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 Grain-Free Bars

By Kelly · 36 Comments

How to Make KIND Fruit & Nut Bars (Grain Free).jpg

Inspired by my affinity for KIND Fruit & Nut Bars, this honey-sweetened, grain-free version is less expensive to make than purchasing its namesake. And even better, you can customize the recipe to make a wide variety of flavor-combinations based on your own personal taste preferences (and your kids too)!

These fruit & nut grain-free bars make a great health lunchbox addition for kids and adults alike, and are also the perfect snack bar for healthy eating on-the-go or anytime you need a quick energy boost!

Fruit & Nut Mock KIND Bars.jpg

Looking for more great bars? Check out these:
• Nut-Free “KIND” Bar – perfect for those with nut-allergies
• Cherry-Chocolate Chip Bar – chocolate chips, need I say more?
• Apricot-Almond Crunch Bar – mildly sweet, tangy & delicious!

EverydayGrainFreeBakingThis delightful recipe is just one of more than 100 irresistible grain-free, dairy-free recipes in my new cookbook – Everyday Grain-Free Baking!

From breads, biscuits and muffins to savory snacks and decadent treats, you’ll find step-by-step instructions, beautiful color photographs and helpful tips & tidbits to make all of your GF baking adventures a delicious success!

Click here to get a SNEAK PEEK of the book!

Print
Fruit & Nut Grain-Free Bars

Yield: 8 bars

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup pure honey (mild honey such as clover is best)
  • 2 tablespoons coconut flour
  • 1 tablespoon *all-natural almond butter
  • 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 1/3 cups chopped whole *nuts
  • 1/2 cup chopped dried fruit
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (not finely shredded coconut)

Instructions

  1. 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.
  2. In a large bowl, add the honey, coconut flour, all-natural nut butter and salt. Use a spoon to stir until well combined.
  3. On a large cutting board, coarse-chop a couple of large handfuls of assorted whole nuts (see note below). Measure out 1 1/3 cup of the chopped nuts and add them to the honey mixture.
  4. Next, chop the dried fruit and measure out 1/2 cup and add to the honey mixture.
  5. 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.
  6. Using a spoon, mix ingredients together making sure they are thoroughly combined.
  7. 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.)
  8. 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).
  9. 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.
  10. 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 combination of nuts, such almonds, cashews, pistachios, peanuts, etc. Just be sure to rough-chop the nuts first and then measure out 1 1/3 cups. (Soaked and dehydrated nuts are best, especially for those with digestive issues.)

What nuts do I use? The bars in the photo are made by using 1/2 cup rough-chopped almonds, 1/2 cup rough-chopped cashews and 1/3 cup rough-chopped pistachios.

The same goes for dried fruit – rough-chop any combination of dried fruit you choose and then measure out 1/2 cup. (I use a combination of dried cranberries and dried wild blueberries.)

And finally, 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. I use all-natural creamy almond butter.

What if I don't care for coconut? You can omit the coconut flakes and replace with additional chopped nuts and dried fruit. Substitute 1/3 to 1/2 cup of chopped nuts and 1/3 cup of chopped dried fruit. (Please note: If you substitute with an additional whole cup of nuts the bars will be too dry). Also, you can omit the coconut flour as well and replace it with ground flaxseed. Enjoy!

3.1
https://thenourishinghome.com/2014/05/mock-kind-fruit-nut-grain-free-bars/

Disclosure: The above recipe ingredient links are amazon affiliate links. By purchasing via these links The Nourishing Home receives a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. Of course, you are not obligated to use these links to make a purchase, but if you do, please know that it helps to support this site and ministry. Thank you!

You Might Also Like:

Double Chocolate Banana Bars
Fruit and Raw Cheese Kabobs (GF)
Fruit & Yogurt Parfaits (GF)

Filed Under: Savory, Snacks, Sweet ·

Comments

  1. Kristina says

    May 19, 2014 at 8:24 am

    Hi Kelly,
    I noticed you don’t mention anything about soaking the nuts here. (Other sites do, as far as I can remember.) Do you not worry about it for nuts? Having just recently become aware of the need for soaking, and barely managing to soak our brown rice now, it would be lovely not to worry about it for nuts, but aren’t at least some of them fairly high in phytates as well?
    Thanks for the informative blog and your efforts in this regard,
    Kristina

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      May 19, 2014 at 8:44 am

      Hi, Kristina. You are correct. I talk about soaking a lot on this site, yet neglected to mention it in this recipe. So I added a note in the ‘recipe notes’ section.

