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.
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
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Thanks for posting this recipe….they look delicious…..I have couple of questions tho….I have coconut oil, but no coconut butter…can I use regular butter, and I have a can of mixed nuts which include cashews can they
be used also ?
Will wait till I hear from you…..thanks
Hi Mona. If you click through to the recipe you’ll see an entire discussion about this in the comments. To summarize:
-you can use any nuts
-Butter is softer than coconut butter so the bars will not be as firm and might be slightly greasy to the touch at room temperature. If you experiment, I’d try reducing the butter. You could also try using a nut butter (same scenario with texture). If these are served chilled or frozen they should still be reasonably firm.
I couldn’t find plain coconut butter myself in the stores, only almond coconut butter so I searched online and came across a recipe to make it yourself. All you do is put unsweetened coconut & a little melted coconut oil in the food processor & process it until it turns into a creamy texture, which takes a few minutes. The more coconut oil you add the creamier it is.
Thanks Jennifer,
Maybe I will wait until I get some coconut butter…..the nearest whole food store to me in over an hour away…
But I definitely do want to try these…..I have tried a couple of other recipes and not really happy with them….
they were too soft, but had a good taste…..I don’t want them rock hard, but hard enough to stay together
so I could pack in a lunch or take on the road for a snack….
I try not to go overboard with specialty ingredients but I really do think coconut butter is worth it (even ordering it online). It’s SO healthy and really delicious. I eat it with a spoon! It will definitely bring a sturdiness to these bars.
If you have a food processor (like in the picture) it’s super easy to make your own coconut butter. There are a million recipes online, but you basically just whirl dried coconut up until it turns into butter…kinda like peanut butter.
Thanks Alyssa, I did not know that…..I do not have a food processor tho…..can it be done in a blender ? try it…..
I would definitely try it, with lots of scraping down the sides of the blender. I have tried using my vitamix to make nut butters and I have way better luck with a food processor. I would probably just be careful not to put too much coconut in at a time, and if its still too hard, maybe pouring in a little coconut oil (or other oil) to help it blend. Just be careful. It’s temping to put more oil in to make butters “butter” faster, but then you’re left with really soupy butters that will separate after a bit in the jar. I make sunbutter in my food processor and it can take 10 min. of blending. It goes from grainy, to lumpy like pie dough (it will stick together in a large lump), and after a long time at that stage, it will finally start to break up and get soupier and more like a butter.
these look like great healthy bars!
They look simple and easy, so pinning it!!!
Love the toasted coconut and cashew combination! Perfect for a snack bar!
I do love larabars, but I’m much more excited that these are more nut-based! Off to check out the recipe!
Wow! I love Larabars, but I definitely prefer homemade ones as I find they are too sweet! These look fabulous and I will have to get my hands on coconut butter!
These 7 ingredient no bake bars sound incredible!
I used to love Larabars but somehow got tired of them. I think I would like this homemade version better! I love anything with toasted coconut.
Have done a nutrition profile on these by any chance (calories, fat,
Protein)? They sound great. I currently buy nut balls from Bettyslousinc.com, which are awesome, but homemade would be a great cost saving. Thanks for all of your great recipes!
I don’t calculate nutritional info, sorry about that!
These sound delicious! I love this kind of thing mid morning and/or mid afternoon. Cashews and coconut? Count me in!
these look yummy. i want to make these.
I love coconut. This looks so good. Thanks…I’m gonna be thinking about making these while I sleep tonight. HA!
I’ve been on a coconut kick lately this is right up my alley! Thanks for sharing!
I told my sister about these, and she is making them this week!