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These chocolate hazelnut butter granola bars are a homemade take on Clif Nut Butter Bars, and they taste even better! Soft, chewy, and filled with a creamy nut butter center. They hold together perfectly, are naturally gluten-free, and make the perfect portable snack for your next hike!
I’ve always had a soft spot for Clif bars, especially their Nut Butter bars with that creamy center. The only downside? They’re expensive and not always easy to find. I haven’t seen my favorite flavor in ages, which is what pushed me to make my own.
This homemade version has the same soft, chewy texture, but is slightly less sweet. The nut butter filling is creamier than the original and relies on just two simple ingredients: chocolate and nut butter. Side-by-side, the homemade version is superior as it tastes less artificial and has cleaner ingredients.
If you’re looking for a simple, homemade upgrade on the original, this is it!
⭐️ Here’s Why You’ll Love Them
- Soft and chewy texture with a nice crunch from the rice crisps.
- Creamy chocolate hazelnut filling that’s rich and stays just firm enough at room temperature.
- No-bake recipe that relies on just a few ingredients. Much fewer than the original Clif bars!
- Naturally gluten-free (assuming you use certified GF oats).
- Perfect for meal prep and on-the-go snacks. These bars keep at room temperature for weeks!
🌰 What You’ll Need
Here are helpful notes on the ingredients you will need to make the bars. Remember that you can find the exact measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Oats + oat flour – These form the base of the bars. I recommend using quick oats (I like Quaker) as rolled oats will result in a tough texture.
- Rice crisps – For a slight crispiness. I like to use Rice Krispies, but any rice cereal will work.
- Brown rice syrup – This is the key binding ingredient. Brown rice syrup is thick and sticky, which prevents the bars from falling apart.
Note: Do not substitute with maple syrup or agave. These are too thin and will result in crumbly bars. - Almond butter – Along with brown rice syrup, almond butter helps the oats hold together and prevents the mixture from being too sticky.
- Coconut sugar – For extra sweetness. Feel free to adjust the amount to your liking.
- Vanilla extract – To add extra flavor to the bars. Use high-quality store-bought vanilla extract or homemade vanilla extract.
- Dark chocolate + hazelnut butter – The filling is a simple blend of nut butter and dark chocolate. I use hazelnut butter because hazelnuts and chocolate are a great combo, but you can use any other nut butter. Keep in mind that the chocolate is essential to stabilize the filling. Do not substitute or omit it.
Note: The bars shown in the first photo were made with soy protein crisps, while the other photos were made with regular rice crispies, which explains the subtle color and texture differences.
🥣 How to Make It
- Melt the chocolate. Melt the dark chocolate over a double boiler.
- Mix with the nut butter. Add the hazelnut butter and mix until combined. Refrigerate until firm.
- Mix the dough. Pour the warm liquid ingredients over the oats and oat flour.
- Stir with a wooden spoon until a thick and sticky dough forms.
- Add the rice crisps. Fold in the rice crisps until evenly incorporated.
- Try not to overmix to prevent crushing them.
- Flatten. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough between two sheets of parchment paper.
- Slice into rectangles. Cut into 12 equal rectangles.
- Place the chocolate hazelnut filling. Arrange about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of the filling on a rectangle.
- Close the bar. Cover with another rectangle.
- Press to seal. Press the edges firmly to enclose the filling.
- Repeat. Repeat with the remaining rectangles and filling.
💪🏼 How to Turn These Into Protein Bars
If you want to make these even more nutritious, I’ve got you covered! Here is how to turn these bars into protein bars:
- Use soy crisps instead of rice crisps. Made from soybean protein isolate, soy crisps contain approximately 80g of protein per 100g and will add an extra 4g of protein per bar.
- Incorporate protein powder. Substitute 1/4 cup of protein powder or PB2 (powdered peanut butter) for 1/4 cup of oat flour.
📔 Thomas’ Tips
Flatten and assemble immediately.
The dough dries quickly and loses the stickiness needed to seal the bars. That’s why it’s important to flatten and assemble right away to prevent cracking or poorly sealed edges.
Adjust the consistency of the dough.
The exact amount of brown rice syrup may vary depending on the oats and oat flour.
- Ideal texture: It should be slightly sticky but easy to handle.
- Too dry: If the dough crumbles when flattening, add 2-3 teaspoons of brown rice syrup and mix again.
- Too sticky: Add a small amount of oat flour and mix.
❄️ Storing
- To store: Since the bars only contain shelf-stable ingredients, you can keep them wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. During the summer, I suggest keeping them in the refrigerator to prevent the chocolate filling from melting.
💬 FAQs
Any nut butter works! Peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, etc.
Unless it’s summer and the room is very hot, the bars do not need to be refrigerated and taste best at room temperature.
As long as you’re using gluten-free certified oats, the bars are gluten-free.
