Mildly sweet, with a hint of tangy goodness, these bars are a personal favorite. I must admit that I’ve been having a blast creating lots of variations of these scrumptious “KIND” inspired bars. I hope these recipes inspire you to get creative too – these little bars make it easy to find endless ways to making snacking healthy and FUN!
Looking for more great bars? Check out these:
• Original Everything Fruit & Nut Bar – the original bar that started my obsession
• Nut-Free “KIND” Bar – perfect for those with nut-allergies
• Cherry-Chocolate Chip Bar – chocolate chips, need I say more?
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup pure honey (I prefer sage honey due to its mild flavor)
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tbsp *all-natural almond butter
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- (not finely shredded coconut)
- 1 cup coarse-chopped unsalted almonds
- 1/3 cup coarse-chopped unsalted cashews
- 1/2 cup chopped dried organic apricots
(see **note below)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Trim parchment paper to line an 8×8-inch baking dish, leaving parchment paper to hang over two sides of the dish.
- In a large bowl, add the honey, coconut flour, all-natural almond butter and salt. Use a spoon to stir until well combined.
- On a large cutting board, coarse-chop a couple of large handfuls of whole almonds and measure out 1 cup. Then, coarse chop a handful or two of whole cashews and measure out 1/3 cup. Add the chopped nuts to the honey mixture.
- Next, chop the dried organic apricots and measure out 1/2 cup; add to the honey mixture.
- Finally, measure 1 cup of coconut flakes (not shredded coconut). Place coconut flakes on the cutting board and coarse-chop. Add chopped coconut flakes to honey mixture.
- Using a spoon, mix ingredients together making sure they are thoroughly combined.
- Place the bar mixture into the parchment-lined baking dish. Fold overlapping flaps down and evenly press the top of the bar mixture firmly to pack-in the ingredients so they hold together better after baking. Then, peel back the parchments flaps from top of bars. (Do not trim, as the flaps make it easier to remove the bars after baking.)
- Bake for 20 minutes. Then remove from oven and allow to completely cool on stovetop for approximately one hour (or until bottom of baking dish is room temp).
- Place in fridge to continue cooling. (Do not freeze as it makes it impossible to cut the bars without them crumbling.) Once cold, remove dish from refrigerator. Then, run a knife along the two edges without parchment. Using the parchment paper ends, lift the bars from the baking dish and place on a cutting board.
- Cut into 8 bars and individually wrap and store in the fridge or freezer. Then you can easily take out what you need and place directly into your child’s lunchbox (or yours) – no need to thaw. However, for best results, bars should be kept cold so they do not become over-sticky. Simply include an ice pack, if placing them in a lunchbox, or taking them on the go.
Notes
*You can use any all-natural nut butter you choose, just be sure it’s simply ground nuts without additives for best results and nutrition.
**Most dried fruits are treated with sulfur dioxide, so if you wish to avoid this preservative, be sure to purchase unsulfured organic dried fruits, or conventional dried fruits specifically labeled as sulfur dioxide free.
P.S. Note about the glamour shot – I used traditional dried apricots for the photoshoot only since they have more photogenic appeal than their dark prune-color sulfur-free counterparts. Yet, make no mistake, I highly recommend using sulfur dioxide free dried fruits, particularly if you have respiratory issues or sulfite allergies. Dried fruits are among the foods highest in sulfites. The best bet for avoiding sulfites in dried fruits is to purchase organic only, or look for dried fruits specifically labeled “sulfur dioxide free,” “unsulfured,” or “sulfite-free.”
I’ve just finished making a batch of these and had to restrain from eating the mix before putting them in the oven. Very delicious – thanks for sharing!
You are so welcome. Apologies for not thanking you sooner for your kind comment! Blessings, Kelly
These are delicious! They taste just like the KIND bars, even though I substituted pistachios for the cashews so I wouldn’t have to go to the store before the ice storm. Thank you for this recipe!
You are so welcome, Lori! Thanks for taking the time to leave a “kind” note. LOL! And wow, an ice storm?? Maybe you should be making hot soup and tea! 🙂
Howdy!! My poor husband, oddly is severely allergic to coconut!!! It causes his eczema to go crazy. So my question is I have to a skip the coconut flakes all together should I sub them for something? Any suggestions?
