy center with crunchy bits throughout, and a sweet, toasty flavor from a variety of nuts and seeds.
- Better for you – Keto, low carb, grain-free, and gluten free, and made with real ingredients, these bars feel like a treat without the fillers. If you’ve tried my keto oatmeal, you’ll recognize the same pantry staples here.
- Quick & easy – No chopping, no baking! Just mix, press, and you’re good to go. And if you want to switch things up, I’ve got some fun variations below you can try!
I love grabbing one of these keto granola bars with a little container of keto yogurt in the morning for a low carb breakfast, or tossing it into my bag for a snack on the go. Make them with me — you won’t miss the store-bought ones at all!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for my sugar free granola bars recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
- Nuts & Seeds – I used almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds (or sunflower seeds), and hemp hearts. You can mix it up with any keto nuts, but I like roasted nuts for the best flavor. Just make sure everything’s chopped small so the bars hold together.
- Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips – These are my go-to chips for anything chocolate. No sugar, no weird ingredients — they taste just like the real thing.
- Besti Powdered Monk Fruit Allulose Blend – My sweetener blends right in with no grittiness and tastes just like sugar. You can swap it with another powdered keto sweetener, but many of them can make your bars gritty, even if they’re powdered.
- Shredded Coconut – I go for medium flakes and always make sure they’re unsweetened.
- Almond Butter – Use the natural, drippy kind with no added sugar. Any nut butter you like should work.
- Egg – Holds these keto granola bars together. I haven’t tested egg subs, but a flax egg should work if you need it.
- Vanilla Extract & Sea Salt
Free Printable: Low Carb & Keto Food List
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How To Make Keto Granola Bars
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Prep & chop. Preheat your oven and line a baking dish with parchment. Add the almonds to a food processor and pulse a few times, then add the pecans and pulse again — just until everything’s roughly chopped.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Transfer the chopped nuts to a big bowl. Stir in the pumpkin seeds, coconut, hemp hearts, sweetener, and a pinch of salt.
- Make the binder. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond butter, egg, and vanilla. Pour it into the nut mixture and stir until everything is coated and sticky.
- Fold in chocolate. Fold in most of the chocolate chips — I save a little for the top — and mix it all together with a spatula.
- Assemble. Press the mixture firmly into your lined dish, then sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips on top. Lay a second piece of parchment over it and press down again to really pack it in.
- Bake & slice. Bake until the edges are golden. Let the keto granola bars cool completely in the pan, then lift out and slice into bars.
My Recipe Tips
- Roasted nuts and seeds make the best keto granola bars. If yours are raw, just toss them in the oven for a few minutes before you start. And if they’re already salted, skip the salt in the recipe.
- Pulse, don’t blend. Pulsing in the food processor (instead of letting it run) chops everything more evenly without turning it into nut dust. You want a coarse chop — not whole, not floury — for the best texture and to keep the low carb granola bars from falling apart.
- Harder nuts go in before softer nuts, because they take longer to break down. For example, harder almonds go in before softer pecans. The same rule applies even if you use other nuts or seeds — keep hardness in mind.
- Dark pans can cause the edges to brown too fast. I used this glass baking dish so the bars bake more evenly without overbaking on the outside.
- The more firmly you press the mixture into the pan, the better the bars will hold together. I use a piece of parchment on top to really press it down without sticking.
- Cool completely before slicing. I know it’s tempting, but your keto granola bars will fall apart if they’re still warm. You can speed things up by popping the pan in the fridge for a bit. Totally worth the wait!
- Cut straight down, don’t seesaw your knife. I find a big chef’s knife straight down works best for clean cuts.
Keto Granola Bars
By
Learn how to make keto granola bars that are sweet, chewy, and crunchy at the same time! This easy low carb granola bars recipe takes just 30 minutes.
Instructions
[ See step photos See my tips ]Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line an 8×8 inch (20×20 cm) baking dish with parchment paper.
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Place almonds into a food processor. Pulse intermittently just a few times, then add pecans. Pulse intermittently a few more times, until nuts are chopped into 1/4 inch pieces. Do not overmix.
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Transfer the nuts into a large bowl. Stir in pumpkin seeds, coconut, hemp seeds, Besti, and salt.
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In a small bowl, whisk together the almond butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir the mixture into the large bowl with the nuts.
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Use a spatula to fold in most of the chocolate chips and press them into the mixture. (Reserve about 2 tablespoons for the tops of the bars later.)
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Press the mixture firmly into the lined baking dish. Press remaining chocolate chips into the top. Place a piece of parchment paper flush on the top and press again firmly to compact very tightly.
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Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the edges turn darker golden brown.
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Cool completely in the pan. Once cooled, lift the parchment paper out of the pan and slice into bars.
Did you make it? Leave a review or tag me @wholesomeyum on Instagram!
Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 bar, about 4″x1.5″
- Tips: Check out my recipe tips above to help you nail the texture, keep your bars perfectly sturdy, and make sure every bite turns out delicious and satisfying!
- Variations: Variations: Don’t miss my recipe variations below to help you mix up the flavors and keep your bars from getting boring.
- Store: Keep in the pantry for a week or two, or in the fridge for a few weeks—just layer with parchment so they don’t stick.
- Freeze: Freeze in a single layer first, then transfer to a bag for up to 3 months.
- Note on nutrition info: For a larger serving size, you can cut into 8 bars instead of 12, and multiply all nutrition info by 1.5 times.