The bars can be a bit sticky at first. You can let them air dry at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
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Chocolate Hazelnut Granola Bars (Homemade Clif Nut Butter Bars)
Ingredients
Chocolate Hazelnut Filling
- 4 ounces (115 g) dark chocolate
- 2 ounces (56 g) hazelnut butter (or other nut butter)
Bars
- 1 cup (86 g) quick oats
- 3/4 cup (63 g) oat flour
- 6 and 1/2 tbsp (104 g) brown rice syrup
- 1/4 cup (45 g) coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp (30 g) almond butter (or peanut butter, cashew butter)
- 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
- 1 cup (33 g) rice crisps
Instructions
Chocolate Hazelnut Filling
- Melt the chocolate. Add the dark chocolate to a double boiler to melt it.
- Mix with the hazelnut butter. Once the chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat and add the hazelnut butter. Stir until well combined.
- Chill. Let the filling cool at room temperature for a few minutes before chilling in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Once the filling is firm, remove it from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or until it has the consistency of a thick ganache.
Bars
- Add the quick oats and oat flour to a large mixing bowl.
- Heat the liquid ingredients. Add the brown rice syrup, coconut sugar, almond butter, and vanilla extract to a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, or until everything is well combined.
- Mix. Pour the warm liquid ingredients over the oats and oat flour. Mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until you have a soft and sticky mixture.
- Add the rice crisps. Fold in the rice crisps until evenly incorporated. Do not overmix to keep the crunchy texture.
- Flatten. Place the mixture between two sheets of parchment paper. Use a rolling pin to flatten it to a thickness of about 1/4-inch (6 mm).
- Slice into rectangles. Cut into 12 equal rectangles of about 4×2 inches (10x.5 cm).
- Arrange the chocolate hazelnut filling. Scoop about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of the chocolate filling and shape it into a log. Arrange it on a rectangle, leaving about 1/2-inch (1.2 cm) on the sides.Note: Be careful, if your kitchen is too hot, the hazelnut butter will be really soft. I recommend keeping the chocolate hazelnut filling in your refrigerator if that is the case.
- Close the bar. Cover with another rectangle and press the edges firmly to enclose the filling. Repeat with the remaining filling and rectangles.
- Wrap each bar individually in plastic wrap and store them at room temperature.
Notes
Flatten and assemble immediately.
The dough dries quickly and loses the stickiness needed to seal the bars. That’s why it’s important to flatten and assemble right away to prevent cracking or poorly sealed edges.Adjust the consistency of the dough.
The exact amount of brown rice syrup may vary depending on the oats and oat flour.- Ideal texture: It should be slightly sticky but easy to handle.
- Too dry: If the dough crumbles when flattening, add 2-3 teaspoons of brown rice syrup and mix again.
- Too sticky: Add a small amount of oat flour and mix.
About the Author
Thomas Pagot is the founder, photographer, and recipe developer behind Full of Plants. He created the blog in 2016 as a personal cookbook for vegan recipes. Through years of recipe development, Thomas has successfully grown Full of Plants into a trusted resource for plant-based recipes.
Leave a Comment
Do you think you could use dates in the processed oat mixture instead of syrup afterwards to hold it together? I’ve never made anything like this really!
I think date paste should work, but you will have to test on how much to use.
Just made these totally easy to make and taste great. To make the recipe easier I substitute nuetela for the hazelnut butter and chocolate. I also rolled them out than added the nuetela to the rolled out batter and rolled it up like sushi. This worked better than I thought and made to 14″ logs I will later cut into portion sizes
Awesome! Glad you liked the recipe Shawn!
Thanks for your feedback 🙂
I would love to do them! How much gram is one cup?
1 cup rolled oats equals about 90g.
Never heard about chocolate stuffed granola bars. Will definitely give them a try. Thanks for sharing
Rawtella works well.
What are rice krisps?
Puffed rice 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe! I had found your recipe after searching for a recipe to remake the nut butter-filled Clif bars that were chocolate & peanut butter flavored. I modified your recipe to get that flavor type, and using the ingredients that I had on-hand to swap out some that I didn’t. Anyway, still mostly your recipe, which was AMAZING!
Mods (to make choc peanut butter flavor)
-replaced the protein powder/pb2 with almond flour
-didn’t use oat flour, swapped in cocoa powder
-replaced rice syrup with honey (maple syrup worked too)
-changed the filling to just peanut butter!
Hi Amalia,
So glad to hear your liked the recipe 🙂 Thanks for sharing your tweaks!
Thanks for the recipe. My family loves it. I made a few changes to accommodate what I had available at the time, but it was great. So easy and very tasty. We love Cliff Bars, but will probably not need to buy them anymore. Thank you so much.
Hooray! Finding your recipe just made my day, or quite possibly my whole week. (In fact, finding your blog did that in general, as of about twenty minutes ago! Vegan Blue Cheese? Yes, please!) I love the Clif bars that are similar to these, but can’t eat some of the ingredients due to food allergies. Your recipe gives me a great starting point for making my own homemade adaptation. Thanks!!
Thanks for your kind words Rachel!
can you do a tutorial on how to do them?
It’s now on my long to-do list 🙂
I understand that you are requesting a tutorial on how to make these though, it’s not evident to know how to fill and shape them.
Great recipe, it looks yummy 🙂