The Nourishing Home

living healthier lives in service to the King!

  • Home
  • About
    • About TNH
    • Contact
  • Meal Planning
  • Health & Wellness
    • Real Food Basics
  • Whole30
  • GF Recipes
    • Whole30
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Entrées
    • Slow Cooker
    • Soups & Stews
    • Sides & Salads
    • Snacks
    • Desserts
    • Kids in the Kitchen
  • My Cookbook
  • Subscribe

Fruit & Nut Bars in a Jar (GF)

By Kelly · 17 Comments

Fruit & Nut Bars-in-a-Jar

One of my most popular recipes this year, these mock-KIND fruit & nut bars are not only healthy and delicious, they also make a beautiful, thoughtful homemade gift-in-a-jar! I simply modified the recipe a bit so the ingredients fit nicely into a one pint mason jar.

So delicious – and chock-full of protein and healthy nutrients – this beautiful gift will most certainly be appreciated (and devoured) by your favorite health nuts. (silly pun intended) 

For another great grain-free gift idea, check out “Grain-Free Cookie Dough Bites in a Jar.”

Grain-Free Fruit & Nut Bars-in-a-Jar Gift

Simply layer the ingredients in a wide-mouth one-pint (2 cup) mason jar in the following order:

Rough Chopped Nuts• 1/2 cup rough-chopped unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries (or cherries)
• 1 cup rough-chopped unsalted whole nuts of your choice
(I use: 1/2 cup almonds, 1/4 cup cashews and 1/4 cup pistachios)

As shown in photo at right, rough-chop the whole unsalted nuts first (as well as the dried fruit and coconut flakes). Then measure out the ingredients as noted above.

Note: If substituting any or all of the nuts with seeds (such as pepitas shown in photo above), there’s no need to rough chop them first.

In a small snack-size ziplock baggie, add:
• 1 tbsp, plus 1 tsp coconut flour (or ground flaxseed)
• Pinch of sea salt

The ziplock baggie should be sealed and folded. Then placed on top of the nut mix before sealing the jar.

Finishing the gift:
Cut out festive paper in circles the same size as the jar top; place paper on top of the circle seal and then screw the lid over the paper. Add decorative ribbon and a gift tag.

Be sure to include the baking instructions (see below).
I like to print the directions out and place them into the Christmas card we give along with the gift jar. To make it extra festive, I place both the card and gift jar in a recycled gift bag.

——————————–

Instructions for Making Fruit & Nut Bars
You will need the following ingredients to make these delicious & healthy grain-free Fruit & Nut Bars:

• 1/4 cup pure honey (mild honey such as sage or clover are best)
• 2 tsp all-natural nut butter (mild nut butters like almond or cashew are best)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Trim parchment paper to line a 9×5-inch loaf pan, leaving parchment paper to hang over the two shorter sides of the pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the honey and all-natural nut butter until smooth and creamy.

3. Next, dump the contents of the small packet inside the jar into the bowl and use a spoon to mix together until well blended. Then, dump the remainder of the jar’s contents into the bowl. Stir well until thoroughly combined.

4. 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.

5. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Then remove from oven and allow to cool on stovetop for approximately one hour (or until bottom of baking dish should is room temp).

6. Place in freezer to continue cooling. Once cold, but not frozen (about 20-30 minutes), remove dish from freezer. 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.

7. Cut into 5 bars and individually wrap and store in the fridge or freezer. (Bars are best kept cold in order to hold the bars shape.) Enjoy!

Storage: This gift-in-a-jar can be stored in the pantry for 3-4 weeks. Yield: 5 bars

You Might Also Like:

Apricot-Almond "KIND" Bars (GF)
Raw Cookie Dough Bites (GF)
Spiced Holiday Nuts {Easy & Delicious Homemade Gift-in-a-Jar}

Filed Under: Sweet ·

Comments

  1. Janet says

    December 9, 2013 at 6:54 am

    Wonderful! I love KIND Bars so this is going to be a treat to make (pun intended) Have a beautiful day and thanks for this recipe!!

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      December 9, 2013 at 9:45 am

      you are welcome, Janet! thanks for taking the time to be a blessing! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Jennifer Braaten says

    December 10, 2013 at 2:27 pm

    Just finished making these. They are delicious! I’m always looking for healthy, gluten-free snacks. Thanks so much.

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      December 10, 2013 at 4:09 pm

      Thanks for your kind words, Jennifer. I appreciate you taking time to be encouraging. So glad you all enjoyed these too. Blessings to you and your family for a Merry Christmas, Kelly 🙂

      Reply
  3. haley says

    December 17, 2013 at 7:02 pm

    Could these be made in a dehydrator?

