These Healthy Cashew Coconut Bars are so simple to make and are filled with ingredients to nourish your body. They are naturally gluten-free and dairy free, and can easily be made vegan by substituting the honey for brown rice syrup.
Are you familiar with KIND snack bars? I used to eat these daily while working at the office. They made for a great morning or afternoon snack, while being one of the more healthy bars you can purchase. But if you read the ingredients list, you will see that not only do the KIND bars have honey, they are have glucose syrup AND sugar added to them. That’s 3 kinds of sweeteners! Totally unnecessary in my opinion. Now that I’m working from home, I try to eat as healthy as possible during the week, and then I eat whatever I want on the weekend. So I wanted to make a nut snack bar that will take care of those afternoon cravings, while nourishing the body. Enter these Healthy Cashew Coconut Bars!
I love how versatile this recipe is. Below you’ll find a list of substitutions you can make that won’t upset the outcome of the recipe. I like to enjoy my cashew coconut bar in the mid-morning with a cup of tea, or in the afternoon with an iced coffee. Because they are jam-packed full of nuts, they keep me full until my next meal.
What are the ingredients?
- Honey, which is a natural sweetener. No refined sugar needed!
- Almond meal or almond flour. You can use store bought or make your own in a food processor, pulsing the almonds until a crumbly meal is formed.
- Almond butter. You could also use peanut butter or cashew butter.
- Roasted cashews. You can use raw cashews also.
- Dates
- Unsweetened coconut flakes or coconut chips
- Chia seeds
- Salt
How are the bars made?
This recipe is intended for an 8 or 9 inch square pan. First, line the pan with parchment paper with an overhang.
Then in a medium bowl, stir together the honey, almond meal, salt and almond butter until combined. Then fold in the cashews, chopped dates, coconut and chia seeds.
Press the mixture very firmly into the pan (we want it packed as tightly as possible), and bake for 20 minutes at 300F (149C).
After baking, the pan gets transferred to a wire rack to cool for an hour. Then we place the pan in the refrigerator for another hour. This helps the bars to firm up and makes them easy to cut.
Can I substitute the honey for a different sweetener?
If you want to make the bars vegan, substitute the honey for brown rice syrup. It has the same thick consistency as honey so it works well as a substitute. Do not use maple syrup or agave syrup as a substitute as they are too thin and won’t hold the bars together well.
Other substitutions for ingredients:
- If you don’t want to use coconut, substitute 3/4 cup sunflower seeds, chopped almonds, peanuts or pistachios.
- Instead of dates, replace them with 1/2 cup dried cranberries, raisins or sultanas.
- Instead of almond meal, try ground hazelnuts or ground cashews.
Healthy Cashew Coconut Bars
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ cup almond meal
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon almond butter
- 1 & ⅓ cups roasted cashews unsalted
- 5 dates chopped
- ¾ cup coconut flakes unsweetened
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F (149°C). Line an 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, use a spatula to stir together the honey, almond meal, salt and almond butter until combined. Fold in the cashews, chopped dates, coconut and chia seeds.
- Place mixture into prepared baking pan and press it in very firmly using your fingers or the bottom of a metal measuring cup. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and place pan on a wire rack to cool for 1 hour, then put it in the refrigerator for another hour. This will help to make the bars firm and compact.
- After chilling, remove them from the pan using the parchment paper overhang and cut them into bars. Store at room temperature for 1 week or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. I like storing them in the refrigerator, as they don't get too hard and are still easy to bite into.
Notes
- To freeze: wrap each bar individually in parchment paper, place inside a freezer bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months.
- To make these bars vegan, replace the honey with brown rice syrup. Do not use a thinner sweetener like maple syrup.
Yum these sound so delicious and healthy you have inspired me to make them