Sourdough granola bars are the perfect snack. They are easy to pack around and full of sustaining energy. They are for delicious breakfast-on-the-go, school lunches, or a homemade energy bar. Best of all, they can be made gluten-free, sugar-free, or vegan!
Not sure about making sourdough granola bars? Here’s why these bars are better because of a little fermentation.
- Fermentation adds a delicious sourdough flavor to these granola bars.
- Soaked and fermented grains are easier to digest, so this granola bar won’t leave you feeling sluggish from the carb overload.
- Pre-fermentation also eliminates the need for additional flour or sweetener. The lactic bacteria will break down the rolled oats before baking.
Sourdough Options
The recipe is written for a classic sourdough starter however there are other options:
- It’s also perfect for using up sourdough discard. Just make sure the discard isn’t more than a few weeks old. Otherwise, the granola bars won’t taste very good.
- I have also tested the recipe with a gluten–free sourdough starter. No adjustments are required! Just be sure to use GF oats for gluten-free granola bars.
- If you don’t maintain a sourdough starter, here’s how to make a quick one using milk kefir or kombucha.
Granola Bar Flavors
The best part about homemade baked goods is that they are a delicious way to experiment with flavor. Sourdough granola bars are perfect for so many flavor options.
Here are a few of my favorites:
- Blueberry Almond: This classic granola bar is perfect for breakfast on the go. Use 1/2 cup of almonds, 1/4 cup of dried blueberries, and 1/4 cup of shredded coconut.
- Salty Peanut: Use 1 cup of salted peanuts for a salty (not sweet) granola bar. Or use only 1/2 cup of peanuts with 1/2 cup of chocolate chips for that mix of salty-sweet. Yum!
- Immune Boosting: This school-friendly and beautiful granola bar is packed full of zinc, iron, and antioxidants. Use a 1/2 cup of goji berries and 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds.
- Chocolate Pecan: Turn your granola bars into a sweet treat by adding 1/2 cup of chopped pecans and 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips.
- Tropical Punch: This granola bar combines the sweetness of tropical fruit with high protein cashews for a healthy energy bar that will help you go the distance. Use 1/2 cup of mixed tropical fruit (mango, pineapple, and papaya) with 1/4 cup of cashews and 1/4 cup of shredded coconut.
Sourdough Granola Bars
Using a sourdough starter means that this healthy snack doesn’t require sweetener or additional flour as a binder. Sourdough granola bars are perfect for all sorts of flavor options. See the section above for 5 delicious options: blueberry almond, chocolate pecan, tropical or salty peanut.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 12 bars 1x
- Category: Snack
- Method: Sourdough
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats (quick or regular)
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter (see above alternatives)
- 2 eggs (see notes for vegan flax eggs option)
- 1/4 cup ground dates or brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup mixed nuts, seeds, and dried fruit
Instructions
- Mix rolled oats and the sourdough starter in a glass bowl. It will be quite dry. However, cover and leave it to soak or ferment for at least 30 minutes and up to 12 hours.
- When you’re ready to bake preheat the oven to 300 F (150 C).
- Beat in the eggs, ground dates, vanilla, and salt into the soaked oat mixture.
- Stir in 1 cup total of nuts, seeds, dried fruit, or chocolate chips. Feel free to use your favorite combination or see the section above for 5 delicious suggestions.
- Grease an 11 cup baking pan. Spread the granola bar mixture in the pan, and press so that it is firmly packed into the bottom of the pan.
- Bake for 50-60 min, until firm and browning around the edges.
- Remove from the oven and slice right away. Then allow the granola bars to cool before removing them from the pan.
Notes
- The eggs in this recipe are used as a binder. However, flax is a really great binder as well. To replace the eggs with flax, use 2 Tbsp of ground flax mixed in a 1/4 cup of water. Leave it to sit and gel for 5 minutes, then stir into the granola bars.
- Date sugar is my usual sweetener of choice. It is high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. However, it is not very sweet. To make a sweeter granola bar replace the ground dates with brown sugar, rice syrup, or honey. Please note, that using a liquid sweetener will result in longer baking times.
Keywords: gluten free, vegan, sugar free, wholegrain, breakfast, dessert, healthy, travel food, soaked, fermented, yogurt, chocolate, peanut, blueberry, almond, tropical
Hello
How about Kefir milk for the starter?
