These baked vegan tahini hemp seed bars are easy to make and have the most amazing chewy texture and sweet, nutty, sesame flavour. Perfect for a whole-food snack or dessert!

Stack of baked tahini bars on a mobile surface.

Recipe Features

  • Dietary Needs: Vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, nut-free and oil-free.
  • Quick and Easy: You’ll need just 6 ingredients and a few minutes of prep time
  • Travel well: Perfect for a lunchbox, road trip, hiking or camping
  • Crisp on the edges with a delicious soft and chewy on the inside.

Ingredient Notes

Hemp seeds, tahini, coconut, dates and maple syrup sitting on a counter top.
  • Tahini. Good tahini will be wonderfully creamy with a nutty flavour that’s not overly bitter. Look for tahini with just one ingredient: sesame seeds.
  • Hemp seeds. High in protein, iron, vitamin E and antioxidants, hemp seeds really pack the nutrition into these bars. Hemp seeds are sometimes called hemp hearts.
  • Coconut. Use unsweetened fine or medium shredded coconut. It may be labeled as desiccated coconut.
  • Maple syrup. The maple syrup acts as a binder and sweetens the recipe. You can substitute agave or brown rice syrup but I wouldn’t recommend switching to a granular sweetener.
  • Dates. Soft, moist dates are best for this recipe. I recommend medjool or sayer dates. If your dates are very dry, soak them in hot water for 15 minutes then drain well before using, however, I recommend using dates that are nice and soft.
  • Oats. Use quick, rolled or old fashioned oats. The oats will be processed into a grainy oat flour so any oat variety except steel cut oats works.

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1. Blend the oats into a coarse, grainy flour in your food processor.

They don’t have to be as fine as oat flour but they should be mostly broken down. This should only take a few seconds.

Blended oats in a food processor.

Step 2. Add the rest of the ingredients and process into a thick dough.

You have a couple of ingredients for mixing the dough. If you have a large food processor you can toss everything in and pulse a few times to combine.

If not, add the dates to the oats and blend to combine, then transfer to a mixing bowl and mix with the rest of the ingredients.

Crumbly dough with hemp seeds in a square baking dish.

Firmly press the dough into a baking pan, bake, cool for 15 minutes then slice and enjoy!

A knife cutting into bars in a baking dish.

Notes

  • Storage: Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freeze in a container or freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.
  • Tahini: Can be substituted with peanut butter, almond butter or sunflower seed butter.
  • I would recommend lining your baking dish with parchment paper for easy removal.
A hand picking up a baked tahini bar from a stack on a marble surface.

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Stack of baked tahini bars on a mobile surface.

Tahini Hemp Seed Bars

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 16 reviews
  • Author: Deryn Macey
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 16
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

These crowd-pleasing homemade nut and seed bars have the most amazing, chewy texture and sweet, nutty flavour. You will love these for a healthy dessert or snack anytime!


Ingredients


Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  2. Place the oats in a food processor or high-speed blender and pulse a few times to create a grainy oat flour. I prefer to use a food processor here.
  3. You have a couple of options for mixing the rest of the ingredients. If you have a large food processor, add everything to the oats and blend until fully combined. If not, you can add the dates to the oats and blend to combine, then transfer to a bowl and mix in the rest of the ingredients by hand. 
  4. Prepare a 7-8 inch square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray or line with parchment paper so it sticks out over the edge. Parchment is best so you can easily lift the bars out of the pan once baked.
  5. Press the dough into the pan, taking a few minutes to press it into all corners and getting it as flat as you can.
  6. Bake for 30 minutes then let cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes. Slice into 16 squares and carefully lift out of the pan. If you used parchment paper, you can lift the whole thing out the pan and slice on a cutting board.

Notes

Storage: Let cool then store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freezer for up to 3 months.

Tahini: Sub with peanut butter, almond butter or sunflower seed butter.


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 bar
  • Calories: 200
  • Sugar: 15 g
  • Fat: 10 g
  • Carbohydrates: 24 g
  • Fiber: 4 g
  • Protein: 5 g

Update Note: Originally published August 15, 2016. Updated with new photos and text February 2020.