Last week I spent a long time at Whole Foods with one of their very nice employees going through every single snack bar they had looking for bars made in a nut free facility. There were exactly ZERO. The only bars that were nut free were all-fruit bars. Fruit bars are fine, but I was looking for something with a bit more heft to them. Something with…protein! So I made my own.
These bars are a cross between a lara bar and a granola bar. They are made with oats and seeds, and bound together with a mix of dates and the seed/nut/soy butter of your choice. We have really been digging the Wow Butter around here—the flavor is better to me than the flavor of Sun Butter. It’s made from toasted soy “nuts” and tastes like an extra toasted peanut butter. If you don’t do soy, try sun butter. And if you’re not nut free you could make these with a nut butter, like almond or peanut, but try a seed butter and keep it safe for a school snack!
These bars are super easy to make, and use only the food processor! They come together in under 10 minutes. My boys love them—honestly, they taste just like cookies! Jonathan keeps waving his hand in the air saying “ma, ma, ma!”—his universal sound for any need that he has at the moment.
^^^ “Excuse me, miss? I’d like some ma, ma, ma, ma please!”
These are a perfect treat for kids going back to school—especially those in nut free classes (thank you from allergy moms everywhere for your understanding and cooperation!)! You can slice them into squares and tuck them into a lunch box—if you slice them into 30 pieces each square will have about 4g of protein—perfect for growing kiddos! This recipe also gets all of it’s sweetness from whole foods sweeteners—namely the dates! There are no added sugars in these bars!
^^^ I mean, do you see how good these are? Check out that excited face!
Give these back to school bars a spin through your food processor—they’re sure to be a hit with all of the kiddos—and adults—in your life! When you try these….and I know you will, take a picture, follow me on Instagram, and tag your picture with #frieddandelions so that I can see!
If you like snack bars, give some of these recipes a try as well:
Birdseed Bars (nut free)
Chocolate Espresso Bars
Coconut Créme Lara Bars
Gracie Bars (nut free)
Pumpkin Seed Lara Bars (nut free)
Trail Mix Truffles (gf)
Pumpkin Seed Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 c rolled oats
- 1 c pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 c shredded coconut
- 1/2 c dried cranberries
- 2 T hemp hearts
- 2 T sesame seeds
- 3/4 c seed/nut butter
- 1/2 c coconut oil
- 20 ounces about 18 pitted dried medjool dates
Instructions
- Line an 8x8" pan in each direction with parchment paper, like a cross, leaving a few inches overhanging each side. Set aside.
- Place dates, coconut oil, and seed/nut/soy butter into the food processor. Blend until the dates are broken down and the mixture is creamy (you will still have a few chunks of date skins—this is fine!).
- In a separate bowl mix the rolled oats, pumpkin seeds, shredded coconut, dried cranberries, hemp hearts, and sesame seeds. Pour about half to 2/3 of the mix into the food processor and run until the mixture sticks together well when pinched. Add the remainder of the dry ingredients to the food processor. Pulse a few more times until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated into the "dough."
- Pour out the dough into the prepared pan. Press the mixture into the pan, spreading it as evenly as possible. You can use the bottom of a flat cup to flatten it as much as possible, or your fingers. Set the pan in the fridge and allow the bars to firm up for an hour or two before cutting. I like to store these in the fridge to keep them nice and firm—they get more crumbly as they come to room temperature.
These should keep in the fridge for a good week or so, or longer in the fridge, but it’s not likely you’ll ever get to find out for sure. These will be gone before you can blink! Enjoy!
^^^ Gone! (And also, hello David and the Blue Steel face—yikes!).