Yes! I’ve made this with milk kefir and sourdough starter. They both worked great.
Hi Emillie, wow great recipe! Is it also the case that the sourdough starter helps to keep the bars good for a longer time than without? Would you happen to know how long after preparing them they can still be eaten? Thanks!
Glad you like them! Unfortunately, sourdough baked goods can still go off. If you want to keep them for more than a few days, then either put them in the fridge or freezer. 🙂
Ok, good to know, thanks for your reply! 🙂
I made the blueberry- delish! Does this have to be active starter or can it be discard?
Discard is fine! Just don’t use discard that’s more than a few weeks old as it won’t be very active anymore. 🙂
What a great way to use sourdough discard! How much is 1/2 cup of starter in grams?
Would be helpful if you could include metric measurements in future recipes 🙂
Thanks for the suggestion! I don’t typically cook by weight (a Canadian thing)… however, I have converted some of my recipes. 🙂 Google suggests that 1/2 cup of sourdough starter is around 113-125 g. Luckily, precision isn’t necessary for these granola bars. Cheers!
Thanks a lot Emillie!
Look forward to trying the recipe.
(Btw I’m Canadian too 🙂
Love that it’s vegan and gluten free, hope there will be more like these in future posts 🙂
Hi Emilye,
A lot of my content is vegan and gf. Mostly because fermented fruits and vegetables naturally are. 😉 Have you checked out my vegan section, which is all vegan-specific baking and dishes? https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/category/special-diets/vegan/ There are a few more GF sourdough recipes in there. Cheers!
Hi! I’m so excited to try an oil-free granola recipe.
Do you think I can use a chia egg instead flax?
Thanks!
I haven’t tried a chia egg, but I don’t see why not? It will still be tasty even if it’s a bit crumbly. 🙂
Hi! Could this be used to just make granola instead of bars?
Yes! Or you could follow my fermented granola recipe using sourdough discard as your culture: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/fermented-granola/
What are ground dates?
It’s sometimes called date sugar. It’s not the same as date paste (which is moist). It’s made from dried dates is about the consistency of ground nuts.
Thank you, really pleased with these. I used date paste and it worked fine. I really like the fact that there is a sweetness there, but they are not overly sweet. Ihave you ever included peanut butter?
★★★★★
I haven’t tried peanut butter because we usually have these as school snacks… and there’s the issue of allergies at school. However, it should work it will probably remain a bit sticky. Not a bad thing, just different. Enjoy!
I used Psyllium instead of eggs and it worked amazing! I also added some dark chocolate chips. Thank you for this recipe!!
Thanks for sharing! Glad to know that psyllium will work as an egg replacement in this recipe.
So excited to try this ,along with all the extra great ideas .I use a lot of chai so that’s going in !
Getting ready to try these awesome sounding bars! I have never made anything with sourdough starter before. I have some from a friend and it is ready.
When you measure it, is it measured when all bubbly or do you stir it before you measure it?
Also, what can be used in place of dates for a bit of sweetness?
Great question! I stir my sourdough starter before measuring. 🙂 And if you don’t mind sugar, you could replace the dates with brown sugar, honey or maple syrup. Enjoy!
I made them – so good! I ended up using a mashed banana for sweetness and added cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
What a great idea!
Wondering how soaked quinoa might work for part of the oats… anyone tried it?
I haven’t tried it. However, there isn’t enough liquid in the granola bars to fully hydrate the quinoa, so I recommend using sprouted quinoa instead. That probably would work!
My bars turned out more bread-like (sort of like cross beteeen baked oats+muffin+bread?!) – but tasty nonetheless!
My oat sourdough mixture was super stiff after fermenting for about 3 hours, and I had to add some plant milk to loosen it up enough to combine with the chia egg and remaining ingredients. I thought ground dates was date paste, so used that instead of date sugar.
My bars are also very thin, about 1 cm – maybe that’s why the texture is off?
By the way, is there a reason for baking it long and slow; would it be ok to bake the bars at higher temperature for less time?
It’s probably fine to bake at a hotter temperature. That would make the bars crisper and less chewy. So that might give you the result you are looking for!
Thanks! I’ll give it another shot 🙂