Soft Apricot Cashew Granola Bars

You’ll love everything about these soft apricot cashew granola bars! Quick and easy to make, they’re loaded with nutritious ingredients, super soft and chewy, and slightly addictive too. A healthy granola bars recipe to make over and over again, playing with various add-ins you like.

Among all the healthy snack recipes, there’s always room for a quick granola bars recipe we can make over and over again. Whether you need a quick back-to-school snack for your kids or a boost of energy while hiking or after a full workout, these healthy and nutritious granola bars will be there for you.

I love that they are so easy to make, prepared in no time, loaded with nutritious ingredients that are also naturally vegan, and so so soft and chewy! Best part: the recipe is super easy to customize based on the ingredients you have in your pantry, so you can never ever get tired of them. Honestly, they’re just the best soft granola bars recipe you can find!

Why you’ll love these soft apricot cashew granola bars

There are so many reasons for you to love these soft granola bars anytime of the day. So go the extra mile and make them from scratch rather than rushing into the store and buying overpriced and often partly healthy granola bars. Here’s what we like about them:

• Soft and chewy bars ✔
• Super quick and easy to make ✔
• Made with natural ingredients only ✔
• Healthy and nutritious ✔
• Vegan and gluten-free (if using GF oats) ✔

The ingredients you need

You need only 6 ingredients, one bowl and a rubber spatula to make these soft and chewy granola bars. So check your pantry and make sure you have the following ingredients at hand any time of the year, you’ll thank me later!

• Cashew butter. Use it smooth and natural (without any added sugar). Note that cashew butter can be a little pricey; if so you can replace with peanut butter.
• Rolled oats. I recommend old-fashioned rolled oats over quick oats, the last ones will make the mixture too mushy.
• Honey. Any type of honey will do. For a vegan option, replace with maple syrup or agave syrup.
• Dried apricots. Chop them into small pieces to ensure you have plenty of them in your bars.
• Cashews. I used cashew halves to give some crunchy texture to the bars. You can also chop them.
• Vanilla extract. Because vanilla makes everything sweeter in life 😉

Pro tip to make the BEST soft granola bars

Depending on how runny your cashew butter and your honey are, you may need to adjust the recipe a little bit. Ideally you want your cashew butter and honey to be very soft; if not add a few Tablespoons of water to soften the mixture a little bit. If on the contrary everything is too wet, you can add a little bit more oats.

Step-by step tutorial

How to store apricot cashew granola bars?

First thing first, remember to freeze the granola bars for 30 minutes before slicing them into bars (I recommend you set a timer, cause if you wait too long the bars will be too hard).

Once chilled and sliced, you can store the granola bars in a large ziploc bag, making sure you leave space between them so they don’t stick to each other. You can also wrap them individually in parchment paper before placing them in a ziploc bag.

Store in the refrigerator for up to 7 days if you think you can eat the bars during the week (I would reasonably believe so), or freeze for up to a month. Thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator, but do not thaw in the microwave. My personal tip: place them in the refrigerator overnight, and you’ll have ready-to-eat granola bars the next day!

Variations around these cashew granola bars

Once you master the basics of this recipe, you will soon notice how easy it is to create infinite variations that suit your mood of the day. Here are just a few ideas to consider:

• Create a peanut butter and chocolate chip version, using mini chocolate chips.
• Replace dried apricots with cranberries, raisins or other chopped dried fruits of your choice.
• Create a trail mix version, using a mix of seeds and dried fruits (pumpkin seeds, almonds, cashews, cranberries, raisins…).
• For a vegan version, replace honey with maple syrup or agave syrup.
• For a gluten-free version, make sure you use gluten-free oats.

More healthy snack recipes:

• Soft Chocolate Granola Bars
• Healthy Lemon Coconut Energy Balls
• Easy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
• Chocolate-Covered Nut Date Bars
• Almond Energy Balls with Dried Fruits
• Vegan Banana Oatmeal Cookie
• Check also these 10+ Nutritious Grab-and-Go Snacks

Try also…

• Basic Oatmeal Recipe (+ Healthy Topping Ideas)
• Quick Oatmeal Banana Blender Pancakes

Soft Apricot Cashew Granola Bars

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• Author: Delphine Fortin
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Freezing Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 14 servings 1x
• Category: Snacks
• Cuisine: Healthy
• Diet: Vegan

You’ll love everything about these soft apricot cashew granola bars! Quick and easy to make, they’re loaded with nutritious ingredients, super soft and chewy, and slightly addictive too. 

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 cup (250g) cashew butter*
• ½ cup (175g) honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups (180g) old-fashioned rolled oats**
• 1 cup (150g) dried apricots, chopped***
• ½ cup (75g) cashew halves (or chopped cashews)****

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Instructions

1. Stir the cashew butter, honey and vanilla in a large mixing bowl until smooth and creamy.
2. Pour the oats, chopped apricots and cashew halves and stir until combined. If the mixture is a little bit too dry, consider adding a few Tablespoons of hot water, one at a time. If too wet, adjust the quantity of oats.
3. Press the bar mixture into a 10×8 inch (26×20 cm) or a 9×9 inch (23×23 cm) pan lined with parchment paper. Freeze for 30 minutes.
4. Pull out of the pan and cut into bars. Place bars (individually wrapped with parchment paper) in a large ziploc bag next to each other, and store in the refrigerator for 7 days or in the freezer for up to a month.

Notes

* Instead of cashew butter, you can use smooth (or crunchy!) peanut butter.

** I do not recommend quick oats for this recipe, as they will make the mixture mushy. Old-fashioned rolled oats however bring some interesting texture to the bars.

*** Other dried fruits would work too (cranberries, raisins, pitted and chopped dates, dried figs…). You can also replace the fruits with mini chocolate chips!

**** I like the idea of using cashew halves rather than chopped cashews, as they tend to be more flat in the bars. If you use peanut butter, you can replace cashews with peanut halves.

Back-To-School, Energy Bites, Nuts, Oats, Quick & Easy, Year Round

Did you make this recipe?

Lastly, if you make this Soft Apricot Cashew Granola Bars, be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating, letting me know how you liked it. And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Thank you and enjoy!