Healthy Homemade Snack Bars Recipe

5 from 3 votes

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I have an easy Healthy Snack Bar that is healthy to eat, tastes delicious and travels great too!

These healthy snack bars are vegan, raw, gluten-free, dairy free, egg free, Paleo and Whole30 compliant, and just pretty dang good for you. Don’t let all the health labels scare you, they taste great! 

cutting squares out of the healthy date and nut snack bars on parchment
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Healthy Snack Bars

I love a snack that is filling and fuels your body. Healthy snack bars are full of fiber, protein, healthy fats and natural sugars. A guilt free snack that people of all ages devour. 

My favorite way to eat these bars is right out of the fridge or freezer. They taste a whole lot like a candy bar without the guilt. I might eat one or two small pieces for breakfast with a big glass of water when I’m in a hurry and I’ll be fine until morning snacks.

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. I promise you’ll never know that you are eating dates once they are all mixed in with the rest of the ingredients.

dates peanut butter coconut and nuts in a food processor ready to make the healthy snack bars

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 as I often have those on hand
  • Nut butter: use what you like or have on hand, I normally use natural peanut butter. I like to use the drippy kind, it helps everything in this recipe 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

How to make snack bars:

  1. They are so easy! Toss everything in the food processor and let it blend.
  2. Once the mixture comes together remove it from the food processor and pat it into a parchment lined pan.
  3. Chill then slice and store in the fridge or freezer.
cutting squares out of the healthy date and nut snack bars on parchment

How to store snack bars:

Keep these in the fridge or the freezer in an air-tight container. You can use the parchment paper that you lined the pan with in-between the layers of your cut bars in your container so that they don’t stick together.

ingredients for the date and nut snack bars

Frequently Asked Questions:

Do you take the pits out of the date?

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. Oops. So don’t forget to take them out.

Should dates be refrigerated?

Dates are preserved best when stored in the fridge. They will last for about 6 weeks when stored in an airtight container. 

Can you freeze these snack bars?

Yes! I highly recommend making them and keeping them in the freezer. It’s so nice to have healthy snack bars ready when you need them.

Basically a homemade Lara Bar!

holding out date and nut snack cubes POV in hand

More recipes you’ll love:

If you’ve tried this healthy snack bar recipe or any other recipe on Bless this Mess, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some pictures of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories.

cutting squares out of the healthy date and nut snack bars on parchment
5 from 3 votes

Healthy No-Bake Snack Bars

These Easy Homemade Snack Bars are healthy and taste amazing! They taste like Almond Joy bars and are perfect for school lunches or afternoon snacking.
Prep: 40 minutes
Total: 40 minutes
Servings: 20

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.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 of 20 bars, Calories: 104kcal, Carbohydrates: 14g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Sodium: 4mg, Potassium: 172mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 2IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 20mg, Iron: 1mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

Healthy Snack Bars are chuck full of fiber, healthy fats and make the perfect treat that are incredibly simple to make. They taste great, freeze fabulously and are easy to pack for the road. Whip up a batch or two today!

About Melissa

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Recipe Rating




38 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Hello,

    I do roast dates in 1 table spoon pure ghee for 4 to 5 minutes on law flame and than add rest of ingredients. It gives better taste ( we love it)

  2. Love, love, love this recipe! Dates + cashews are a perfect combo and no bake is my favorite thing ever! I need to try these for sure.

  3. I made this today and they are very good. I used shelled pistachios and added chia seeds. Amazingly easy and delicious!

    1. Sometimes if you over process the nuts they start to turn into nut butter instead of just the chopped nuts. I bet that’s what happened in your case!

  4. Hi, has anyone tried these without the cashews, or have you substituted the cashews for something else? My daughter is very allergic and I wouldn’t want to keep these in the house. I would love any ideas on how I could make these work. Thanks! 🙂

    1. 5 stars
      Sometimes I get headaches from nuts, esp peanuts. I looked up replacements for nuts and found coconut butter. That might be an option.

  5. Delicious! Mine weren’t quite holding together, so I added a generous tablespoon of coconut oil. Next time I would consider adding ground flax seed, chia, anything yummy such as pumpkin or sunflower seeds

    1. Both the chia and flax seed help them stay together better too. You’ll love the additions!

  6. I was so excited to make these, they sound like just what I need for a quick substantial snack while taking care of my 9 month old…but they burned out my Cuisinart! 🙁

    1. Ahhhh! What size was your food processor?! That’s so sad. I’m going to send you an email…