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Make a batch of these grain-free, vegan, fruit seed & nut energy bars in no time, with no added sugar or fillers! They are gluten-free and Paleo, too.
Energy bars made without grains, oil, or added sugar? Yes, please!
These fruit seed & nut bars are a breeze to make and are packed with energizing nutrition to empower all of your activities (work, home, the gym).
Recipe Benefits
- Vegan (egg-free, dairy-free)
- Paleo
- Grain-free
- No added sugar
- Gluten-free
- Oil-free
- Easy to make
- High protein (7 grams per bar)
- High fiber (3.5 grams per bar)
Ingredients
The exact amounts of each ingredient are indicated in the recipe card at the end of the post. Toggle between US Customary (volume) and Metric (weights) for preferred measurement option.
The energy in these fruit seed & nut bars comes from real food: no fillers, no additives, nothing weird or un-pronounceable. Instead, they are limited to seeds, nuts, and fruit.
Here’s what you will need to make these. You can change out the dried fruits, nuts and seeds according to what you have on hand!
- 1 cup whole raw almonds with skins
- 1/2 cup dried apricots
- 1/2 cup dates
- 1/2 cup prunes
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup pepitas (raw green pumpkin seeds)
- 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
Step by Step Instructions
Note that the complete directions are also in the recipe card below.
- Preheat oven to 300°F (150C). Line an 8-inch (20 cm) square pan with parchment or foil.
- Place the almonds, apricots, dates, and prunes in a food processor; pulse a few times until coarsely chopped. Add orange juice and salt; pulse until mixture starts to stick together.
- Add pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, pulsing a few times just to incorporate.
- Scoop mixture into prepared pan. Using a large square of wax paper or plastic wrap, evenly press mixture into pan, using your palms to flatten.
- Bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.. Use ends of foil to lift bars from pan. Cut into 8 bars.
What Do the Bars Taste Like?
Although similar in texture to LARA bars (soft), these bars have more crunch due to the greater proportion of nuts and seeds relative to fruit. You can vary the dried fruits to your heart’s content, but I recommend keeping the dates as they work so well to hold everything together.
A healthy bonus: the sweetness in the bars comes naturally (dried fruit and orange juice), so no post-nibble sugar-rush, only energy and satisfaction. Take that, store-bought energy bars!
I am confident you will love them as much as I do.
I’ll be up and running around the kitchen later, so more deliciousness to come. Stay tuned!
Isn’t real food pretty?
Storage for the Fruit Seed & Nut Bars
Wrap the bars in wax paper or parchment paper and store in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days, the refrigerator for 2 weeks, or the freezer for 3 months.
Related Posts
- Oat Banana Coconut Oil Energy Cookies {vegan, GF}
- 3-Ingredient Grain-Free Granola Bars {Vegan, Keto Option}
- 3-Ingredient Keto Protein Bars {vegan, easy}
- Coconut Flour Pumpkin Pie Bars {Vegan, Grain-Free, Oil-Free}
Fruit Seed & Nut Bars (Grain-free, High Protein)
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole raw almonds with skins
- 1/2 cup dried apricots
- 1/2 cup dates
- 1/2 cup prunes
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup pepitas, raw green pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F (150C). Line an 8-inch (20 cm) square pan with parchment or foil.
- Place the almonds, apricots, dates, and prunes in a food processor; pulse a few times until coarsely chopped. Add orange juice and salt; pulse until mixture starts to stick together. Add pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, pulsing a few times just to incorporate.
- Scoop mixture into prepared pan. Using a large square of wax paper or plastic wrap, evenly press mixture into pan, using your palms to flatten.
- Bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.. Use ends of foil to lift bars from pan. Cut into 8 bars.
I don’t have a food processor, will a blender work? These look so good.
Hi Franny! Yes, it should since it’s pretty rough chopping–go for it! 🙂
you are so welcome, Becky!
I am excited to find this recipe, I have been experimenting with making my own energy bars with not much success so far. Thanks also for putting the nutritional info in. That is a huge help.
I am so thrilled to see that so many of you have bee trying and loving these bars!
Kaytee: I would recommend storing in the refrig, about 2 weeks (tightly wrapped in plastic wrap). But honestly, I once forgot about 2 I had in the nether regions of the refrig and they were still yummy after 3 weeks.
OOohhh I’ve never commented on someones blog before, but I found this recipe afer googling homemade fruit and seed bars and have just made some!
They are so yummy! Thank you for sharing 🙂
How long can they be stored in the fridge for?
Hi! I saw your cooking videos on YouTube, and I’m very impressed! I decided to check out your blog; I find it to be amazing, not to mention that I already tried a few of your recipes, including this one. They were all awesome, but a made some tweaks to this recipe. I exchanged 1/4 cups of almonds for the same amount of flax seed, used dried figs instead of prunes, and only used a tiny sprinkle of sea salt. They were still delicious, and I love how it’s way cheaper and healthier than actually buying brand name bars.
