Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Add the rolled oats and chopped almonds to the parchment lined baking tray and spread them out evenly. Bake for 12 minutes (stir once after 6 minutes and then bake for another 6 minutes) until lightly toasted. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
Spray an 8x8 square dish with non-stick spray and line it with parchment paper so there is overhang on each side.
Now add the vegan butter, light brown sugar and syrup (see notes*) to a saucepan and melt together.
Pour this over the toasted oats and almonds in the mixing bowl.
Add vanilla extract, salt, dried cranberries and vegan chocolate chips and mix everything together. The chocolate chips will melt a little from the hot butter/sugar/syrup mix but this is fine and will help it all stick together.
Transfer to your prepared 8x8 square dish and smooth down.
Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the granola bar mix and use a measuring cup to press down from the top so that you get the top really smooth and also get the granola bars firm and packed in. Then remove the parchment paper from the top, and place the bars into the refrigerator for around 2 hours until set.
When set, remove the granola bars from the dish using the parchment paper overhang and cut them into 10 bars.