Healthy No Bake Snack Bars
Healthy No Bake Snack Bars
These yummy no bake snack bars look just like a chocolate bar, but are made from fiber rich dates! You can get the kids into the kitchen making them with you, or if you have fussy little ones, make them without the children around and they will never know that dates are the main ingredient!
These bars taste a whole lot like a peanut butter cups and kids love them. You can’t beat how easy, healthy, and simple they are. They also store great and are a perfect lunch box treat. They are perfect craving busters for adults too.
What are the benefits of eating dates?
Dates are a great food to include in your kids day. Not only are the packed with fiber (almost a full gram of fiber per date) they are portable and delicious. Dates are also low in moisture, making them sort of a naturally dehydrated fruit. This makes them easy to take an eat on the go. They are higher in calories than other fruit which is great for picky eaters, as they can pack a log of energy into a small amount of food. That’s what makes these bars an even better snack. With the peanut butter for protein, the dates for fiber, and the cocoa powder and coconut for flavor, kids can eat dates all day long.
Because dates are so sweet, dates provide the perfect natural alternative to added sugars in any date recipe. In fact, dates are such a great source of natural sugar, they have been processed to make natural sweeteners such as date juice, date sugar, dehydrated dates, date paste, ground dates, and even diced dates that you can add to recipes you want to sweeten up naturally. Dates are also a great source of potassium and other minerals.
Ingredients
- 2 cup – dates, pitted
- 3/4 cup – cashews
- 1/4 cup – all natural peanut butter
- 1/2 cup – coconut flakes
- 2 tablespoon – cocoa powder, unsweetened
- 1/8 teaspoon – salt
Directions
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Remove the bars from the pan and cut into pieces using a sharp knife. Enjoy these bars cold or frozen. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge or freezer.
Notes:
- Recipe sourced from Super Healthy Kids – head over and check out a bunch of easy, healthy kids recipes.
- This recipe was adapted and inspired by Almond Joy Bars from One Lovely Life
- Serves: 9 servings
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition per serving
Calories: 224
Fat: 10 g
Carb: 32 g
Fiber: 4 g
Protein: 4 g
Sugar: 23 g