Vegan no bake granola bars are chewy, sweet, and super easy to make with just 4 healthy ingredients. Gluten free and naturally sweet!
Happy last Thursday in April! I cannot believe it’s almost May. Let’s celebrate with vegan no bake granola bars! Before you start thinking, “who the heck would ever celebrate something with a granola bar,” let me introduce you to my new favorite no bake treat.
Whenever I think of making granola bars I’m like, “eh, granola bars, BORING.” Who wants granola bars when you can have some super decadent dessert with tons of drippy melty chocolate?! But then I make them, and I eat one, and I immediately lament the fact that I didn’t make any for over a year. But here we are, with some bomb vegan no bake granola bars.
Plus, granola bars are just so versatile and wonderful for real life. Grab one on your way out the door for a quick but satisfying breakfast, have one as a snack to tide you over til dinner, whatever. Poor granola bars, so underrated and under appreciated. Today that changes!
Ingredients for vegan no bake granola bars
- Rolled oats: use old fashioned, rolled oats for the best chewy texture.
- Ground flaxseed: flax gives the bars more nutrition and helps hold them together.
- Medjool dates: you’ll blend the dates with hot water to make a paste, which naturally sweetens the granola bars.
- Nut butter: I recommend something mild like almond or cashew butter, unless you want something super flavorful like peanut butter. Make sure to get oil-free, unsweetened nut butter to avoid the junk added to a lot of store-bought nut butters.
Tips for making vegan no bake granola bars
- Heat up the nut butter if it’s too thick to mix. A lot of natural nut butters are pretty thick, so feel free to microwave it for 30 seconds-1 minute to loosen it up and make it easier to incorporate into the granola bar batter.
- Refrigerate overnight. The granola bars need to set up in the fridge, so just set the pan in there overnight. The next morning you can cut them into bars and store in the fridge.
As a random last second decision, I threw some vegan cereal on top of half the bars to see if it would give some good texture – the verdict was it got slightly soggy, but they look so fun and I love the cereal (the only ingredient is beans!). So, totally your call if you want to top with something like cereal or nuts for a bit more texture!
These vegan no bake granola bars exceeded my expectations, as in, they are SO so good. Seriously, don’t sleep on these. If you think you don’t need granola bars in your life, let me tell you that you do. Chewy, soft, and sweet, the perfect healthy snack.
I cannot wait to make these again.
Xo,
Sara
Vegan No Bake Granola Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 1 cup date paste – 15 medjool dates blended with 1 cup hot water
- 1/4 cup oil-free unsweetened almond butter
Instructions
- Line a square pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix the oats and flax.
- Add the date paste and almond butter and stir to combine.
- Press the mixture into the pan in an even layer.
- Refrigerate overnight, then cut into 8 bars.
- Store in the refrigerator.
Hi ! Looks yummy but could you please let me know the nutritional info pls. Would love to try it but just want to be sure of the sugar and the protein content.
Hi! I don’t calculate the nutrition info for recipes, but you could use online nutrition trackers if you’d like to do so!