• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Fermenting for Foodies

Health, Taste and Tradition

  • Fermentation
    • General Information
    • Beans, Nuts & Seeds
    • Beer, Wine, & Cider
    • Dairy & Cheese
    • Fermented Fruit
    • GF Sourdough
    • Trad Sourdough
    • Probiotic Beverages
    • Vegetables
    • Supplies
  • Healthy Meals
    • Appetizers
    • Baked Goods
    • Breakfasts
    • Condiments
    • Main Dishes
    • Sides & Salads
    • Soups & Stews
    • Desserts
    • Gluten-Free
    • Vegan
  • Fruit-Sweetened Treats
  • Cookbook

Sourdough Granola Bars (GF & Vegan Options!)

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!

Healthy, pumpkin seed and goji berry granola bars

Not sure about making sourdough granola bars? Here’s why these bars are better because of a little bit of 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. Fermentation helps 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, mix 1/2 cup of flour with 1/2 cup of a fermented beverage like kombucha or milk kefir. I’ve tested it, and it works just as well as sourdough starter.

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:

  1. Blueberry Almond: This classic granola bar is perfect for breakfast on the go. Use 1/2 cup of slivered almonds, 1/4 cup of dried blueberries, and 1/4 cup of shredded coconut.
  2. 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!
  3. 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. (See photo above).
  4. 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. (See photo below).
  5. 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 - chocolate pecan, goji with pumpkin seeds
Goji pumpkin seed bars and chocolate pecan bars.
Print

Sourdough Granola Bars

imple sourdough granola bars are gluten-free and healthy
Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

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.

  • Author: Emillie
  • 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

Units Scale
  • 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 sweetener (optional, see notes)
  • 2 Tbsp cooking oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup mixed nuts, seeds, and dried fruit

Instructions

  1. Mix rolled oats and the sourdough starter in a glass bowl. It will be quite dry. If you want to soak and ferment the oats, cover with a tea towel and leave it on the kitchen counter for up to 12 hours. 
  2. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 300 F (150 C).
  3. Beat in the eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla, and salt into the oats and sourdough. If you fermented the oats, then it will be very tough, so just keep mixing until everything is evenly distributed. However, it’s fine to make this recipe without fermenting the oats.
  4. 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 options.
  5. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Spread the granola bar mixture in the pan, and press so that it is firmly packed into the bottom of the pan.
  6. Bake for 50-60 min, until firm and browning around the edges.
  7. 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.
  • This recipe can be made without any sweetener, however, a bit of sweetness is nice.  Feel free to use brown sugar, rice syrup, or maple syrup. 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

Filed Under: Baked Goods, Gluten-Free Sourdough, Traditional SourdoughTagged With: Oats, Snacks

Previous Post: « Turmeric, Citrus & Honey Health Tonic
Next Post: Yogurt Cheese, Greek Yogurt And Labneh »

Reader Interactions

Related Posts

Simple-sourdough-cobbler-gluten-free-vegan-made-with-sourdough-discard
Simple Sourdough Cobbler: A Healthy Treat!
How to make vegan sourdough cinnamon rolls. Ooey, gooey, delicious!
Vegan Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
How to use milk kefir to make a quick sourdough starter
Quick Kefir or Kombucha Sourdough Starter

Healthy and delicious gluten-free vegan sourdough waffles
Vegan Sourdough Waffles (GF Option)
Sugar-free fermented granola
Fermented Granola (Sourdough Or Kombucha)
No added sweeteners banana bread
No Sugar Banana Bread (GF Option)

Comments

  1. Pamela

    March 20, 2020 at 7:43 am

    Hello
    How about Kefir milk for the starter?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      March 20, 2020 at 8:24 am

      Yes! I’ve made this with milk kefir and sourdough starter. They both worked great.

      Reply
  2. Gijs

    May 11, 2020 at 3:35 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • Emillie

      May 12, 2020 at 9:46 am

      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. 🙂

      Reply
      • Gijs

        May 12, 2020 at 12:42 pm

        Ok, good to know, thanks for your reply! 🙂

        Reply
  3. Peggy R Hogan

    May 20, 2020 at 10:17 am

    I made the blueberry- delish! Does this have to be active starter or can it be discard?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      May 21, 2020 at 1:09 pm

      Discard is fine! Just don’t use discard that’s more than a few weeks old as it won’t be very active anymore. 🙂

      Reply
      • Emilye

        August 31, 2021 at 8:29 am

        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 🙂

        Reply
        • Emillie

          August 31, 2021 at 10:22 am

          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!

          Reply
          • Emilye

            August 31, 2021 at 7:14 pm

            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 🙂

            Reply
            • Emillie

              September 1, 2021 at 8:34 am

              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!

              Reply
  4. Liv

    May 26, 2020 at 5:03 pm

    Hi! I’m so excited to try an oil-free granola recipe.
    Do you think I can use a chia egg instead flax?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Emillie

      May 27, 2020 at 2:19 pm

      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. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Ashley

    June 10, 2020 at 3:06 pm

    Hi! Could this be used to just make granola instead of bars?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      June 11, 2020 at 10:29 am

      Yes! Or you could follow my fermented granola recipe using sourdough discard as your culture: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/fermented-granola/

      Reply
  6. Nina

    January 26, 2021 at 1:25 pm

    What are ground dates?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      January 26, 2021 at 1:33 pm

      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.

      Reply
  7. Tanya Marie

    February 18, 2021 at 3:39 am

    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?

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      February 18, 2021 at 11:35 am

      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!

      Reply
  8. Maria

    February 23, 2021 at 3:38 am

    I used Psyllium instead of eggs and it worked amazing! I also added some dark chocolate chips. Thank you for this recipe!!

    Reply
    • Emillie

      February 23, 2021 at 12:19 pm

      Thanks for sharing! Glad to know that psyllium will work as an egg replacement in this recipe.

      Reply
  9. Anna

    May 1, 2021 at 5:35 am

    So excited to try this ,along with all the extra great ideas .I use a lot of chai so that’s going in !

    Reply
  10. Stephanie A

    July 5, 2021 at 4:18 pm

    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?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      July 6, 2021 at 12:56 pm

      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!

      Reply
      • Stephanie

        July 6, 2021 at 6:26 pm

        I made them – so good! I ended up using a mashed banana for sweetness and added cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Thanks for the recipe.

        ★★★★★

        Reply
        • Emillie

          July 7, 2021 at 1:16 pm

          What a great idea!

          Reply
  11. Stephanie

    July 9, 2021 at 4:36 pm

    Wondering how soaked quinoa might work for part of the oats… anyone tried it?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      July 12, 2021 at 12:14 pm

      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!

      Reply
  12. Emilye

    September 1, 2021 at 6:32 am

    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?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      September 1, 2021 at 8:38 am

      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!

      Reply
      • Emilye

        September 11, 2021 at 3:25 am

        Thanks! I’ll give it another shot 🙂

        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Emillie, an island-dwelling fermentation enthusiast. Fermenting For Foodies features healthy recipes designed to feed your microbiome.
Read More →

Check Out My Cookbook!

Fermenting Made Simple Cookbook

Want healthy recipes right to your inbox? Subscribe to our mid-month newsletter!

Thank you!

Please check your inbox to confirm your subscription.

Affiliate Disclosure

In order to run this site, Fermenting For Foodies sometimes earns an affiliate commission on the sales of products we link to. We only feature items we genuinely want to share, and this is an arrangement between the retailer and Fermenting For Foodies. Readers never pay more for products. Thank you for reading!

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Affiliate Disclosure
  • Sponsored Content
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 · Fermenting for Foodies