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      December 17, 2013 at 7:08 pm

      I am sure they could, although I have not tried this, so I cannot give a specific temp and timeframe. If you do it via dehydrator, please let me know the results. Would love to share. Thank you, Haley! Blessings, Kelly 🙂

      Reply
  4. Mah-rya says

    December 18, 2013 at 10:19 pm

    I’m making these for my children’s teachers and I’m labeling the jars: “You are one of a KIND” bars. Thanks for the idea and recipe!

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      December 19, 2013 at 8:17 am

      That is AWESOME! Thank you for sharing. I hope you don’t mind, but I am totally sharing your idea on FB today! You are so KIND to take the time to share it. Merry Christmas to you and your family, Kelly 🙂

      Reply
  5. Cami Vorell says

    December 22, 2013 at 8:15 am

    Hi Kelly! Love your site and am eager to start meal planning utilizing your menu after the holidays. My family will be grateful! Thanks for blessing us with your passion and insight into how to nourish our families!

    I wanted to make these bars for a vegan family for Christmas but remembered they aren’t coconut lovers. Can these be made without the coconut? Is there another substitute for that?

    Thank you Kelly!

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      December 22, 2013 at 10:51 am

      Yes, I recommend replacing with half dried fruit, half nuts. Or you can use puffed millet or rice in place of the coconut (which is what is used in actual KIND bars). So glad the Lord has led you here and I look forward to getting to know you better! Blessings, Kelly 🙂

      Reply
  6. Kimberly says

    January 11, 2014 at 10:08 am

    Thank You Kelly for sharing your healthy and delicious recipes! We really appreciate your amazing talent to help others by teaching them the many ways to eat clean with homemade options vs. Store bought products that contain so many additives. You are a true blessing to so many. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      January 11, 2014 at 12:16 pm

      Thank you, Kimberly! I appreciate your kind words of encouragement! And so glad the Lord has made us neighbors! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Stephanie says

    December 11, 2014 at 4:50 am

    Hi Kelly, this recipe looks great! I love Kind bars so I’m excited to try this. One question I had- could I play around with the nut and fruit amounts a little? Maybe increase the amount of nuts and decrease the amount of dried fruit so I get a nuttier bar?

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      December 11, 2014 at 10:12 am

      Absolutely, Stephanie. Depending on how much you change the ratio of nuts to fruit, you may find you need to increase the glue (honey-coconut flour combo). Nuts, being larger and not as binding as fruit, may mean a little more glue is needed if the ratio changes too much. 🙂 Enjoy!

      Reply
  8. Lacy O says

    January 31, 2015 at 2:06 pm

    Okay, these are the BEST!! I have already made three varieties and they are all way better than KIND bars. Not too sweet and wonderfully chewy. Thank you so much! I have used your site multiple times and have always been delighted with my results.

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      January 31, 2015 at 6:27 pm

      Thanks, Lacy! So glad you’re enjoying the recipes. Thanks for taking the time to leave a kind note 🙂 (get it, kind note – hee hee!)

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Best Homemade Holiday Gifts-in-a-Jar - Keeper of the Home says:
    December 9, 2015 at 10:11 am

    […] Cookie Mix from Chocolate Covered Katie • Cookie Dough Bites (GF) from The Nourishing Home • Fruit & Nut Bars (GF) from The Nourishing Home • Granola Bars-in-a-Jar (GF) from Keeper of the Home (shown above) • […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.

My New Cookbook is Here!

Welcome to The Nourishing Home!

I’m so glad you’re here and want you to feel right at home! My heart in creating this blog is to help you by sharing helpful meal planning strategies and nourishing GF recipes that are healthy, easy and delicious with thanksgiving to God! [Read More …]







All content (recipes, photos, posts, etc.) on this site is the creative property of Kelly Smith. You are welcome to share a photo via social media, as long as it contains a link back to the corresponding recipe or post from this site. However, you may not republish a recipe in its entirety in any form. For questions, or for permission to use a photo or recipe, please contact me via email at [email protected] Thank you!

Please Note: All content (recipes, photos, text, etc.) on this site is the creative property of Kelly Smith of The Nourishing Home. You are welcome to share a photo via social media, as long as it contains a link back to the corresponding recipe from this site. However, re-publishing a recipe in any form is strictly prohibited. Additionally, please refrain from adapting recipes without properly linking back to the original recipe, and keep in mind that simple substitutions do not constitute an adapted or original recipe. For details regarding recipe copyright law, please visit the Food Blog Alliance.
The Nourishing Home is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Privacy Policy
DMCA.com

Copyright © 2023 · All Rights Reserved · The Nourishing Home · Artwork by Nancy Panaccione · Site Design by Deluxe Designs · Log in