Name: Easy No Bake Granola Bars {Vegan & Gluten Free}
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 16 pieces (approx.)
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 (-gluten free); 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 (-unsweetened)

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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?

How to Make Granola Bars

To processor add dates, almond butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, salt and vanilla. Blend. Mixture will be and paste-like.
Stop blender, uncover and add oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, chia seeds , almonds and cranberries. Blend until combined. Mixture will be moist, but loose (see below).
Line a baking dish with parchment, just enough to overhang over the sides (for easier removal later) and pour granola bar mixture into dish.
PRESS DOWN HARD with your hands or use a measuring cup or the like to really compact the mixture.
Freeze
After freezing, cut into bars. Store in fridge.
Enjoy!

How Long Do Granola Bars Last?

I find it’s best to enjoy homemade granola bars within a week.

Should Homemade Granola Bars be Refrigerated?

Yes, these homemade granola bars stay firm in the fridge. When you aren’t enjoying, keep them in there.

Tips for Making these Healthy Granola Bars

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?
Don’t have almond butter on hand? Use peanut butter!
Have walnuts on hand and no almonds? Use those!
Rather use chocolate chips instead of dried cranberries? Go for it!
These no bake granola bars are pretty versatile, which makes it easy to use what you have on hand.

Enjoy these Healthy Granola Bars? You May Enjoy These Recipes

I’m all aboard the no bake homemade granola bar recipe train and there’s no turning back. My first homemade bars were Teff Energy Bars – tons of texture 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.

Until next time, take care and chit chat again soon 🙂

~Dawn

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