Almond Coconut Protein Bars
These vegan and gluten-free, no-bake almond coconut protein bars with hemp seeds are easy to make in a food processor and make a great snack or healthy dessert!
Ingredient Notes
- almonds – use plain, raw almonds with no added oil or salt
- dates – any variety works as long as they’re soft and moist
- hemp seeds – sometimes called hemp hearts
- coconut – use unsweetened fine or medium shredded coconut
- protein – use chocolate or vanilla pea protein or a pea protein blend (such as Vega, NuZest, Aloha, Bob’s Red Mill etc.)
- coconut oil – any variety works but I like organic, unrefined
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1. Add the almonds to a food processor and blend to break down. They should resemble a grainy flour but a some large chunks are totally fine.
Step 2. Add the dates, coconut and hemp seeds and process into a crumbly mixture.
Step 3. Add everything else and process into a thick dough.
Quick Note: If your food processor can’t handle this much volume, transfer everything to a mixing bowl and use your hands to mix everything up.
Step 4. Line a 7-8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper then firmly press the dough into the pan. Use your hands to get it as flat and even as you can.
Place the bars in the freezer for an hour, then lift out of the pan, slice into bars and enjoy!
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Storage: Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week or freezer for up to 3 months.
- Nuts: Almonds can be substituted with walnuts or pecans.
- Dates: Must use soft, moist dates. If your dates are very dry, soak them in hot water for 15 minutes then drain well before using in the recipe.
Related Recipes
- Chocolate Chip No-Bake Granola Bars
- Sunflower Sesame Homemade Energy Bars
- No-Bake Vegan Hemp Protein Bars
- No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
- No-Bake Apricot Granola Bars
- Salted Mocha Coconut Protein Bars
Did you try this recipe?
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I’d love to hear about it! Click here to leave a review and be sure to tag me @runningonrealfood if you post it on social media.
Almond Coconut Protein Bars
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 60 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 12 bars
- Category: Snack
- Method: Food Processor
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These almond coconut energy bars are packed with flavour and nutrition for a healthy snack option that tastes like dessert!
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw almonds (150 g)
- 1 cup very tightly packed, soft pitted dates (270 g)
- 1 cup hemp seeds (150 g)
- 1 unsweetened shredded coconut (100 g)
- 3/4 cup vanilla pea protein (75 g)
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil (70 g)
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tsp cinnamon, optional
- 1/2 tsp sea salt, optional
Instructions
- Place the almonds in a food processor or high-powered blender and mix until broken down into a grainy flour. It’s ok if there are some large chunks.
- Add the dates, coconut and hemp seeds and mix until it forms a crumbly mixture.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and process into a thick dough (see notes).
- Line a 7-8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper then firmly press the dough into the pan using your hands. Spend some time thoroughly pressing it in to the pan to ensure a bar that holds together well.
- Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour then lift out of the pan and cut into 12 bars.
Notes
Food Processing: Step 3 may be too much volume for your food processor to handle. Mine was fine blending on low and stopping to mix a few times but the mixture did take up the whole container. If you think it’s too much for your food processor, transfer to a mixing bowl and use your hands to combine into a thick dough you can press between your fingers.
Storage: Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week or freezer for up to 3 months.
Dates: Must use soft, moist dates such as medjool, sayer or deglect noor. If your dates are very dry, soak them in hot water for 15 minutes then drain well before using in the recipe.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 316
- Sugar: 17 g
- Fat: 22 g
- Carbohydrates: 24 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 11 g
Keywords: coconut protein bars, no-bake protein bars
Update Note: New photos and text added on August 5, 2020.
OMG these are the best thing EVER. So good with a coffee to satisfy that sweet craving. I used a mocha protein powder from Vega which was delish. I also added a little bit of 85% dark chocolate once as well which was really nice too. I used almond flour instead of grinding my own and worked out fine.
Thank you Deryn this will be a staple in this house.
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These look divine!
I don’t stock pea protein. Is there something I can used instead or maybe omit?