Hi, Brittany. The coconut flour helps hold the bars together, but you can substitute using ground flax seed. As far as the shredded coconut, you could try substituting with more dried fruit and nuts in place of it. Since I haven’t developed a coconut-free version, I’d have to experiment. But perhaps an additional, 1/3 to 1/2 cup of finely chopped nuts and 1/3 cup of chopped fruit could substitute. If you try it – please let us know the result. Blessings, Kelly
Do I need to add water to the ground flaxseed?
No, it’s not being used as an egg substitute, just as a replacement binder if you prefer not to use coconut flour. 🙂
I’d love to make these only… I HATE coconut! How important are these coconut flakes? Is there something else I can use? I do LOVE. The cranberry almond version of these bars and would love to make my own.
Hi, Robyn. Yes, you can omit the coconut flakes and increase the nuts and dried fruit. But only replace with about 1/2 – 3/4 cup (not one whole cup or the bar will be too dry). Also, you can omit the coconut flour as well and use ground flaxseed instead if you do not care for coconut flour. Enjoy! 🙂
Thank you for the quick reply!
I’m not sure I understand what you mean. Are you saying omit the flakes and up the amount by 1/2 cup of fruit and nuts? Does coconut flour have a coconut taste? I’ve never used it before. I’m very new at this. But I’m trying to change our family’s eating habits and I love these bars!
Hi, Robyn. Apologies for the confusion. Yes, omit the coconut flakes, but instead of replacing them with 1 cup of chopped dried fruit and/or nuts, you will want to only replace with 1/2 to 3/4 cups otherwise the mixture will be too dry. So in other words, you could replace the 1 cup of coconut flake with 1/4 cup of additional chopped nuts and 1/4 cup of additional chopped dried fruit, or just use 1/2 cup chopped nuts, if you don’t want to add extra fruit. Hopefully I am making sense.
With regard to coconut flour, if you don’t care for the flavor of coconut there is no sense buying coconut flour because it does have a faint coconut flavor that those who dislike coconut can often pick up on. So instead use the same amount of ground flax seed instead, as flax seed will work just fine as the binder.
Enjoy! Blessings, Kelly 🙂
I just recently found Kind bars, and like them so much, I am thrilled to find your recipes. One question: should nuts be roasted or raw or does it matter? Thanks!
Hi, Judy. It doesn’t matter too much – really depends on you. The raw will be chewier and the roasted will be crunchier. But just be sure to use unsalted nuts. Hope you enjoy these as much as we do! Blessings, Kelly 🙂
Goodness these are devine and a great way to use up leftover dried fruits and nuts. Thanks
Excellent point, Terri! Thanks for taking the time to leave a kind note! Blessings, Kelly 🙂
How would you modify this recipe to use maple syrup instead of honey? Can you just sub or do you need to do something else as well?
Hi, Rachel. My concern with maple syrup is the viscosity – the purpose of the honey in this bar is to provide a glue-like effect. If you opt for maple syrup, I would recommend using less and adding an extra tablespoon of nut butter. I haven’t tried it myself, so you will be embarking on an experiment. 🙂
I made the Apricot-Almond bar and it is DELICIOUS!
I blogged about it and named you and your recipe as the source (you certainly deserve the credit). I hope that was appropriate. https://congestedthoughts.wordpress.com/be-kind/
Hi, Julie! You shared with such respect in pointing your readers here for the recipe. Thank you so much! I’m so happy you enjoyed them. It’s always an honor to create recipes that others enjoy! Thank you for your kindness (no pun intended!) LOL! 🙂
A quick question.. I priced out the ingredients to make these and it comes to over $1 per bar. I know you mentioned they were cheaper than the KIND version, which sell at my local store for $1.49. Am I missing something on ingredients cost, do you have a secret supplier (ha)? But seriously… curious what your cost per bar is.
Hi, Kathy. These run about .95¢ to $1.25 to make (depending on the nuts and dried fruits used) so they are slightly less in cost than store bought, but the real value of these bars is that the ingredients are pure whole foods (not processed ingredients). As far as how to save money, if you purchase nuts in bulk, that drives costs down. I below to the Azure co-op which does provide nuts in bulk. Of course there are online sources for bulk nuts as well. I hope this helps to clarify. Blessings, Kelly 🙂