You can make Homemade Clif Bars that are delicious, healthy, and budget friendly. These easy chewy granola bars are so good to have on hand for after-school snacks, easy lunch additions, grab-and-go breakfasts, and energy boosters for whenever you need them. Follow the directions to make this Homemade Chocolate Chip Clif Bars recipe for the ingredients and directions you need to make Clif Bars at home! We’ve formulated this recipe to work for families who have food allergies, too, so you can rest assured this delicious chewy granola bar recipe is gluten free, dairy free, egg free, and nut free.
This recipe was originally posted August 10, 2017; Updated June 10, 2021
The perfect clone recipe for healthy homemade Clif Bars
We LOVE Clif Bars around here. So much so, that we decided to make them ourselves. This recipe for Homemade Cliff Bars is a quick and simple replica that makes soft and chewy, allergy-friendly, and easy-on-the-budget gluten-free granola bars. The recipe is simple and a great way to involve kids in the kitchen.
Ingredients to make Homemade Clif Bars – and substitutions
You can make these dairy-free and gluten-free granola bars with just a few healthy ingredients.
- Sunflower seed butter – this seed butter is safe for people who have allergies to nuts and nut butters. Use unsweetened sunflower seed butter, such as Trader Joe’s or Once Again brands. You can also substitute peanut butter or another nut butter if you don’t need this recipe to be nut-free.
- Honey
- Pure vanilla extract
- Salt
- Crisp rice cereal – not all crisp rice cereals are gluten free, so be sure to seek out a brand that is certified gluten free if you need this recipe to be gluten free.
- Unsweetened shredded coconut
- Raw or dry roasted sunflower seeds
- Mini chocolate chips – use dairy-free, if needed
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How to make this Homemade Clif Bars recipe
It only takes three simple steps to make the Homemade Clif Bar Recipe come to life.
Step 1: Melt down the sunflower seed butter, honey, vanilla extract, and salt in a saucepan until smooth and creamy.
Step 2: Stir in the cereal until well combined, then let the mixture cool slightly before stirring in the chocolate chips, coconut, and sunflower seeds.
Step 3: Press the mixture into a 9×13 inch baking dish and chill in the refrigerator before cutting into bars.
How to store Homemade Clif Bars
This chewy granola bar recipe keeps well in a covered container or individually wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. They also travel well, making them great for lunch boxes or mid-day snacks on the go.
More easy and healthy bar recipes
If you love these Homemade Clif Bars (which are also gluten-free granola bars), then check out these other delicious and easy healthy bar recipes:
- Mini Peanut Butter Protein Bars
- Flourless Monster Cookie Bars
- No-Bake Peanut Butter Crunch Bars
- 5-Ingredient Healthy Peanut Butter Granola Bars
- Key Lime Energy Bars
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Homemade Chocolate Chip Clif Bars
A healthy allergy-friendly snack for kids and adults of all ages that won’t break the budget. They’re easy to customize based on your preferences or what you’ve got on hand. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks (if they last that long)!
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups sunflower seed butter (200 g)
- 1/2 cup honey (150 g)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 3 1/4 cups crisp rice cereal* (85 g)
- 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (40 g)
- 2/3 cup raw or dry roasted unsalted sunflower seeds (60 g)
- 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips** (65 g)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine the sunflower seed butter, honey, vanilla, and salt and stir constantly until melted together.
- Remove from heat and in a large mixing bowl combine the cereal and sunflower butter mixture, stir until well combined.
- Place bowl in the refrigerator and allow the cereal mixture to cool for about 10-15 minutes. This is important to prevent the chocolate chips from melting when added.
- When the cereal mixture is cooled, fold the coconut, sunflower seeds, and chocolate chips into the cereal mixture. With clean hands is easiest.
- Line a 9×13-inch baking pan or dish with parchment paper. Transfer the mixture to the pan and using your hands, firmly press the dough into the pan, spreading out evenly. For a thicker bar use an 11×7-inch or 9×9-inch pan or dish.
- Place in the freezer and freeze for at least 30 minutes before cutting into bars.
- Bars will keep up to two weeks in a covered container in the fridge (or freeze for longer storage).
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Notes
* to make this recipe dairy-free, use dairy-free chocolate chips, such as Enjoy Life or Hu brands
** not all crisp rice cereals are gluten free or made in a facility that doesn’t also process gluten-containing foods, so if you have celiac disease, seek our crisp rice cereal that is certified gluten free
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 188
- Fat: 11 g
- (Sat Fat: 3 g)
- Sodium: 68 mg
- Carbohydrate: 18 g
- (Fiber: 4 g
- Sugar: 8 g)
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Dietary
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Do these taste like clif bars?
We think that they taste very similar to Clif Bars without the vitamin-y aftertaste.
Made these for my husband to take on his way to the gym. Love the simple ingredient list and they’re much tastier than a real clif bar. I actually get acid reflux from clif bars so we stopped buying them. I added half pumpkin seeds, half sunflower seeds and left out the coconut. We keep them in the freezer so he can just grab one as he runs out.
Yes! They make for a perfect pre-workout fuel option.
Any ideas for a subscription for the coconut?
Hi Jenny, I would say a 1/2 cup of quick oats could work in place of the coconut. You wouldn’t want to use the full amount as oats absorb liquid different than the coconut flakes. Let us know if you give it a try. Otherwise, I would suggest this recipe: https://therealfooddietitians.com/mini-peanut-butter-protein-bars/ (use butter instead of coconut oil if you want to avoid coconut).
These taste amazing but mine ended up being crumbly and thus was used like granola on yogurt etc. Any suggestions on what I might have done wrong. Maybe cooked the honey too much? Will definitely make again. Thank you for all the delicious, healthy recipes!
Our guess is that this was affected by the type of sunflower butter you used. If your sunflower butter was on the more dry/less wet side, that could have resulted in crumbly bars. Next time, we suggest trying a more runny and loose sunflower seed butter. If you can’t find another brand, you could always increase the honey and sunflower seed butter by 1 tablespoon each.
Thank you! Will try these suggestions.
Do you have to use sunflower seed butter? I have all the other ingredients, but… I have regular butter and not that (so it wouldn’t be dairy free or course). Just wondering if it would still work
Hi Liz, if you don’t have the sunflower seed butter, you can use any other nut or seed butter in place of that – such as peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, etc (but not regular dairy butter).
Can I use peanut butter and a nut (instead of sunflower seeds)? 🙂
Hi Anna, you sure can!