Hmm, it’s quite a big part of this recipe so I’m not sure how they’d turn out but you could try an additional 1/2 cup almonds. I have lots of energy bar recipes without protein powder though! You can find them all here: Energy Bar Recipes.
I’m a diabetic and want to eat better snacks. The recipes shown look delicious. My question is where do you buy ingredients. Ive never heard of brown rice protein, hemp protein or pea protein. I’m sure there are other ingredients I’ll need.
I buy them in stores or online. You can just get any vegan protein if you’d like to make these! There are many readily available in stores or online from major retailers. Try Vega, North Coast Naturals, NuZest, Iron Vegan, Outcast Mission, Bob’s Red Mill, Aloha, PVL, Sunwarrior or Orgain. Good luck!
I just used ghee instead of coconut oil in this recipe and they turned out perfect, for those of you who would like to try something different. Will try coconut oil next time. Thanks a million!
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You’re welcome! Thanks for your feedback, so glad you enjoyed them!
Hi Deryn.
I just found this recipe and your blog. The recipe looks awesome. My question is have you ever made your own protein powder so you can control the ingredients?
I haven’t made my own before but I often use plain protein isolates like brown rice protein, hemp protein or pea protein with no other ingredients. I also like North Coast Naturals Vege Pro-7.
Delicious bars Deryn. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I made these yesterday and they turned out very tasty. I had a question; how long will these keep in the refrigerator, do you think?
They should be fine for a week or so, you can also store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. They’re actually really good straight from the freezer!
These sound amazing but is there a substitute for the coconut oil??? Thanks!
The coconut oil helps to hold these bars together and I haven’t tried this recipe without the oil, I can’t recommend any subs for it that would produce the same result. I may update it soon though as my nutritional preferences have changed since creating this recipe. I’ll let you know!
my husband had a heart attack and we are eating very low carb for heart health. we are always looking for new ideas and these bars look like a great breakfast option. Can you suggest a way to make them “less carbs” … would i cut down on the amount of dates maybe or would that compromise the texture ?
In these ones you’ll need the dates to hold them together, I can’t really recommend a way to reduce the carbs in this recipe. Raisins or figs could be used to replace dates but they’d be similar in carbohydrates to the dates.
Yum! These look amazing! Just repinned to try 🙂
Hi This recipe is amazing. please advise whether the vega protein is mixed with water or milk or do you use the powder on its own in this recipe? Thank you! Romy
You just use it on its own. Thanks. 🙂
I LOVE these bars. So much better than anything I’ve ever gotten from the store and ridiculously easy to make. Thank you for the recipe!
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these bars are great! I add flax seeds to mine too. Do you use a food processor or a blender? The dates get stuck I my Vitamix and I’m trying to figure out a way to prevent them from getting stuck so I don’t burn it out.
Can you use chia seeds in place of hemp seeds? If so how much? I can’t find hemp seeds at my store so wanted an alternative. Also I’m assuming you can substitute almond butter for ground almonds but not sure how much? My almond butter just has almonds as ingredient.
You won’t be able to use almond butter unfortunately since you need the ground almonds to be dry, they aren’t ground up as far as almond butter. You may be able to replace with oats or another ground nut or flour of choice. Chia seeds should be okay in place of hemp seeds but I can’t guarantee they’ll work as well. Thanks!
I’m a huge hemp seed fan so these definitely need to happen! Thanks for this!
These look so good!! I never used dates before. I’ve seen them n so many recipes but always feel nervous trying them.
I never make my own protein bars, but I should totally give it a shot. Thanks for the recipe!
I definitely need to try these bars – they sound amazing!!
I’m all about hemp seeds lately and I’m always looking for a good pre-workout snack! These look perfect!!
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You must have been in my head tonight girl! I was just wondering how protein powder would act in a date based bar! So glad it works 🙂 I’ll be trying this soon for sure! Love the added coconut – it’s one of my favorite flavors!