      So yes, I do advocate soaking based on phytic acid research discussed by WAPF. You can read an overview I wrote of Rami Nagel’s white paper here: http://thenourishinghome.com/2012/03/how-to-soak-grains-for-optimal-nutrition/

      However, I will say that it’s all about balance and what your health issues are. Over-comsumption of nuts (even soaked) is probably not a good idea. Striving for a well balanced nutrient-dense real food diet is always best. But my goal here is to not pursue healthy eating to the point of it becoming a completely restrictive lifestyle where we stress out over everything we’re eating. That leads to food becoming an idol that we’re serving rather than food serving us. Hopefully that makes sense.

      So as much as my family strives to make good choices about what we eat, I do believe in balance and grace and trusting in the Lord first and foremost for our health. Thanks for taking the time to point out my oversight. I do appreciate it! 🙂
      Blessings to you, Kelly

      Reply
      • Kristina says

        May 19, 2014 at 9:25 am

        Thanks for the reply, Kelly! The last thing I meant to do is to point out an oversight on your part. Sorry if it came across that way. And thanks for the reminder about keeping it in perspective. 🙂
        Being a newcomer to soaking, I am a bit overwhelmed by it all, and trying to find ways to integrate all this new information into my kitchen practices. I have tried soaking a few seeds and almonds so far, but they do seem to lose some crunch and appeal in the process. 🙁
        I’ll reread your summary of the white paper. It’s already been a few weeks and I may have forgotten parts of it already. Thanks for pointing me back to the basics, Kristina

        Reply
        • Kelly says

          May 19, 2014 at 4:48 pm

          Oh no worries, I was serious about thanking you. I appreciate it when readers point out errors or things I’ve missed. I welcome it! And hopefully, I didn’t sound too preachy. My point is only exactly what you said – not to allow our desire to eat healthier to become overwhelming or a burden. 🙂 Blessings to you, Kelly

          Reply
          • Kathleen says

            November 11, 2015 at 7:03 am

            I’m about to try your recipe and saw this comment string. I actually had to chuckle.
            My motto has become “I’m not going to stress over un-soaked nuts!”. It’s a long story, but really it came down to a choice my sweet, now gone 🙁 , MIL was worried about when she had a bowl of raw, un-soaked almonds and a bowl of asian snack mix (the kind with sesame sticks and cornstarch-laden rice crackers) in front of her. At that moment I decided that stressing about un-soaked nuts would do more damage to my body than any un-soaked nut ever would. So if I have time to soak my nuts, GREAT! If not, I will happily stress free, choose nuts over many other snacks. 🙂

          • Kelly says

            November 20, 2015 at 2:10 pm

            Couldn’t agree with you more! 🙂 If nuts are a small part of a healthy diet, there really isn’t reason to stress! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to leave a kind note that reminds us that stress is just as bad for us as unhealthy foods! It’s all about balance! 🙂

      • Mary says

        August 17, 2015 at 11:29 am

        Hi Kelly, I recently made this recipe. I did soak the nuts but don’t have a dehydrator. I just dried them as much as I could on paper towels for a day before using them. My bars looked and tasted great but when I tried to cut them after baking & sitting in the fridge over night they fell apart. I used all the quantities you suggested. I also replaced the coconut flour with flax as one of your suggestions. What do you think went wrong? Maybe less honey would help? Was 20 min enough baking time? Or do I need a dehydrator to dry the nuts out first if I’m gonna soak them? I also loved your reply on the to soak or not to soak question. I also am just learning all this stuff too and it can become too much of a pain and obsession to get caught up in all the details of healthy eating that you lose the joy and simplicity. Thanks for your help!

