Crunchy, Chewy No-Bake Breakfast Bars (Paleo, gluten-free)

These Crunchy, Chewy No-Bake Breakfast Bars are an easy, healthy and filling treat to start your day!

It takes just a handful of ingredients and a few minutes of prep time to create bars that are also perfect as a snack any time of day.

And while they’re great without baking them, I also include instructions to bake them for a toasty flavor.

And they’re naturally vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free and Paleo!

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No-Bake Breakfast Bars

Yes, an ideal breakfast would be a plate full of healthful foods packed with protein, healthy fats and unprocessed carbs.

But life isn’t always perfect and breakfast especially isn’t always perfect.

So these no-bake breakfast bars are here to help when you’re in a hurry.

Instead of a sugar-laden pastry, these healthy breakfast bars use dried fruit for natural sweetness, plus seeds and coconut for protein, fiber and healthy fats. These ingredients also provide the perfect combination of crunchiness and chewiness.

They’re just sweet enough to feel like a treat without a sugar crash later.

And they’re great for kids and adults alike!

Plus the fact that they’re naturally nut-free means kids can bring these to school without a problem.

I originally made a version of these from Simply Nigella by Nigella Lawson and loved their mix of textures and flavors. And while Nigella is a culinary goddess, I made a few tweaks by paring down the ingredients and making the baking step optional.

 

What you need to make No-Bake Breakfast Bars

Ingredients:

• pitted dates
• dried cranberries, dried cherries or goji berries
• shelled pumpkin seeds (a.k.a pepitas), raw or roasted (see note below about salted seeds)
• whole brown flax seeds and/or shelled sunflower seeds, raw or roasted (see note below about salted seeds)
  • you’ll need 1 cup total: you can use either flax seeds or sunflower seeds, or a combination of both
• chia seeds
• unsweetened coconut flakes
• unsweetened shredded coconut

Note: There’s no added salt in this recipe, so using slated pumpkin seeds OR salted sunflower seeds is fine. If both have salt, the bars might get too salty.

Equipment:

• a large bowl
• a small bowl or small saucepan
• measuring cups
• a measuring glass
• a 2-quart/8×8″ baking dish
• parchment paper
• a cutting board and chef’s knife
• depending on which method you use (see below), you might need a regular/large food processor, a mini food processor, a blender or stick blender

 

How to make No-Bake Breakfast Bars

First, we need to turn the dates into a date paste. There’s two easy ways to choose from:

1. Add the dates to a bowl and submerge them in about 1 1/3 cups very warm water. Wait 10 minutes for them to soften (do not drain), then puree in a mini or regular food processor (wrap a towel around where the bowl meets the lid in case water leaks), blender or with a stick blender to form a paste.
2. Add the dates and 1 2/3 cups water to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer briskly for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat (do not drain), beat with a fork until you have a paste, and let cool.

Then you simply mix the date paste with all the other ingredients until everything is evenly blended. I use my hands for this but the mixture is sticky so you can also use a spatula or wooden spoon.

Line the baking dish with parchment paper with some paper coming up the sides so they’re easy to remove.

Pour the mixture into the pan. Using a large, flat spatula (the kind of lifting, not stirring), press the spatula down on the mixture to compact it into one even layer. The more you press down, the neater they’ll slice.

Chill in the fridge for at least one hour. The longer they chill, the firmer they get, but even after one hour they cut into bars.

Lift the bars out by the parchment paper onto a cutting board and cut into 16 bars (3 down and 3 across). They might seem to small but trust me, they’re very filling.

Baking option: These bars are wonderfully moist and sticky. But to give them a toasty flavor and a slightly dryer texture, once everything is squished down by the spatula, bake the bars in a 350° oven for 30 minutes, until the bars are darker around the edges. Let cool before cutting or chilling. This step can also be done after cutting into bars.

How to store these healthy breakfast bars

Keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Or wrap bars individually and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.

 

Substitutions and variations

As you can already see from the ingredient list above, there are a lot of different ways to make these your own:

• Use dried cranberries, dried cherries or goji berries (I’ve tried each of these and they’re all great; I have not tried any other dried fruit like raisins, apricots or blueberries)
• Use brown flax seeds or sunflower seeds, or use any combination to equal 1 cup
• Add 2 teaspoons cinnamon when you blend the dates into a paste
• Replace half the chia seeds with cacao nibs

 

Other recipes you might like:

• Paleo Crumb Bars
• No-Bake PB&J Energy Bites (nut-free)
• Vanilla Coconut Chia Pudding (nut-free)
• Spiced Candied Pecans
• Paleo Pancakes (nut-free)

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