Hi Camilla, I liked these bars as well. Your brownie power bars are still the season’s winner, though. 🙂
It’s just so unexpected here. Hope all is well your way.
I made all versions of these bars. I love this blog! I posted pictures of my creations from this blog and shared it with all my cyclist friends looking to eat whole foods and healthy.
onesforwheeler.blogspot.com
wow! these are awesome!
I didn’t have any dates nor prunes on me so instead i used raisins and tart cherries, and it still stuck together fairly nicely 🙂
I added sesame seeds to the batch as well as a little brown rice syrup ( to make up for the stickiness of the dates)
I was feeling flirty too, so i used half a cup of almonds and then the rest assorted nuts…
I mixed in a little bit of plain hemp seed protein powder too, to amp up the protein!
Thanks for the great recipe!!!
My friends and family think im a genius for making my own homemade bars 🙂
I just made a double batch of these for work and after-school snacks. I’m now wondering, do you think they would be okay if I froze them? Thanks!
My kids and I recently made a double batch of these. The colors were beautiful, and we really liked the orange flavor with the nuts and fruits. We did have trouble with them falling apart, but we’re just enjoying them sort of like a crumbly granola (I just made the kids eat it outside since it’s so crumbly). Thanks!
Camilla, I made these this week and wanted to let you know how much I LOVE them. They are so delicious and I’m blogging about them. I want to tell everyone about them. My title is, Better Than Lara Bars because they really are. I made them just as you did. I used non-sulphered apricots so I don’t have the beautiful orange color that you do in your picture, but they still look beautiful. I’m going to send everyone I know to your website for the recipe. 🙂 By the way, I’ve seen you on the Food Network and always cheered you on during their food challenges. You have a sweet smile and personality – if I see you on there in the future, I’ll be cheering for you. I didn’t realize you had cookbooks and a website and etc. I hope that you’ll work on a vegetarian/vegan cookbook. Please say you will. 🙂 I’ve looked through some of your recipes on here and many of them can be adapted to the way I eat and some don’t need to be changed at all.If you’re interested, I eat Dr. Fuhrman’s diet. His book is “Eat To Live” and “Eat For Health.” He has other books as well, but I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am that you create recipes that I can make/eat.Dr. Fuhrman’s protocol is greens, beans, fruits, nuts/seeds with little to no processed foods – whole food products with little to no sodium. That’s it in a nutshell.I’m so excited that I found you on here and that you share some of your recipes. I’ll be trying some of your other recipes and comment on those too! The brownies look sooooo good. Can’t wait to try them.
Post going up tomorrow morning: made the bars, subbed P.B., milk, and honey for the OJ. I think they held together okay.
Thanks for the recipe!
– anaustinhomestead.blogspot.com
Hi Miranda!
You can use just about any liquid; I would do milk (dairy or nondairy), even a bit of lemonjuice and water if you have thatin the fridge. 🙂
Dang, i have no juice on hand
do you suppose i could swap peanut butter for the orange juice? or honey?
Oh my goodness, i just found your blog and i love all the recipes you’ve posted…i’m definitely putting u on my reader so I can get inspired to make my own goodies! Thank you for this fruit and seed nut bar…looks awesome!
Nice looking recipe!
NOM NOM NOM i’m making theeese!
I made the Larabars and Whole Wheat Quinoa Muffins this past week – both with success! I am looking forward to trying the new bars. I’m so glad I stumbled on your blog – I’ve shared it on my clean eating forum and with my mom. 🙂
Steph
Hi Kelli Jo–welcome! Hope you enjoy the bars 🙂
I just stumbled across your blog and I am so glad that I did! These look great and I can’t wait to try them out!
Hi Sue! Nice to hear from you 🙂 I know my complaints of snow must sound ridiculous to someone in Minnesota! It’s just so unexpected here. Hope all is well your way…
Yes, these bars are pretty, Camilla. I appreciate the fact there is no added sweetener. I will try these soon. Thanks for sharing! And, feel better soon.
Hi CaSaundraLeigh and Ricki:
I do hope you try them–they are really simple to throw together, and such a bargain compared to ready-made bars (and so much more delicious). I buy the seeds and nuts in bulk at the natural foods store.
Ricki: You might want to try my version of LARA bars, too–no bake, no added sugar, and so easy! I have a link to the recipe in this post (click on LARA bars)…Camilla 🙂
I used to make home-made energy bars all the time, but then went off sugar. . . would love to try these!
I’ve never tried making my own energy bars before, but I love the idea of being able to customize them to your heart’s content–yours look perfect!