Heavenly chia date bars that are deliciously good for you! A decadent raw bar rich in natural sweetness from Medjool dates!
These easy raw chia date bars take as little as 10 minutes to make! They are chewy, soft, crunchy and make the perfect superfood energy pick-me-up after a workout or first thing in the morning! Plus perfect for a Paleo, vegan and gluten-free lifestyle:-) Dates have amazing health benefits are a wonderful way to naturally sweeten foods. Be sure to check out this post on medjool dates and try making date caramel with any of the leftover fruit.
Raise your hand if you like bars! I'm not talking about a drinking bar, I'm talking about a healthy, chewy treat that actually does the body good! If these date bars could talk, they would say please enjoy me every single day! These date bars are so chewy and delicious, especially for when you have a major sweet tooth craving! It is a bar with so many satisfactory levels in texture and sweetness without refined sugars!
Word on the street is that dates are incredibly healthy! They have a natural high sugar content so you probably don't want more than a few per day. Dates natural sugar is perfect for sweetening up baked goods, homemade granola bars, and turned into sweet dips and spreads.
Health benefits
Dates are a wonderful source of fiber and aid in digestion. They relieve constipation, heart problems, anemia, intestinal disorders, abdominal cancer, strengthens bones, prevents night blindness and relieves hangovers and intoxication (so if you've hit up one too many “bars” these “bars” are for you!)!!! Dates also help with allergies, maintains the nervous system, boosts energy and so much more!
Nutritionally, they contain iron, sulfur, manganese, copper, calcium, phosphorus and potassium which are all essential to maintaining good health. They also contain vitamins such as thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, vitamin A, and vitamin K.
How to make these bars
Date bars are one of our favorite knock-offs of delicious Lara Bars. It takes a few natural plant based vegan ingredients tossed in the food processor and Ta-Da! Easy bars to snack on ready in minutes! Here are the details:
- First add the nuts, chia seeds and dates into the food processor. Then add extra flavoring of vanilla, cinnamon and unrefined coconut oil. Unrefined coconut oil adds a slight naturally sweet coconut flavor as to using refined coconut oil which has no flavor.
- This is the fun part! Blend the ingredients on high for about 1-2 minutes. I like to make the nuts pretty smooth so there is less crunch for my kids. Make it how you like!
- Dump the mixture onto a square baking pan lined with wax paper. It may not stick together at this point but once you touch it it will form a dough ball easily. Form a ball to get everything to stick together then press it down evenly to fill the square. It will be pretty thin. You can also form the date bars into thicker bars using a smaller pan or doubling the recipe.
This date bar recipe can also be turned into energy balls by simply rolling the dough into 1 inch balls! We love to make it both ways and Big C loves his with a sprinkle of pyramid salt on top.
PIN IT!
Let me know when you make it by tagging me on Instagram @delightfulmomfood with a hashtag #delightfulmomfood. I love to see what you are doing in your kitchen!
Enjoy!
Chia Date Bars
Ingredients
- 23 dates pitted
- ¾ cup raw cashews
- ⅔ cup raw almonds
- ¼ cup chia seeds
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon unrefined coconut oil
- pinch of Himalayan salt
- pyramid salt optional
Instructions
- Prepare a square baking dish by putting wax paper or parchment paper over it.
- In a food processor add the pitted dates, cashews, almonds, chia seeds, vanilla, cinnamon, coconut oil and a pinch of salt.
- Process on high for 1-2 minutes or until the nuts are pretty small. You can make this with larger nuts by blending on less time or smaller creamier nuts and consistency by blending longer.
- Pour the "dough" mixture in the prepared baking pan. Press down with your hands to spread the date nut mixture out evenly. The mixture will be thin, or use half the pan for thicker bars.
- Chill to set before slicing. Optional to garnish with pyramid salt. Store in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
More Healthy, Gluten-Free, No-Bake Homemade Bars You Might Like:
Chewy 5-Ingredient No Bake Peanut Butter Bars
Arja Brown says
These are my favorite nutritional bars. The only complaint I have is that they tend to be crumbly. I usually use walnuts instead of cashews because that’s what I have in hand.
Danielle Fahrenkrug says
Thanks Arja! Try blending them longer or adding 1 teaspoon of coconut oil at a time to bind. Cashews tend to be creamier when blended so the coconut oil may help.