        Reply
        • Kelly says

          August 18, 2015 at 12:31 pm

          Hi, Mary. Yes, you are correct, you must be sure to use dry nuts or the bars will not hold together properly because moisture from soaking will leech out as they sit making the bars fall apart. So if you want to use soaked nuts, it’s important to be sure to either roast them in the oven afterward until crispy – you can use your oven as a dehydrator by setting it at it’s lowest setting (which is 200 degrees for most ovens) and baking the soaked nuts for several hours, turning them about every hour until they are completely crispy/dry. Personally, as I noted in the recipe, because we are only eating these as a snack and nuts are not a large portion of our daily diets, I don’t bother with soaking. I just use unsalted roasted nuts. So these recipes should work beautifully with either raw nuts or roasted nuts. So if you want to soak, then it’s important to ensure you oven roast or dehydrate the soaked nuts until they are completely crispy. I hope your next batch is a winner! Blessings to you, Kelly 🙂

          Reply
  2. Donna Read says

    July 8, 2014 at 5:08 am

    Hi Kelly, can I use Coconut oil instead of almond butter, in the bars.

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      July 8, 2014 at 12:39 pm

      Hi, Donna. Coconut oil will not enable the bars to hold together. If you cannot do some type of nut butter, you can use sunflower seed butter instead. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Camille says

    December 4, 2014 at 6:37 am

    Hello.
    We dont have coconut flour. What can I replace the flour for?

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      December 4, 2014 at 9:35 am

      Hi, Camille. I think you probably already figured this out based on your other comment on the Apricot-Almond KIND Bars … but you can use ground flax instead of coconut flour to act as a binding agent so the honey is more stablized when baking. 🙂 But let me know if you have any other question? Enjoy! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Caitlin says

    December 16, 2014 at 9:16 am

    Hi – do you have the calorie count per bar?

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      December 16, 2014 at 9:31 am

      Hi, Caitlin. I don’t count calories, but you could easily get that information as well as a complete nutritional breakdown on any recipe you’d like by using an online nutrition calculator like this one: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator Hope this helps! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Julie says

    January 22, 2015 at 10:17 am

    This may have been asked already but I’m unable to see any comments using mobile. I am allergic to coconut and wonder what you suggest in place of the flour.

    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      January 22, 2015 at 12:23 pm

      Hi, Julie. No worries. You can use ground flax seed in place of the coconut flour since the flour is used to help bind the honey to the nuts. Enjoy! These are super easy and tasty!

      Reply
  6. Zoe says

    April 15, 2015 at 8:58 pm

    I made these a few days ago and they turned out GREAT! Absolutely beautiful, no crumble-age, and a perfect firm and chewy texture despite the fact that I used shredded coconut instead of flaked.
    My only qualm was that I found them a bit too sweet for my palate. Maybe I’m also just not a big enough honey fan. I’m all for natural and unrefined sweeteners and I appreciate honey’s ability to bing these bars together, but I was hoping you might have a suggestion for decreasing the sweetness.
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      April 15, 2015 at 9:36 pm

      Hi, Zoe. Thanks for your kind note. So glad you’re enjoying this recipe. I do have a suggestion. First, the type of honey used can impact the sweetness factor. I use clover or sage honey for that reason, because they are milder in flavor. But you can reduce the honey in the recipe to 3-4 tbsp instead and add an extra tbsp of nut butter (so that would be 2 tbsp of nut butter instead). This should help the bars to maintain the right balance of moisture and yet reduce their sweetness. I haven’t tried this, but believe it should work just fine. If you give it try, please let us know how it turns out. Thanks again! Blessings, Kelly 🙂

      Reply
  7. Kathy says

    April 19, 2015 at 7:58 pm

    Hi Kelly! I’m interested in making Fruit and Nut Grain-Free Bars for my husband to take with him to work. However, he does not care for the texture of coconut flakes. I noticed the recipes for your varieties of bars all contain 1 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes. Can you suggest a substitute to replace the coconut flakes (other than oatmeal which he also does not care for)? Could I just leave out the1 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes and replace by increasing the amount of the other fruit and/or nuts? TIA

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      April 19, 2015 at 8:49 pm

      Hi, Kathy. Yes, you are exactly right, you can replace the coconut with a combination of nuts and fruits. They will have a different texture and may be a little crumblier, but should still be delicious! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Yen says

    August 13, 2015 at 2:50 am

    Hi! I am really interested in your recipe as this looks really great! May I know what is the purpose of adding sea salt? can I leave out the salt? Also, what is the size of the cup that you used to measure the ingredients (or do you have the approximate weights for each ingredients)? Million thanks!

