For nearly an entire year during high school, I maintained the same afternoon routine. After Mom picked me up from one of the residential cul-de-sacs next to the campus and drove home (the line of cars to get into the itty bitty loading zone in front of the school office always stretched out for nearly a quarter of a mile!), I dropped my backpack at the kitchen table and wandered into the pantry to grab a snack.
For the next 15 minutes, I decompressed from the day by opening our family laptop and navigating to one of my favorite websites, a game-oriented one that displayed a new jigsaw puzzle every morning. With the website’s timer running in the top right corner, I carefully maneuvered the pieces with the mouse, dragging and dropping them into place, until the picture was complete. And if that day’s puzzle was too easy and took less than my self-allotted time, I clicked the “puzzle randomizer” button to try another one.
To this day, I still love jigsaw puzzles. The more pieces the better!
While working on the puzzle, and then on my homework assignments after, I slowly nibbled on my snack of choice: almost always a soft-baked Nutri-Grain bar. The kind with nearly the same texture as chewy cookies and a sweet, fruity jam-like filling. Back then, I figured that the fruit component made them healthier than the chewy Chips Ahoy! chocolate chip cookies that also sat on our pantry’s snack shelf… Right?
Although Mom often bought boxes of strawberry and blueberry, I mainly favored the apple cinnamon flavor. (I’m still a huge cinnamonaholic, and I have to buy the 18-ounce jars {that’s over 1 pound!} just because I go through it so quickly!) With that filling, those Nutri-Grain bars basically tasted like apple pie!
Now that I better understand nutrition labels, I’ve realized my “healthier-because-it-has-fruit-in-the-filling” justification wasn’t very reasonable, and those snack bars weren’t exactly the best healthy option… But these homemade Healthy Apple Pie Granola Bar Bites certainly are! Unlike my childhood snack, these contain lots of fresh apple, plenty of wholesome ingredients, and no refined flour or sugar!
For your granola bar base, you’ll use a combination of old-fashioned oats and brown rice cereal. I know, it sounds a little strange, but it totally works! The oats provide that classic hearty granola bar texture, while the airy brown rice cereal adds the perfect complementary contrast.
This is the brown rice cereal that I buy, and I love it because it only contains brown rice and salt—no crazy additives or preservatives! You can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, as well as online, and my local Safeway has even started to carry it.
To hold the granola bar bites together, you’ll use unsweetened applesauce and Greek yogurt. The applesauce adds plenty of natural sweetness too, so you’ll only need to add a couple tablespoons of honey! As you probably know by now if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, Greek yogurt is one of my favorite ingredients in healthy baking. It keeps these granola bar bites tender and chewy, and it gives them a protein boost, too!
And of course, we can’t forget the diced apple and cinnamon for that iconic apple pie flavor! It’s important to dice the apples finely, no larger than the size of miniature chocolate chips. Bigger chunks would cause the granola bar bites to fall apart, so make sure you cut the fruit into very tiny pieces!
Snack time! And when you bake them, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees that I’ll see the notification from you! ?) I’d love to see your granola bar bites and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Healthy Apple Pie Granola Bar Bites | | Print |
- 1 ½ cups (45g) crisp brown rice cereal
- 1 cup (100g) old-fashioned oats (measured like this and gluten-free if necessary)
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup (126g) unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
- ¼ cup (60g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp (30mL) honey
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup (60g) finely diced apple
- Preheat the oven to 300°F, and lightly coat an 8”-square pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, combine the rice cereal, oats, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, stir together the coconut oil and applesauce. Add in the Greek yogurt, honey, and salt, mixing until thoroughly combined. Stir in the cereal mixture. Gently fold in the diced apple.
- Gently press the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 300°F for 14-17 minutes or until light golden and the center feels firm to the touch. Cool completely to room temperature in the pan before slicing into squares.
Pure maple syrup or agave may be substituted for the honey.
When cutting the apple, make sure the pieces are no larger than the size of miniature chocolate chips. Bigger pieces will cause the granola bar bites to fall apart.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
View Nutrition Information
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♥ Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Bars
♥ Brownie Batter Energy Bites
♥ Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Protein Bars
I can’t stand yogurt. The smell, taste, and texture all bother me. I was wondering if there was anything I could use as a substitute? They look and sound delicious!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Elizabeth! In this particular recipe, you may substitute additional applesauce for the yogurt. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these granola bar bites!
I used extra applesauce as you suggested and these are delicious!! I thought I cut the apple small enough, but I didn’t. The bars are falling apart, but that doesn’t change the taste! Thanks for sharing this recipe!! I have a HUGE sweet tooth and these definitely satisfied that craving!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these Elizabeth!! 🙂
Hi Amy, I made this recipe and it tastes great, but I was wondering if you have any tips on how to get it crunchier? Mine are really soft and I think it was because I used Rice Krispies cereal.
Thanks! 🙂
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Sara! This recipe was actually designed to be chewy, not crunchy. I talked about that in the text of my blog post above the recipe — it can be easy to miss! 😉 You could try baking the pan longer next time, but I’m slightly afraid that they’d burn before they turned crunchy… But you could probably set your current batch of fully-baked slices granola bar bites on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper (leave a little space between each bite!), and you could bake them at 325°F until they turn out crunchy to make this batch suit your texture tastes! 🙂
This looks really delicious and i cant wait to try it out but could you maybe tell me some nutrition facts, that would really help me out thanks!
The nutrition facts are actually included directly beneath the recipe! I know it can be easy to miss them. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these granola bar bites Krystyna!
I made these apple pie granola bars a few weeks ago and they were great. I’m making them again
with some friends tonight at our cooking class. I like mine a little more crunchy so I leave them in a little longer.
Thanks for the recipe, so easy, you can make them so fast.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying these granola bars Brenda! That means a lot to me that you’re already making them again — that’s the best kind of compliment! 😉 Thanks for sharing your note about leaving them in longer to make them slightly crunchy. I always love hearing what recipe tweaks work!
Hi, I really want to try these as a quick school snack, I was just wondering if you would recommend peeling the apples or leaving the skin on? And does it matter which type of apples are used? Thank you!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Rachel! I typically use Fuji apples in my baking recipes (unless otherwise noted!), and I leave the peel on (again, unless otherwise noted… mostly because I’m lazy!). 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these granola bar bites!
Looks good! any thoughts on how to make it vegan? what to use instead of the greek yogurt? thanks!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Leslie! I’ve actually answered this exact question a few comments above yours. I’ve copied and pasted the same response below for you! 😉
In this particular recipe, you may substitute additional applesauce for the yogurt. Then use either of the two alternative sweetener options I provided in the Notes section of the recipe in place of the honey. ???? I can’t wait to hear what you think of these granola bar bites!
Can you add protein powder?