📖 Want more recipes like this? Find this one and many more in my Keto Cheat Sheet System and Keto Ebook Bundle!
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
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Keto Granola Bars
Recipe Variations
Want to switch up your sugar free granola bars? Here are a few other flavors I’ve made:
- White chocolate cranberry – I swap in sugar-free white chocolate chips and toss in dried cranberries. A little orange zest makes it extra special!
- Peanut butter chocolate chip – Use peanut butter instead of almond butter.
- Mint chocolate – Add a splash of peppermint extract to the wet ingredients. Cool, minty, and chocolaty!
- White chocolate macadamia – Swap almonds for macadamias and use sugar-free white chocolate chips. These keto granola bars give me total bakery cookie vibes!
- Honey nut – I drizzle in a bit of my sugar-free honey with the almond butter. It adds a warm sweetness that works with any nut combo.
More Grab & Go Breakfast Recipes
If you like light and easy breakfast foods you can grab and go, you’ll love these make-ahead dishes too:
251 Comments
mike
0I know it says that you can store outside if the refrigerator but can you confirm that is the case since the recipe has egg in it?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Mike, Yes, it’s fine to store outside the fridge, in a similar way to how cookies or muffins could be stored unrefrigerated. It all has to do with water activity in the finished product. I have stored this for weeks in the pantry with no issues.
Lisa
0I made slight variations to nuts and seeds, based on what I had in the freezer. These bars are DELICIOUS!! I believe this is an excellent base recipe, that is very forgiving in your nuts and seeds varieties.
Jon
0Made this using some different nuts and seeds; also used sunflower butter. Very good.
Joan
0These are amazing. I used peanut butter (unsweetened with nothing but peanuts of course) and used flax meal instead of hemp seeds since I didn’t have them. I couldn’t believe the carb and calorie count so I did my own calculations and it was true. GREAT RECIPE!
Brian
0Easy to make and very tasty. Best of all, no blood sugar spike! I had to double the quantity or the bars would have been too thin, but that gave 16 decent sized bars. Thanks for the recipe.
Joy
0don’t necessarily need to be keto, just low sugar. that being said, if I add oats do I need to increase/decrease eggs or almond butter? really excited to try this recipe.
Wholesome Yum A
0Hi Joy, I recommend replacing an equivalent amount of nuts with your preferred amount of oats instead. If the mixture is too dry, then you can add a little more almond butter.
Tammy Rodriguez
0Perfect! This is just the recipe I was looking for, and I love knowing exactly what ingredients are in my bars, instead of all the processed stuff at the grocery store. I made the recipe exactly as listed, and it was great!
Theresa
0I make these without the sweetener, subbing chia for hemp, and subbing extra nuts for the chocolate. I don’t want a sweet bar, but I absolutely love the flavor with the almond butter and the nuts. These are fantastic.
Susan
0Sounds so yummy!! Will make it asap ?
Nuray Fuller
0If I subtitute egg with flax seed egg, do I have to bake it.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Nuray, Yes, you’d still want to bake it.
Tevis
0Awesome! I was tired of spending a small fortune on Kind Bars, and missing granola. This recipe worked great! I used cashews, almonds and macadamia nuts because thats what I had on hand. Absolutely DELISH!!!
Gail Coleman
0How would these bars be without the chocolate as I’m allergic. What else could I use as a substitute please.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Gail, You can simply omit the chocolate chips, or substitute sugar free dried cranberries.
Graciellen Edwards
0I tried this with a couple of changes, I didn’t crush the nuts. I omitted the almond butter, added maple extract with the vanilla extract, added 2 tbsp of golden erythritol and poured the melted chocolate chips over the top after baking. They are absolutely delicious.
Cris
0I love this! I liked the taste of the mixture better before baking it, so now I just make the recipe without the egg and eat it with a spoon. (Separated into Portion controlled containers.) I realize that I lose the convenient portability and portion control element of the bar format but I’m just packing the little container with my lunch anyway. I added the sweetener at the end, and adjusted that to my own taste.
Lexi McHutchins
0Is there a substitution for the coconut, as I am extremely allergic. Was not sure if here was another purpose for the coconut.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Lexi, Feel free to replace the coconut with more of one of the other ingredients, for the same amount of bulk.
Kae
0Hi! Made your homemade granola and its the bomb! I just want to ask if I can use those to make these bars?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Kae, I have not tried that but it sounds like it should work out for you. Please let me know the results.
Sparky
0Just had some of these bars my friend made and —YUM! Making my own batch tomorrow!
Alyce
0This recipe is super easy & the perfect homemade substitute for expensive store bought “healthy” bars.
Robby Schneider
0Do these health bars need to be refrigerated?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Robby, You can find storage instructions in the blog post.
Jann Simpson
0Looks so yummy! I want to try this recipe but I’m not sure about the Choc zero sugar-free dark chocolate drops. Even though it’s made with Non-GMO soluble corn fiber, I have an autoimmune and try to stay far away from anything having to do with corn because it is so inflammatory. I’m trying to do my own ” healthy” version of keto that won’t lead me to a flare, but still enjoy things like this.
I hope you can understand my concern. Do you have any thoughts on this? Any alternatives to the brand of chocolate that you recommend? I love your site and have made many of your recipes and have recommended it to others!
Michelle
0Bake Believe brand only has a few ingredients & looks pretty clean Jann. I’ve purchased them several time before, and they’re really good, and great if you don’t want to make your own chocolate.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Jann, You could try my recipe for keto chocolate bars and use that to replace the chips in this recipe.