No-Bake Hemp Chia Energy Bars

These no-bake vegan hemp and chia seed energy bars feature wholesome ingredients like walnuts, dates and pumpkin seeds and make a great alternative to store-bought bars.

Features

• dietary: vegan, gluten-free (use gf certified oats)
• quick and easy: no baking required, just blend everything up, press into a pan, slice and enjoy!

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Ingredient Notes

• oats – rolled or quick oats both work
• pepitas – also know as raw pumpkin seeds, can be substituted with sunflower seeds
• walnuts – use plain, raw walnut with no added oil or salt, can be substituted with almonds or pecans
• hemp seeds – look for hemp hearts, or shelled hemp seeds
• chia seeds – black or white chia seeds are suitable
• dates – any variety works as long as they’re soft and moist
• raisins – any kind works!
• chocolate chips – optional but everything is better with chocolate, don’t you think?

Complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.

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Step by Step Method

Step 1. Add the oats, pepitas and walnuts to a food processor and process into a grainy flour.

If there are a few larger chunks or full seeds remaining that’s ok but it should be mostly broken down.

Step 2. Add the chia seeds, hemp seeds, cinnamon and nutmeg and process briefly to combine.

Step 3. Add the dates and raisins and process into a thick, sticky dough. It should start to form one big ball as it blends and you should easily be able to press the dough together between your fingers.

My dough isn’t sticking together! It’s important to use soft, moist dates to ensure sticky dough that will hold together. If you process the dough and it seems too crumbly to press into bars, add 1 tsp of warm water and process again. That should do it but if not, repeat 1-2 times.

Step 4. Line a 7-8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper so it hangs out over the sides of the pan then dump the dough in.

Use your hands to firmly press the dough down into the pan, taking a few minutes to really work it in, especially in the corners.

Quick Tip: Once you’ve pressed the dough down into the pan, wet your hands and rub them over the top of the bars to create nice, smooth surface.

Pop the entire pan into the freezer for an hour to firm.

Once set, lift the entire bar out of the pan using the parchment paper, slice into bars and enjoy!

Notes and Tips

• If you don’t have chia seeds, increase amount of hemp seeds to 1/2 cup.
• If you don’t have pepitas, increase walnuts to 3/4 cup.
• Amounts of pepitas, walnuts, hemp seeds and chia seeds are somewhat flexible. You’ll need 1 1/4 cups total between the 4 but I’d recommend keeping the walnuts to at least 1/2 cup not exceeding 1/4 cup for the chia seeds.
• Chocolate chips are optional but I really like them for an added treat!

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Storing

• Fridge: Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
• Freezer (Recommended): Store in an airtight container for up to 3 months. They don’t freezer solid so can be enjoyed straight from the freezer.
• Room Temperature: Okay at room temp for a day or two if taking to-go. They’ll just start to get soft and squishy, so keep cool if possible!

Related Recipes

• No-Bake Oatmeal Bars
• No-Bake Superfood Energy Bars
• No-Bake Lemon Pie Bars
• Sunflower Sesame Homemade Energy Bars
• No-Bake Chocolate Chia Energy Bars

Did you try this recipe?
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Originally published on December 14, 2014 as a guest post by Ashley Melillo. Updated on October 1, 2020 with new photos and text.