Description
Delicious no-bake granola bars made with apricots and dark chocolate! Enjoy these sweet treats for dessert or a healthy snack any time of the day.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (85 g) raw almonds
- 1.5 cups (100 g) rolled oats
- 1/2 cup packed (110 g), pitted dates
- 1/4 cup (60 g) drippy almond butter
- 1/3 cup (113 g) maple syrup
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup packed (115 g) dried apricots
- 1/2 cup (90 g) dark chocolate broken into small chunks, or 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Pulse the almonds in a food processor until broken down into a crumbly consistency. It should resemble a coarse flour but a few large chunks are totally fine.
- Add the dates and apricots and process into a sticky, crumbly dough. Add the pieces of dark chocolate and pulse a few times until it’s further broken down and the chocolate is distributed.
- Remove the mixture from the food processor and place in a large mixing bowl with the rolled oats and salt.
- In a saucepan, gently heat the almond butter and maple syrup over low heat for a few minutes while stirring. Warm it just enough to stir into a smooth, creamy mixture. Don’t boil or overheat or it will melt the chocolate when you add it to the mixing bowl.
- Pour almond butter mixture into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
- Line a 7-8 inch square baking pan with two overlapping strips of parchment paper long enough to stick out either side of the pan. Take a few minutes to firmly press the dough into the pan, really flattening and working into each corner.
- Place in the freezer for an hour to firm.
- Lift out of the pan and slice into 8 bars or 16 squares.
- Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 2 months. I recommend storing them in the freezer. They don’t freeze solid so you can enjoy them straight from the freezer.
Notes
To make these nut-free, replace the almonds with raw sunflower seeds or additional oats, and use tahini or sunflower seed butter instead of almond butter.
The dried apricot can be replaced by dates. So instead of using 1/2 cup of dates, use 1 cup (220 g) dates and omit the apricots.
If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a knife to finely chop the dates, almonds, apricots and chocolate. It’s just a lot quicker and easier to use a food processor. Make sure they’re finely chopped or the bars will be a bit crumbly.
The almonds can be subbed with walnuts, cashews or pecans.
Cut into 8 large bars or 16 smaller squares. I do 16 squares for a smaller serving size. You can always have two if you want!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 157
- Sugar: 13 g
- Sodium: 75 mg
- Fat: 6.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 21 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 3.3 g