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      August 14, 2015 at 12:01 pm

      Hi, Yen. My pleasure to help. The sea salt is optional. It’s there to enhance the flavor. As far as the cup, I’m using U.S. measurements which are based on 1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup, etc. measuring cups. If you do not have measuring cups available in your area, this conversion tool may be helpful: http://convert-to.com/594/almonds-amounts-measures-and-nutritional-facts-table-for-almonds.html I cannot give you the weight, since I don’t use a scale for measuring. I hope you enjoy this recipe. Blessings, Kelly 🙂

      Reply
  9. Mantlo M. says

    January 31, 2016 at 3:44 am

    I love the bars. I’ve done them a few time playing with different fruits, nuts and seeds. Great everytime. My family can’t get enough of them.

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      February 1, 2016 at 6:48 pm

      Thanks for your “kind” note! 🙂 Seriously, I appreciate you taking the time to leave a sweet note. I’m so happy to hear that you and your family are enjoying this recipe! 🙂

      Reply
  10. Laura says

    May 18, 2016 at 7:36 pm

    I just made a double batch on the first go- around as I knew they would be delicious! And they were! Thank you for such a great recipe!

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      June 6, 2016 at 12:38 pm

      Thanks so much for your kind words, Laura! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the recipe. I appreciate you taking the time to leave a kind note! With blessings, Kelly

      Reply
  11. Jen says

    July 31, 2016 at 3:57 pm

    Wow, this recipe is awesome! Have made it three times now, and i’ve mixed it up each time: pine nuts, cashews, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, cashews, dates, apricots, raisins, sunflower seed butter, almond butter–always delicious. Definitely double this recipe–I put them in a 13×9 inch foil pain, and flattened them out with a potato masher over the parchment paper, added 7 minutes to the cooking time, and it was perfect–they go very quickly. I am thinking that these would be a nice holiday teacher gift/hostess gift.

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      August 28, 2016 at 2:17 pm

      I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe, Jen. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a kind note! God bless you! 🙂

      Reply
  12. Yulia says

    November 4, 2016 at 6:41 pm

    Hello, can I make this into a protein bar by adding pea protein for example? Also can I add steelcut oats and sesame seeds? One batch is cooling now :-)))
    Thanks plenty for the recipies

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      November 10, 2016 at 12:11 pm

      Hi, Yulia. You can of course add to this recipe, but you’ll be experimenting so I cannot guarantee the results. The key will be making sure that you have enough binding with the wet ingredients to compensate for the dry ingredients you’re adding (especially if adding oats). I wish you the best in your bar making adventures! 🙂 Kelly

      Reply
  13. Dawn says

    April 3, 2017 at 11:33 am

    Can I substitute Agave for the honey?

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      April 5, 2017 at 1:07 pm

      Hi, Dawn, I haven’t tried it with Agave, but if you use a thick variety, I imagine it should work just fine. 🙂

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Healthy-On-the-Go Summer Snacks | Live Simply says:
    June 8, 2014 at 6:44 pm

    […] Grain-Free Fruit & Nut “Kind Bars” from The Nourishing Home […]

    Reply
  2. 101 Homemade, Healthy After-School Snack Ideas - The Humbled Homemaker says:
    August 17, 2014 at 8:15 pm

    […] 23. Grain-Free Fruit & Nut “Kind” Bars (GF, DF, vegan) @ The Nourishing Home […]

    Reply
  3. 5 "Healthy" Back To School Lunch Foods NOT to Pack - Back To The Book Nutrition says:
    September 8, 2014 at 6:22 am

    […] Fruit and Nut Grain Free Bars Recipe […]

    Reply
  4. 50+ Paleo Kids Lunch Ideas - Life Made Full says:
    February 17, 2016 at 6:08 am

    […] Fruit & Nut “Kind” Bars from The Nourishing Home […]

    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 © 2025 · All Rights Reserved · The Nourishing Home · Artwork by Nancy Panaccione · Site Design by Deluxe Designs · Log in