These No Bake Granola Bars are jam packed with goodness and couldn’t be easier to make. There’s a date base which keeps it all together and wholesome ingredients like chia seeds, almonds and oats. There’s no need to buy store bought bars again once you make these. Totally portable, they make for a busy morning breakfast or afternoon snack. You’re going to love these!
Hey peeps! How’s it going? Boy, did this weekend fly! You know what they say – time flies when you’re having fun! Seriously, though, the weekends go by way to fast. It’s like ‘yay, it’s Friday.’ Then, it’s like, ‘wait, what? Sunday already?’ Blink of an eye, I tells ya! Do anything interesting? Eat anything good? We had homemade pizza on Friday, which seems to be our go-to lately. But, really, you can’t go wrong with homemade pizza, can ya? We watched a remake of an older show, Love Connection. We had some vino and just chilled. Yeap, it was a good Friday spent with hubby and furry child 🙂 Have you watched that show yet? It’s like I shouldn’t watch it, but can’t turn away, ya know? Bad, but good, lol 😀 The rest of the weekend was spent doing odds and ends around the house and getting our garden ready for summer (our rhubarb is starting to come up – yay!) Anyway, onto these super easy no bake granola bars, shall we?
Easy Homemade Granola Bars
I’m all aboard the homemade bar train and there’s no turning back. My first homemade bars were these Teff Energy Bars – texturally interesting and SO good. Not only does the recipe yield a bunch (I cut into 16 pieces, but you could do more or less if you like), but you know everything that you are putting in there. There’s no weird additives or ingredients you can’t pronounce – just good stuff.
Your food processor is your BFF here. Basically, you mix up your wet ingredients, add dry ingredients and pour the mixture into a parchment lined pan. The key here is to PRESS DOWN the mixture. Like, reaaaaaaally, pack that goodness into the pan. Just when you think you have it packed in enough, press again. Get it? Then, simply freeze for about 40-45 minutes, remove from pan and cut into bars. Easy, right? Plus, if it’s warm where you are (unlike here), you don’t have to turn your oven on and heat up the whole house.
If you like, you can make a couple of substitutions here. Use what you have on hand or what you like. These no bake granola bars will still be da bomb 😉 For example, don’t have almonds? Use walnuts. No cranberries? Use raisins. Rather peanut butter instead of almond butter? Go for it! See? Most of the recipes I like to create are simple, approachable recipes; no fuss, no muss. Ain’t nobody got time for that, am I right?
So, what ya think? Nothing to it, is there? My food processor has been getting quite the workout lately. Hope this has inspired you to make the recipe. If you try it out, I’d love to hear how you like it.
Until next time, take care and chit chat again soon 🙂
~D
P.S. If you missed my last post, you can check it out here.
P.P.S. If you think these No Bake Granola Bars will make your belly happy too, please be sure to hit that little Pin button. Many thanks, you guys! XO
No Bake Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups dates -pitted
- 3 tbsp almond butter -or peanut butter
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup oats
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 1 cup almonds -roughly chopped
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- In a food processor add dates, almond butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, salt and vanilla extract. Blend until combined and dates broken down, about 2 minutes.
- To dates, add remainder of ingredients and blend until combined, about 1-2 minutes.
- In a parchment lined dish (I used about 8" x 11" pan) add mixture and FIRMLY press down until packed into pan and level. Freeze until firm, about 40-45 minutes. Remove from freezer and cut into bars (I cut into 16 pieces, but you can do more or less, depending on the size you want). Store in fridge. Enjoy!
Hi, gosh these look delicious and so healthy. I’m curious about the texture, are they chewy or crispy? Thanks again for the awesome and video!
Thank you Elaine! They are chewy, but do have a lovely textural component from the almonds and chia seeds 🙂
This is exactly what I need in my life right now. It is hot right now in SoCal and I would love to give my food processor a little workout and keep the heat out of the kitchen. Love the video, the pictures, and I am super inspired by this recipe.
Awwww, thanks so much, Cindy 🙂
Dawn, these look so yummy! I’m with you on recipes that are simple and approachable, so I totally appreciate the substitution suggestions you offered. I’m currently working on a loose granola recipe but totally love granola in bar form too. Great recipe!
Thank you Justine! Gotta have options, right 😉 ? Have a wonderful week!
