Packed with nuts and seeds, these Keto granola bars come in at only 2.7 g net carbs per bar. They’re deliciously crunchy and super easy to make. Great as an on-the-go low carb snack or as an afternoon pick-me-up. And I can confirm they taste good at breakfast, too!
I was going to call this recipe “sugar free flapjacks”, because that’s what we call granola bars over here in the UK. However, when I did a bit of research I found that in the US, flapjacks are not granola bars at all, but pancakes!
It’s a bit of a biscuit / scone situation (read more in my post Speedy Savoury Scones). So, to keep things very clear and simple, let’s stick with granola bars for this one.
Are granola bars keto friendly?
Traditional granola bars have a base of oats and contain copious amounts of honey, golden syrup or dried fruit such as dates to stick everything together. Yum, but a combination that will send your sugar levels sky-high.
However, with a few ingredient changes it’s easy to make keto-friendly bars. You simply replace the oats with nuts and seeds and use a low carb sweetener such as erythritol.
How do you get low carb granola bars to stick together?
There are many low carb snack bar recipes out there that use sugar free fibre syrup (aff link) as a binder. It behaves similar to golden syrup – it’s nice and sticky.
I like the taste of fibre syrup and tolerate it well. However, some people have reported that it raises their insulin.
When I made my Apple Cinnamon Granola Bars I used flaxseed to stick the bars together. Chia would be another good alternative.
This time I went for a mix of flax and a whisked egg white, which worked great.
How to make keto granola bars – step by step:
1.) Pulse the nuts and seeds in a food processor until you have some smaller and some larger pieces.
Some nuts you can buy pre-chopped to save this step.
2.) Stir all dry ingredients in a bowl, leaving a few chocolate chips to decorate on top.
Then whisk an egg white and add it to the bowl together with the vanilla extract and almond butter. Stir until combined.
Check the sweetness and add more erythritol or sweetener of choice to your liking. (I don’t have much of a sweet tooth).
3.) Pour the mix into the tray and press down well to compact. (I did not press the mixture much in my first attempt which made my bars more fragile and prone to crumbling).
Press the remaining chocolate chips on top and bake for circa 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.
Recipe tips
Let your keto granola bars cool completely before cutting. They are quite soft when hot, but firm up and get nice and crispy when cold.
A popular chocolate brand in the US is Lily’s. If you can’t get hold of sugar free chocolate where you are, simply use a good quality 85% to 90% dark chocolate such as Lindt. (aff links).
If you use 90% dark chocolate, the nutritional values stay the same as with sugar free chocolate. With 85% dark chocolate, net carbs increase to 3g per bar.
It does not matter whether you measure the nuts whole or chopped when using cups – the volume is similar.
Do not omit the ground flax – it helps to bind the bars together with the egg. You could swap it out for chia seeds though.
Storage
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days or in the fridge for about 1 week.
And yes, you can freeze them, too!
Variations
You can use any nuts you like (or have available at home). I’ve made bars using macadamia nuts, hazelnuts and even pistachios. Just be aware that cashews are higher in carbs than other nuts.
If you like coconut, you can use desiccated unsweetened coconut here too. Just swap out some of nuts and seeds.
The chocolate chips are entirely optional – if you’re not keen, simply leave them out. You could use freeze-dried raspberries or dried cranberries if you’re up for a fruity variation.
You can swap out the almond butter for peanut butter.
Optional chocolate drizzle
Melt either 1/4 cup of sugar free chocolate chips or 4 squares of dark chocolate (85% or 90% cocoa solids) and drizzle over the bars. This is not included in the nutrition calculation.
Tried these low carb granola bars? Give them a star rating below!
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Low Carb Keto Granola Bars
Equipment
- 6x9 inch casserole dish/baking tray (23x15 cm)
Ingredients
- 2 cups / 250g mixed chopped nuts I used 1 cup almonds, 1 cup walnuts and pecans
- 1/4 cup / 30g pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup / 30g sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup / 30g ground flaxseed
- 2 tbsp almond butter
- 1 egg white whisked
- 2 tbsp granulated sweetener
- 1/3 cup sugar free chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate, minimum 85% cocoa solids
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C - 350 F electric. Line a 6x9 inch baking tray with parchment paper.
- Pulse the nuts and seeds in a food processor until you have some smaller and some larger pieces.
- Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl, leaving a few chocolate chips to decorate on top. Then add the whisked egg white, vanilla extract and almond butter and stir until combined. Check and adjust sweetener if necessary.
- Pour the granola bar mix into the tray and press down well to compact the dough. Press the remaining chocolate chips on top.
- Bake for circa 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before cutting into 12 bars.
Notes
Nutrition
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Kathy Kelly says
I love the taste of these, but some were not sticking together. Not sure what I did wrong as I followed the recipe. Maybe add another egg white?
Katrin Nürnberger says
I think if you blend your nuts a little finer next time you’ll also be able to get them to stick together better. Maybe your nuts were just too coarse. It should be fine with the flax and just one egg white (unless your egg was super tiny?).
MARIA GAREFALAKIS says
I made for my sister who is now an avid follower but I am not a chocolate person, call me weird. What would be the carb count without the chocolate?
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi, without the chocolate it’s 2g net carbs, 174 cal, 2.5g fibre, 1.1g sugar, 15.9g fat, 5.6g protein, 4.6g total carbs
Petro Louw says
Just love that so easy to make and taste wonderful.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Oh, that’s so good to hear. Glad you enjoy them!!!
Andrea Truman says
Hi I’d love to make theses for my whole family, my daughter is vegan so can you suggest an alternative to the egg white?
Katrin Nürnberger says
I would try to replace the egg with a chia egg – 1 tbsp ground chia seeds (this will work better than whole chia seeds) and around 3(?) tbsp water. Mix together and check you’ve got a soft, gooey texture. Then add to the rest of the ingredients. I don’t know if it will bind as well as the egg, but it does help to stick things together. It will be a bit of an experiment.
If the chia does not do the trick you could resort to options that will raise the sugar count by a bit – add 4-5 chopped dates or prunes, for example.
Linda says
Hi there,
Can I us a whole egg, or will it make a difference? I want to try these tonight. They look awesome. Thank you!
Katrin Nürnberger says
You can probably use the whole egg, but I think it will make it less crunchy.
Franni Ferrero says
I noticed that while the recipe is for granola bars, in the directions, it keeps referring to flapjacks. So, Just wanted to check to ensure all the measurements and other information is correct. Thank you! Love your recipes!
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi Franni, I did have one more errant mention of flapjack in the recipe. The recipe is correct, whether you want to call them flapjack or granola bars!