No-Bake Chocolate Almond Bars
These delicious, vegan chocolate almond bars are easy to whip up in under 30 minutes with minimal prep time, no baking required!
Recipe Features
- quick and easy: you’ll need just 6 simple ingredients and 30 minutes until they’re ready to enjoy
- delicious sweet and salted chocolate almond flavour
- great for a healthier homemade dessert option
- dietary: vegan, gluten-free, can be sugar-free
Ingredient Notes
- oats – rolled oats or quick oats work
- almonds – use plain, raw almonds with no added oil or salt, can be substituted with walnuts or pecans
- nut butter – I love peanut butter in these but any nut or seed butter works! Use almond butter for a double whammy of almond or try tahini for a sesame twist. Just make sure it’s fairly drippy and not too dry.
- dates – any variety works as long as they’re soft and moist (if not, you can soak them first), I like sayer or medjool best
- cocoa powder – any kind works, use dark cocoa if you can find it for the richest chocolate flavour or raw cacao powder for extra nutrition
- chocolate – any chocolate chips or dark chocolate works, I like Enjoy Life dark chocolate chips or any good dark chocolate
Complete list of ingredients with amounts and instructions is located in the recipe card below.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Before You Start: It’s important to use soft, moist dates in this recipe. If your dates are overly dry, soak them in hot water for 15 minutes then drain well before using in the recipe. It’s okay if they’re a bit wet when you add them to the recipe, just make sure you drain off any excess water.
Step 1: Make the Chocolate Dough
- Add the oats and almonds to a food processor and process into a grainy flour.
- Add the dates, peanut butter, cocoa powder and optional vanilla and salt. Blend into a thick sticky dough you can press between your fingers.
- If the dough seems too crumbly (can happen if your dates were too dry) add 1-2 tbsp warm water and process again.
Step 2: Create the Bars
Line a 7 or 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper so it sticks out over the sides of the pan. Use your hands to firmly press the dough into the pan until flat.
Step 4: Add the Chocolate Topping
- Melt the chocolate using a double boiler or in the microwave in 15 to 20-second increments until completely smooth.
- Stir the nut butter into the melted chocolate.
- Place the bars in the freezer until the chocolate has hardened.
Step 5: Score then slice!
Use the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan.Warm a knife under hot water then use it to score (run lines along where to plan to cut) the bars. This will help prevent any cracking when you slice the bars.
After scoring, slice the bars into 16 squares and enjoy!
Tips
- Don’t forget to soak your dates first if they’re on the dry side.
- If you use dates that are too dry and the dough is crumbly, add 1-2 tbsp warm water and process again until it’s sticky.
- I used a 7 inch square baking pan. You can use up to an 8 inch square pan but I wouldn’t suggest any larger or the bars will be too thin.
FAQs
Store the bars in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freezer for up to 3 months.
Sure! Just use almond butter or another nut or seed butter for the nut butter.
Yes! To make them grain-free, replace the oats with an additional cup of raw almonds.
No. It just helps soften it a bit to prevent cracking and makes it more like a ganache than a hard chocolate coating. With or without are both good!
Yes, however, they contain oats which although are naturally gluten-free, be sure to use gluten-free certified oats if needed.
If you prefer, you can replace the oats with an additional cup of almonds.
Yes. To make these without added sugar (they’ll still contain sugar from the dates), use a sugar-free chocolate such as Lily’s stevia-sweetened chocolate chips.
For a lower-sugar option, use a high-cacao content dark chocolate instead of chocolate chips.
Related Recipes
- No-Bake Chocolate Caramel Bars
- No-Bake Vegan Almond Joy Bars
- Cashew Cookie Dough Bars
- Cherry Almond Bars
- No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
- No-Bake Oatmeal Chocolate Bars
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Scroll down to the comment section to leave a star rating and review.
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Chocolate Almond Brownie Bars
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 16
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Deliciously sweet and salty, no-bake chocolate almond square that are easy to make with a food processor, no baking required! You’ll love this recipe for a yummy vegan dessert.
Ingredients
For the Bars:
- 1 cup rolled oats (100 g)
- 1 cup raw almonds (150 g)
- 1/2 cup almond or peanut butter (120 g)
- 1 cup packed, pitted dates (220 g)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (25 g)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt, optional
- 1 tsp vanilla, optional
For the Chocolate Topping:
- 2/3 cup dairy-free chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate (120 g)
- 2 tbsp almond or peanut butter (30 g, see notes)
Instructions
- If your dates are overly dry (or if you’re unsure if they’re soft enough), soak them (pitted) in hot water for 15 minutes then drain well before using in the recipe. It’s ok if they’re wet when you add them to the recipe but make sure any excess water as been drained off.
- Add 1 cup each of oats and raw almonds to a food processor and blend into a grainy flour consistency. A few larger pieces of almonds left behind are ok but it should be mostly broken down.
- Add 1 cup of packed dates, 1/2 cup nut butter of choice, 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and the optional salt and vanilla, if using.
- Blend the mixture into a thick, sticky dough you can press between your fingers. If it seems too crumbly. Add 1-2 tbsp warm water and process again.
- Line a 7 or 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper so it sticks out over the edges of the pan.
- Use your hands to firmly press the chocolate dough into the pan until flat, working it into the corners and smoothing the surface as best you can.
- Melt 2/3 cup chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate using a double boiler or stirring every 15-20 seconds in the microwave. Stir until completely smooth and creamy and no clumps remain. Mix in the 2 tbsp of nut butter.
- Spread the melted chocolate over the bars in the pan.
- Place the entire pan in the freezer until the chocolate has completely hardened, about 20-30 minutes.
- Use the edges of the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan.
- Warm a knife under hot water then use it to score the bar into 16 squares (create lines where you plan to slice).
- Following the lines, slice into 16 squares.
Notes
Storing: Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freezer for up to 2 months.
Nut Butter: Try peanut butter for chocolate peanut butter bars, otherwise any nut or seed butter works, as long as it’s somewhat drippy and not too dry.
The 2 tbsp of nut butter added to the melted chocolate makes it softer, more like a ganache, and prevents cracking. You can omit it if you like, the chocolate topping will just be harder, which is fine, just take care and use a warm knife when you slice it.
Oats may be substituted with an additional cup of almonds.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 225
- Sugar: 15 g
- Fat: 13 g
- Carbohydrates: 25 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 6 g
I made this recipe today and Oh. My. Word!!! These are absolutely heavenly!! My daughter loves them, I love them and they’re just the right kind of sweetness to cut any craving for something sweet and yummy! This recipe is definitely a keeper for us! Thank you!! 😀 <3
These are AMAZING!!!
So glad to hear it, Bethany!!
Thanks for another delicious recipe! Super easy and mighty scrumptious!
I made these bars over the weekend. They are delicious and so easy to make! Do yourself a favor and try them! 😋
Agreed! So easy and yummy. Very happy to hear you enjoyed them!
These are so yummy and easy to make!
Thanks, Dorothy! Glad you enjoyed them.