These No-Bake Toasted Coconut Bars are paleo, vegan, gluten-free and beyond delicious.
I’m guest posting for Food52 today. They asked me if I’d be willing to prepare a homemade version of Larabars, something I’ve always wanted to try. While I often find the ingredient lists appealing, homemade snack bars are almost always too sweet for me. The beauty of making them at home? I control that sweetness. Â
These No-Bake Toasted Coconut Bars are so simple to make at home and they take very little time. They’re vegan, gluten-free and paleo.
All you have to do is gather your ingredients, which will include cashews, unsweetened shredded coconut, medjool dates, coconut oil, coconut butter, cinnamon and salt.
Ok, I’m sort of lying. While the bars themselves are technically “no-bake” you will have to toast the nuts and coconut before combining the ingredients. It really brings out the flavors!
Once the cashews and coconut are toasted you add all of the dry ingredients to a food processor and pulse until you have crumbs.
Then you add coconut oil and coconut butter (which you can find at Whole Foods and health food stores). Continue pulsing until you have this:
You’ll press the mixture into a brownie pan lined with parchment and then freeze or refrigerate the mixture briefly. Then all that’s left to do is slice and serve.
You’ll never want store bought bars again. Enjoy these for breakfast, as a snack, or even as dessert! They’re so much better.
No-Bake Toasted Coconut Bars
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2 cups raw cashews
- 1 cup medjool dates, pitted
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut butter
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the shredded coconut across a baking sheet and toast in the oven for approximately 3 minutes. Stir, and then cook for an additional 2 minutes, or until golden brown and fragrant.
- Set the toasted coconut aside, and using the same baking sheet, toast the cashews for approximately 5 minutes, until fragrant.
- Place the coconut, cashews, dates, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients are crumb-sized. Add the coconut butter and 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil. Continue pulsing until the mixture begins to clump. If it seems dry, add an additional 1/2 tablespoon of coconut oil.
- Line an 8 x 8-inch pan with parchment paper, allowing two sides to hang over the side of the pan. Dab a bit of coconut oil on the pan to help the parchment stick to the sides.
- Press the mixture firmly into the pan, using a piece of plastic wrap to help flatten top evenly. Freeze for 15 to 20 minutes, and then slice into 8 bars. Wrap the bars individually and store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Please read my full post for additional recipe notes, tips, and serving suggestions!
Nutrition
Recipe Troubleshooting
For immediate help troubleshooting a recipe, please email me using the form on my contact page. I’ll try to respond to urgent questions as quickly as possible! For all general questions, please leave a comment here :)
Vanessa says
These look wonderful! I will definitely be making them. :)
April Crisafulli says
My daughter would like these after her track meets!
Louly (Kristine) says
Those look amazing. I don’t have many weaknesses, but one of them is DEFINITELY coconut! Thanks for sharing!
Nicole Untz says
These sound delish!! :D
Trish F says
I’ve never heard of Larabars but these look amazing and oh so healthy. I caught my husband the other day with a store bought granola bar and told him just because it says natural or healthy doesn’t mean it is and proceeded to tell him about the evil GMOs he didn’t know were in there. I then thought I should make him some organic snack bars. I think I’ll start with these. Thanks for sharing.
Melissa @ Nourish By Melissa says
Oh my yum! I adore Larabars but I’m not so crazy about their price tag hahaha, definitely giving this version a try :)
Deanna Segrave-Daly (@tspbasil) says
YUM!! I feel like an outcast when I say I’ve never figure out what the fuss is over LARA bars. But I sure would make these :)
Sarah C says
I have never used dates before – how do you measure “1 cup” of dates? Is it like 4, or 9 dates? Do you smoosh them into your cup measure or just plop a few in till the cup is full? Or better yet- do you have a gram weight I could use (so much more accurate IMO but I understand if you don’t)?
xani says
Holy moly, these are so delicious! After I saw the recipe I needed to make them immediately. Coconut butter(which I got via Amazon): OMG. Life changing ;) the bars are so tasty, just sweet enough with lots of toasty flavor. YUM.
Savory Simple says
Isn’t coconut butter the best? I try not to eat it with a spoon. I’m not sure about the Harbor East or Columbia Whole Foods but several of the locations near me sell it. They keep me stocked up! I ordered it from Amazon a few times without realizing.
Scott Marcus says
I calculated the nutritional information based on the ingredients. Per bar:
450 calories
7.5 g fiber
8 g protein
That’s a bit high for a snack, IMHO.
Savory Simple says
Not if you exercise regularly ;)