Dawn! The texture of these bars look A-MAY-ZING! I also looooove the ‘use what you’ve got’ mentality. It is a great way to save money, use up the bits and pieces from other baking projects and really get comfortable with adapting recipes to suit your needs. Keep it up!
Yay!! Thank you Amanda!! Definitely love to use what ya got – waste not, want not, right 😉 ? Have a wonderful week!
Dawn! These look incredible. And the fact that you don’t even need to bake them!? I’m in. We love to hike and bike this time of year and this is just the kind of portable, delicious snack I want in my backpack!
Thank you Marissa!! These would be perfect for hiking 🙂
As somebody who isn’t very experienced with no-bake foods, the video is super helpful to visualize the textures and how long to blend in the food processor. I’ll definitely add this one to the list of recipes to try (it’ll be a nice way to get a sweet treat and balance out all the butter in my life, hah!)
So happy to hear you say that, Janice! Glad it was helpful 🙂 !! Hope you enjoy them and I definitely understand ya about the butter – love that stuff a little too much, lol 😀
These look brilliant Dawn. I love that you don’t have to bake them and they are easy. I am always looking for a healthy snack for my husband to bring to work. I will make him a big batch of these. xoxo
Thanks Katie! I love to make a batch every week! Hope you guys love them as much as we do! xoxo
Where was this before I left on my backpacking trip a few weeks ago??? Lol. I make my own trail mix, but so far I haven’t tried making granola or granola bars.. I so should have made a bunch of these last month!
You need to try ’em! I’m sure you’d love 🙂 Maybe make for next time 😉 Thanks Sarah!
Love a healthy granola bar, perfect for a post workout snack. Thanks!
Definitely 🙂 ! Thanks Colleen!
Definitely good for that, Colleen! Thanks so much 🙂
I need to make my own granola bars ( my “bar” has been lowered to the point that I am giving my kids Fibre 1 bars) These look so healthy and easy!
Haha! That’s so funny Terri! Give these a try – I’m sure you’d love ’em 😉
I love making my own granola bars – pretty much one of the main reasons I got a heavy duty food processor, haha. I always make a pan every week (we go through them pretty quickly), so I have to try these and use up the dates that are hiding in the back of my fridge. Have a great Friday!
I hear ya 😉 !! I usually make a pan every week too and just grab and go – so convenient! Have lovely week 🙂
We love making our own granola bars too! So easy and so fun. We haven’t bought ready-made ones in a long time. Oh this week was craaaazy. It cannot be weekend soon enough. I am counting down the minutes as I type. I just plan to sleep this weekend I tell ya. Hope you have a lovely one! Hope it’s not Sunday too soon. PS: Love love love the video!
Thank you Jolina! Appreciate it!!
LOVE these granola bars and how it’s all good stuff for us, no weird additives or tons of sugar! Yay! Nicely done!
Thank you Gabrielle 🙂
Sound like you had a great Friday, I love this kind of evenings too. Wonderful granola bars, I haven’t had something similiar in a long time, I would love to try them.
We did! Thanks Adina 🙂 Have a great week!!
I know of four little people who would love these granola bars and the big people would love them, too. I must make them! Thanks for the inspiration for this healthy snack for everyone.
Thanks Denise 🙂 Hope you guys enjoy!!
I’m definitely going to try this out! It looks so easy breezy to do and super yummy! The perfect bite for a last minute morning also, when the alarm rang… and rang and you snooze and snooze until it’s way too late to have breakfast. Than just grab one of those granola beauties!
Most definitely! Perfect for on the run 🙂 Thanks Marie!
Dawn, you and your hubs so rocked that second video! I missed the first one but heading there to check it out too. I’m with you on the whole time flying dealio – it goes by way way too fast – did you every watch Click with Adam Sandler and that remote that paused and stopped time? Somedays, I sure wish that remote existed for real – I’d be rewinding and slow-mo-ing time ALL the time! TBH, That remote would come in handy while munching on delicious no bake bars such as these – I’d eat one then rewind and relive the whole deliciously delightful sensory experience! YUM times infinity – with all that rewinding! 🙂
Happy Thursday, friend!
Yay! Thanks Shashi! Appreciate that! Oh yeah, I remember that movie!! Imagine if we could do that in real life, huh? Happy Thursday to you too, my friend!
