Homemade No-Bake Snack Bars
on Sep 15, 2014, Updated Aug 22, 2024
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I have an easy Snack Bar that tastes delicious and travels great too!
These snack bars are vegan, raw, gluten-free, dairy free, egg free, Paleo and Whole30 compliant, and just pretty dang delicious!
I love a snack that is filling and fuels your body. These snack bars are full of fiber, protein, healthy fats and natural sugars. A guilt free snack that people of all ages devour, much like my granola bars, and my zucchini muffins .
Don’t let the dates scare you. They are kind of an odd ingredient but very easy to find (I get Medjool dates at Costco) and are a great natural sugar.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Quick and easy to make
- Tastes great
- No baking required
- Fills you up
- Full of healthy fats and fiber
Ingredients:
- Pitted dates: these are the star of the show. New to dates? They are amazing! They don’t have a lot of flavor besides sweetness and their texture helps everything to stick together.
- Raw nuts: you can use whatever nuts you’d like here. I often use raw almonds
- Nut butter: use what you like or have on hand, I normally use natural peanut butter, because its sticky texture helps it all come together
- Unsweetened shredded coconut: this adds texture and flavor to this recipe, you can skip it if you don’t love coconut
- Cocoa powder: a little touch of chocolate flavor, my favorite
- Salt: just a bit helps to balance the flavors of these snack bars
See the recipe card below for full details on ingredients and quantities
Professional Tips & Tricks:
- Keep in fridge or freezer in an air-tight container
- Use the parchment paper that you lined the pan with in between the layers of your cut bars in the container so they don’t stick together
How to make snack bars:
- They are so easy! Toss everything in the food processor and let it blend.
- Once the mixture comes together remove it from the food processor and pat it into a parchment lined pan.
- Chill then slice and store in the fridge or freezer.
Frequently Asked Questions:
The first time I used dates I forgot to take out the pit and almost ruined my food processor! Date pits are hard as rocks. So don’t forget to take them out.
Dates are preserved best when stored in the fridge. They will last for about 6 weeks when stored in an airtight container.
Yes! I highly recommend making them and keeping them in the freezer. It’s so nice to have snack bars ready when you need them.
Some Other Recipes to Consider:
Granola Recipes
Homemade Granola Bars
Snacks for Kids
Crunchy Oat and Honey Granola Bars
Granola Recipes
No Bake Peanut Butter Honey Granola Bars
Healthy Snacks
8 Easy Granola Bar Recipes
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Homemade No-Bake Snack Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups pitted dates
- 3/4 cup raw cashews or almonds
- 1/4 cup nut butter, (I used natural peanut butter)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Toss everything into a food processor and process until the mixture starts to go smooth and clump into a ball. The dates will be all chopped up but you’ll still have bits of nut.
- Turn the mixture out into an 8 or 9 inch square dish lined with parchment paper. Use your hands to firmly press the mixture into the bottom of the dish. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Remove the bars from the pan and cut into pieces using a sharp knife.
- Store in an air-tight container in the fridge or freezer.
- Enjoy these bars cold or frozen.
Notes
- I think a high power blender could be used to make these, but I haven’t tried it myself.
- If your dates are very dry or starting to turn a little white (happens when they dry out) let them soak in warm water for 10 minutes before using, strain well and then use.
I will admit my initial skepticism, but I was determined to make a healthy snack bar so I made these anyway. Can I tell you how much I LOVE them? I’ve been converted. I am a believer. Oh my heavens they are delicious. I eat a little piece in place of dessert sometimes and it fills the craving perfectly. I’m also a college student (I believe they call me a “mature” college student but I don’t fee terribly mature *snicker*) and so I wanted to find a healthy option that I could eat on the go. I do not want to succumb to the vending machines or other fast food options when I am hungry, so these are a perfect addition to my healthy portable snack options. I’m also a distance runner and I was thinking these will be perfect after a long run. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I love it and I will be making it for years to come.
Love this!! Thank you for taking the time to write a great comment, totally made my day!
Are you supposed to use dry dates or fresh?
Are the dates they sell at Costco dried? I assume that’s what they are, they are all dark and raisin like. I’m not sure I’ve ever even seen a fresh date!
Ended up making them with dried. You can get fresh some places.
These are amazing! I loved them. Will for sure be making them again. Thanks!
Hi there, these look yummy! I am hoping you can help me, when you say 2 cups, can you tell me how much that weighs? I’m in Europe so not familiar with cups 🙂
I would love to make something like this to throw in my daughter’s lunch kit for snack time….but our school has a no nut policy! Any ideas on how to make something like this that is nut-free?
Ugh. I’ve heard about that kind of things and it sounds hard! I live in a tiny town and we are still allowed to bring homemade treats for brithdays 🙂 It helps when the grades have about 20 kids in each, total! That being said, I’m no help. It’s so nut heavy…. You could just try chocolate and dates but it would be really stick and I think the taste would be too much of one thing. I’m going to ponder this. What about coconut? Maybe you could go really heave on coconut?
Are you allowed seeds? You may want to add sesame, flax seed, chia, sunflowe seeds, pumpkin seeds…. all of the kind, and the bars will be yummie and healthy
I made something similar to these for my daughters lunch using raisins and shredded coconut and sunflower seeds. I rolled them into balls instead of cutting into squares but they were a hit! I like the date/nut combo more personally but as a nut free version the raisin was great.
Can I use dried figs instead of dates? (Just wondering because I have figs on hand.)
I tried the figs. I think they are a little dryer than dates but I love the flavour. (Sometimes dates can be just too much.) I will maybe add more peanut butter next time.
I am for sure going to try these. Getting back on the eating healthy bandwagon! Thanks for all your great ideas and recipes! Now…what to make for dinner??? 🙂
Steak Fajitas!!! They are always on the menu 🙂
I’ve done dates, 1 cup almonds and 1 cup pecans. They taste like pecan pie! So yummy!
Mine didnt get hard… even in the freezer. Any tips?
Hmmm. What kind of dates did you use? Those are kind of the “glue”. I’d add more PB personally until it was sticky!
These were delicious ! They were like a cross between Almond Joys and Reese’s cups: my two favorites!! Thank you!!
Does anyone have the nutrition facts by chance?
These look wonderful! Larabars are my favorite, and I love making homemade versions of store-bought items. I bet they are so good with the cocoa powder!
I love Larabars always looking for new recipes. Thank you! Love your stuff!
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Than you friend! So glad to connect!