Wholesome grain free snack bars that are packed with whole, real foods. Chewy, satisfying, and easy to make too!
Snack bars have become my favorite homemade “granola” type bar. They’re just like store-bought KIND bars, but made in your own kitchen. Primarily from handfuls simple ingredients like cashews, dried berries, and sunflower seeds. Wholesome and texture-filled for those of us who crave satisfying snacks. Grain free, gluten free, salty and sweet, too!
Besides the nuts, dried fruit, and seeds—you’ll need almond meal and honey. If you can’t find it, almond meal is so easy to make at home: simply pulse almonds until they reach a rough flour-like consistency. Honey sweetens, of course, but it also binds all the snack bar ingredients together. It’s perfectly delicious paired with the vanilla flavor, the creamy cashews, and all those sweet dried berries.
Real quick: for those cashews, make sure that you chop them up. Not super fine, but a nice coarse chop. Whole cashews prevent the snack bars from sticking together. You need some small chunks in there. Just like this:
The bars are uniquely chewy while soft in some spots (those buttery cashews!) and crisp on the edge pieces. You get large chunks of nuts and fruit that you can actually see and taste, unlike most granola or energy bars. The snack bars are infused with vanilla and each bite pops with both honey and almond butter. Then, of course, sweet dried berries speckled throughout each bar. There’s something different in every bite which is just so satisfying, isn’t it? You might love my peanut butter trail mix bars too.
If you have leftover cashews, try a batch of these easy white chocolate caramel cashew clusters next!
PrintBerry Vanilla Cashew Snack Bars
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 bars
- Category: Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Wholesome grain free snack bars that are packed with whole, real foods. Chewy, satisfying, and easy to make too!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (113g) honey or brown rice syrup*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (37g) almond meal*
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon (15g) almond butter (any nut butter works!)
- 1 and 1/3 cups (200g) raw unsalted cashews, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup dried blueberries*
- 1/4 cup (30g) dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup (44g) salted sunflower seeds*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F (149°C). Line an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper with enough overhang on the sides to easily remove the bars from the pan. Set aside.
- Using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, mix the honey, vanilla, almond meal, salt, and almond butter together until combined. Fold in the cashews, dried blueberries, dried cranberries, and sunflower seeds until combined.
- Transfer mixture to prepared baking pan and press very firmly into an even layer. You really want it packed in tight—as tight as possible. Bake for 22 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack for 1 hour, then transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 1 more hour. This firms up the bars which helps them stay compact. Remove bars from the pan using the overhang on the sides and cut into bars. Individually wrap each bar in plastic wrap or parchment. Store at room temperature for 1 week or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. I find they get a little sticky at room temperature over a few days, so I prefer the refrigerator.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: These bars are freezer friendly. After wrapping individually, freeze for up to 3 months and thaw before enjoying.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8-inch Square Pan or 9-inch Square Pan | Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowls | Silicone Spatula or Wooden Spoon | Cooling Rack
- Sweetener: I do not suggest a thinner sweetener like maple syrup or agave—honey or brown rice syrup are perfect.
- Almond Meal: You can use store-bought almond meal or almond flour, or you can make your own. Start with 1/3 cup of slivered, sliced, or whole almonds. Pulse them in a food processor until a crumbly meal has formed. Do not run the food processor continuously because you might end up with almond butter. Little pulses are best.
- Dried Blueberries: Sometimes I have a hard time finding dried blueberries in the store. If you can’t find them, you can just sub dried cranberries.
- Sunflower Seeds: I like to use salted sunflower seeds because they add a little salt to the sweet dried fruit/honey. If using unsalted, add another 1/8 teaspoon salt to the recipe. Instead of sunflower seeds, try using chopped peanuts, cashews, or almonds.
So many more versions! Try my vanilla almond snack bars.
The chocolate cherry snack bars too!
And my favorite spiced pumpkin seed cranberry version.