No bake recipes are fantastic and I love how easy this recipe is, addicted to watching your videos too 🙂 Great healthy recipe for when you are on the go without all of those nasty additives! Love homemade pizza – should have made one on the weekend since I was home alone – husband was travelling for business and I have not found a good gluten-free recipe for homemade pizza yet so weekends like that are a great opportunity for me to indulge in pasta, pizza, bread etc…. Have not heard of love connection yet – watched Bloodline on the weekend which rather addictive! Have a wonderful weekend, Dawn!
Awww…thanks Miriam! Appreciate that! Have you tried a cauliflower crust for pizza? I haven’t tried yet, but may be a good gluten free option for you and your husband 🙂 So awesome when you find a show that you love like that, isn’t it? Have a wonderful weekend too!
Good for you for making you second video! I loved it! That music was so much fun! Dude. Weekends are never long enough. Why does Monday to Friday go so slow and Saturday and Sunday disappear in the blink of an eye? That business needs to be reversed.
Thanks Rach! So happy you loved it 🙂
i haven’t made no bake granola bars before! i really like how toasty and crunchy baked granola gets, but i (and my family) also really like the temperature of a house that doesn’t have the oven on during summer. so these might have to happen. also: homemade pizza is always a good idea. have you tried it grilled? soso good.
So delicious and so easy! Yes! Grilled pizza is awesome!! Love that flavour the grill gives 🙂 Thanks Heather!
So much goodness in these little bars Dawn. You have a in a punch! Love to have such healthy energy bars in the pantry for quick snacking!
Thanks very much Jenny!
I adore homemade granola bars (no surprise there, right?!) and I love that these are no bake! Dates are magical little things and I love using them for energy balls so this recipe is definitely next up! It’ll be perfect for having on hand for summer snacking and sending to day camp with the kids! Pinned! XXOO
Nope – no surprise at all 😉 Thanks so much, Kathryn! I hope you all love ’em! XOXO
Oh my Dawn! These really look absolutely delicious. The “no bake” part is the best part, so easy. I love your video! Love it!
These really look delicious Dawn. I love how easy it is and a no bake….even better. Definitely much better than shop bought. Oh, and the video is absolutely beautiful. Love it!
Thank you Ashika!! Appreciate the kind words 🙂
First of all – love the video! LOVE IT! I can’t believe it’s only your second one! You’re a pro! Second of all – love the manicure! Your hands are very pretty! Third of all – I need these bars in my life! We did some traveling and celebrating this weekend so it’s back to reality! These will do the trick! Thank you for sharing this healthy and tasty recipe, sweets! Pinned and shared and all the stuff!! XOXO
YAY!!! Thank you SO much, Annie!! You’re too too sweet, my friend! If we were neighbours, I’d be on your doorstep with a big batch of this right now (and a big pot of coffee 😉 ). Appreciate the Pin and shares too! Hope you had a lovely celebratory weekend! XOXO
I’m a huge fan of making my own granola bars. I’ve only made them a few times and they were darn tasty, but I’ve never tried no-bake granola bar. These bad boys look scrumptious. I like all the ingredients, dates, chia seeds, almonds, oats, yummmmmmy. I love making homemade pizza its so easy and super delicious. Thank for the fun video, I love the music and your nails are adorable.
Homemade is definitely the way to go 🙂 I pretty much make these every week and eat throughout the week – nice and filling…plus, can’t hurt a little snack in the afternoon, lol 😀 Love doing my nails 😉 Thanks for the sweet comment, Mary!
Such a lovely video, Dawn! And the recipe is a keeper! I love these bars as my snack when some sweet craving hits. They are easy and fast to make, and so delicious! Pinned!
Thank you very much Nicoletta!! Hope you love ’em as much as we do 🙂 Appreciate the Pin too! xo
Nom nom nom, I loveeee homemade granola bars! So good. And I feel like my food processor is always my BFF… I use that thing so much!
Right 😉 ? Homemade granola bars are the best! Thanks Nicole!
Look at you with the second video!! I’m going to hire you to do my videos because I hate doing them. It takes me 4 days to do mine! lol!
