Chewy, crunchy, sweet and salty, these grain free and paleo no bake granola bars are going to become your favorite with the first bite! They’re loaded with raisins and mini chocolate chips, coconut flakes and nuts, sweetened with raw honey and packed with healthy fats. Kid approved, gluten-free, dairy-free, grain free and addicting!
Not joking – I actually cannot stop eating these bars right now! Don’t say I didn’t warn you – these babies are WAY addicting.
After making my grain free granola with strawberries, I knew I had to go for granola bars. What I didn’t know, is that they’d wind up the most flipping delicious granola bars I’d ever eaten, grain free or not!
And, I actually had to wind up making 2 batches of these, (not because the first ones were bad, but because my chocolate chips melted, which I didn’t want) which means that they’ll be taunting me for quite awhile. Or, at the rate I’m going, until at least 3pm.
When I had these no bake granola bars in mind I figured I’d be doing much of the same things that I did with my granola. And, really, I did.
I got out my food processor and “chopped” 3 cups of nuts (pecans, almonds, cashews) and then started adding all the “good stuff”.
It’s not that I don’t like nuts, but, raw nuts DO need some sprucing up obviously. I added coconut flakes, raisins, salt and a bit of cinnamon, and then moved on to the wet ingredients.
Here’s where some of that magic happened, I think. I mixed up a combination of almond butter, raw honey, and coconut oil and melted it until it was nice and smooth.
I stirred in vanilla and then poured everything over the dry ingredients, mixing until everything was perfectly sticky 🙂
When the mixture cooled down just a bit, I added the chocolate chips! I added them along with the dry ingredients the first time around, which caused them to melt everywhere once I poured the liquid ingredients in. They tasted amazing – but I wanted to SEE those cute little mini chips!
After mixing everything together, it’s time to “no bake” in the freezer.
I used an 8 x 8 square pan lined with parchment paper, and pressed the entire mixture down using more parchment paper.
You really want to pack it in tightly to get nice dense chewy bars. If you use an 8 x 8 pan like I did, they’ll also be deliciously thick! If you want them a bit thinner, I suggest using a 9 x 9 pan.
Once packed in, I covered them with parchment and placed them in the freezer for a little bit over an hour – although I recommend 2 hours for best results.
The longer you freeze, the easier they are to cut into bars! I recommend using a long sharp knife for easy, even cutting.
Once done, I’m guessing you’ll want to dig in right away like I did – trust me – these bars are tough to resist!
You can store them in the refrigerator or freezer, but keep in mind that they’ll start to melt if kept at room temperature too long, due to the coconut oil. Although, they will re-chill easily if you leave them out too long, so no worries 🙂
I hope you’re ready to no bake with me – these are GOOD ONES guys – let’s go!
No Bake Granola Bars with Raisins and Chocolate Chips {Grain Free, Paleo}
No Bake Granola Bars with Raisins and Chocolate Chips {Grain Free, Paleo}
Chewy, crunchy, sweet and salty, these grain free and paleo no bake granola bars are going to become your favorite with the first bite! They're loaded with raisins and mini chocolate chips, coconut flakes and nuts, sweetened with raw honey and packed with healthy fats. Kid approved, gluten-free, dairy-free, grain free and addicting!
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw pecan halves or walnuts
- 1 cup raw almonds
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/2 tsp salt or 1/4 for less salty
- 1/4 cup organic coconut oil melted (use refined for no coconut flavor)
- 1/4 cup smooth almond butter
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp raw honey
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips dairy free, soy free
Instructions
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Place the nuts in a food processor and pulse several times to “chop” them into a crumbly texture - a few larger pieces are a good thing - don’t overmix!
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Transfer the nuts to a large mixing bowl* and stir in coconut flakes, cinnamon, salt, and raisins to evenly combine.
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Place melted coconut oil in a small sauce pan and whisk in the almond butter and honey. Set heat to low and whisk while honey and almond butter melt. Once mixture is smooth and well combined, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
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Pour the wet mixture into the large bowl with the dry ingredients and stir to fully combine - I used a silicone spatula for this step. Thoroughly mix to make sure all the dry mixture is coated. Once coated, gently stir in the chocolate chips.
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Line an 8 x 8” or 9 x 9” square pan with parchment paper along the bottom and sides, with extra up the sides for easy removal. Transfer mixture in and press down, using your hands, or another piece of parchment paper to get it packed tightly into the pan.
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Cover the top with parchment or plastic wrap, then set in the freezer for at least 1 hour to firm, or longer if you have time.
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Remove pan from freezer and grab two ends of the parchment paper to remove the bars, set on a cutting board.
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Using a long very sharp knife, cut into 20 bars. You can wrap them in parchment individually storing in the fridge (for up to two weeks) or freezer for longer.
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Bars will start to melt around room temp due to the coconut oil, so they’ll need to be kept chilled to stay firm. Enjoy!
Nutrition
What I Used To Make My No Bake Granola Bars:
Want More Paleo Snack Bites and Bars? Try One Of These!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Bites
No Bake Apple Cinnamon Cookies {Nut Free}
Chocolate Coconut Butter No-Bake Cookies {Nut Free}
No Bake Banana Date Chocolate Chip Cookies
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These granola bars look so delicious and so easy to make! YUM!
I made the granola last weekend that you shared the recipe with us and it was crazy good. I like the idea of making it into bars so it looks like these bars are on my agenda for this weekend. Thanks for sharing!
Like the no-bake idea of these granola bars especially with summer quickly approaching. Thanks for sharing another of your great-sounding recipes.
These look absolutely incredible!! Can’t wait to try.
I have been looking food bars with hardly any sugar and these sound real good,
I want to make these bars. They look and sound amazing. I can eat very little because of motility disorder. I am wondering if you could make them with oatmeal, I know its not Paleo, but I have just started to add oatmeal to my diet. Have you tried Oatmeal in them and if so what if any of the nuts could I omit or just cut down total amount of nuts. Any thoughts?? Thanks so much, love your recipies…
These bars are so delicious! I made them last night and my husband loved them too! Thanks for sharing!
I have a question! These are so awesome- what would happen if you added flax powder to them? DO you think tit might act like an egg and hold them together a bit better at room temp? Just wondering how I can make these so I can take them when traveling!
Not sure that would work but you may want to try, the problem is really with the coconut oil and nut butter making these sticky at room temp!
These bars are unbelievable, by far the best I have ever made! I have 2 extremely picky eaters and am always trying to find healthy versions to the junk food they tend to prefer…my picky eaters LOVED these! I have shared this recipe with all my family and it has quickly become a favorite! Thank you!!
These granola bars are delicious and easy to make, thank you!
These came out sooooo good that I didn’t want to share. My only question though is about the chocolate chips. I used what was suggested, however I was concerned that perhaps it’s not Paleo approved since the 1st ingredient is evaporated cane juice. Maybe I will substitute cacao nibs or dark chocolate next time. Regardless, this recipe is a keeper!!!
You can use whatever chocolate you’re comfortable with – for the least amount of sugar I’d go with the cacao nibs or a really dark chocolate, chopped. You can also make your own paleo chocolate with maple syrup, chill and chop it to use here – I have a recipe to go along with these truffles if you’re interested. So happy you enjoyed them!
I can’t wait to make these they look amazing. Would love to have the granola recipe too 🙂
Enjoy!
Everything I had made of your has been amazing! These granola bars are my new favorite! Keep up the good work