Why do people buy granola bars when they can make healthy, yummy ones like this? I’m making these to have for breakfast throughout the week and to take on our next camping trip. Or you could make them and mail them to me. Oh never mind, you are probably busy shooting your third video 😉 #overachiever 🙂
Haha! Thanks girl 😉 The videos definitely are time consuming! These would be perfect for your camping trip 🙂 Hope you love ’em as much as we do! XO
Love these! I like how you put them in the food processor, so there are no big chunks. That is great for the kiddos =)
Thanks so much Jamie 🙂
Perfect bars for summer Dawn. No bakes are always a winner when the temps start rising. You guys are killing it with the videos too! Well done! Love the new profile pic too. Pinning and can’t wait to try these yummy bars!
Thank you Mary Ann! Appreciate that very much – you’re too kind! XO
Love me some sticky dates:) and all the other ingredients stuck to them. Definitely a snack bar to have around when hunger strikes. You are getting so good at the videos:) Love your nail polish in this one (even though this is not related to the yumminess). So summer is arriving up there… maybe soon you’ll post some more pics of the gorgeous coast line… I mean now that you have bars to take with you if you went on a short hike:)
OMG – Chris just had me taste a raspberry saison that is fermenting (even though it is not even 9:00 am here) and I ‘m thinking it will be so perfect for these bars when it is ready. I wonder if I can find dried raspberries to add to the mix or if we’ll need to figure out this one ourselves, haha, the dehydrator again. There is always the sun I guess…
OMG – that sounds so good! Dried raspberries would be so yummy here, Milena 🙂 Have an awesome week, my friend!
Thank you SO much, Milena!! Haha…I always like to have my nails painted 😉 And I definitely do have to go on a hike now with these bars – great idea 🙂 !!
Homemade pizza! I’m so on a homemade pizza kick lately. You seriously had my perfect weekend :). These bars look soooo heavenly. I’m a huge fan of granola bars, especially when they’re homemade. And these have all my favorite things in them! Have a great week, my friend!
It was a pretty fun (and delicious weekend) for sure! Thank you for the bar love, Kelsie! Have a great week too 🙂
Well, you already know what my weekend involved, so I can’t just skip writing it here. 😉 I love that we are no bake twinning today! These bars look just fabulous, Dawn! I’m a huge fan of granola bars, but the store bought ones have way too much unnecessary ingredients, so I’m ALL for a little DIY! Especially when it looks this good! I just loooove that date base! And HOORAY for another awesome video, Dawn!!!! You rock, girlfriend! Cheers!
Yes, I do 😉 Thanks Cheyanne! Appreciate the sweet comment, my friend! Hope you have an awesome week! xo
Haha! We totally had a homemade pizza night last Friday, too. 🙂 And it was the best night ever! Also, Love Connection. Holy cow is that a throwback! I used to catch episodes of this one on rerun, and they were hilarious! Love that you guys spent Friday night watching this one. Haha! These granola bars sound amazing, too, Dawn. I mean they come together in a pinch, and they’re packed with all kinds of good stuff! I wonder if Robbie would be willing to try something like this…he’s been giving us trouble with picky eating lately, so I’m on the hunt for new ideas! Thanks for sharing this one, my friend!
Haha! Pizza twinning 😉 Such a great show, isn’t it?? I would love it if Robbie enjoyed these! That would be awesome; let me know if you try 🙂 Thanks so much and happy Monday to ya!
These look amazing! I love using my food processor. It just makes life so much easier. I need to give these homemade bars a try. So much better than anything you can buy in the store! Loving the video!!! 🙂
Awww…thanks Kathy 🙂 !
Yay for pizza on Fridays! That’s my favorite tradition too, though I need to make the homemade kind more often. And I’ve heard that Love Connection is making a comeback, but have yet to see it! No bake treats are a favorite of mine, especially in the summer when it’s too hot to turn on the oven. I love the texture of these bars! And I love the sunflower seeds and cranberries in here, too. What a perfect breakfast or snack! Pinned. Hope your week is off to a great start!
Thank you Gayle! Hope you get to try ’em out! They’re a favourite around here 🙂 Have a lovely week!
I’m all for no bake and I love to have granola bars around, for a quick snack. So I’m loving these 🙂 And great job on the videos!!
Thank you very much, Jennifer! Appreciate that 🙂