Nut Free Snack Bars

Let’s face it, a lot of schools are going nut free these days.  As a mom of a child with many food allergies, I totally get it.  That’s why I am trying to create some nut free snacks.  This one came out real good and it is so simple to make!

Nut Free Bars FG watermark

They were a hit with my daughter and husband.  One of the other great things about this bar is that it is only fruit sweetened.  No added sugar at all!  It almost reminds me of an apple cinnamon KIND bar.  I cooked mine for a few minutes, but I almost thing they can be made raw too.

Nut Free Snack Bars

Nut Free Snack Bars

Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 10 min

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350. 
  2. Mix the cereal, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, vanilla bean and sea salt in one bowl
  3. In the food processor , mix the apples, dates and water until a syrup forms.  It will be slightly thick. 
  4. Get a sheet or parchment paper a little larger than the size of your pan, so you have some hanging out the sides.  I used an odd sized pan.  I think it was a 5X13?  A standard 8X8 pan will work just fine.
  5. Once the syrup forms, add that to the dry mixture and mix well. 
  6. Once everything is mixed, transfer the mixture to your baking pan. 
  7. Make sure the parchment is lining the pan first. 
  8. Once everything is in the pan,  press the mixture down firmly. 
  9. Bake for about 10 minutes. 
  10. When it cools, remove the bars from the pan by grabbing the parchment paper sides. 
  11. Cut into bars or squares with a pizza cutter .

by

Recipe Notes

I got about 10 bars out of my batch. These should last a week or two. You can even freeze them for longer storage.

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37 thoughts to “Nut Free Snack Bars”

  1. You are so right about the need to find snacks that are nut-free so they can be sent to school. All of the classrooms at my kids' school have a "Nut-Free Zone" sign posted outside the door. So many granola bars have nuts, though, so this is a great idea! Thanks, Melissa!
  2. Couple of questions. Are these crunchy or chewy? Also, I have everything I need for these in the house already, except for the dried apples. Can you recommend a sub for them? More dates, or raisins, perhaps? I'd love to make them for a field trip we are doing tomorrow! Thanks:) [Love your site and recipes!!]
  3. These sound great! For myself I would have to add protein powder, which hopefully would not mess them up. I really like the fact that these have no added sugar.
      1. Thanks for the tip. I use whey powder, and have been amazed at the way it dissolves in anything. I'll add more water if needed.
  4. I appreciate you sharing these nut-free snacks. My kids don't have allergies and are not required to take nut-free lunches at this time. However, they have kids with peanut allergies in their classroom and are required to take nut-free snacks to the classroom. So many of our favorite snacks include peanut butter. This recipe will help us to have some variety will keeping the entire class safe.
    1. No problem at all. My older daughter has a child with nut allergies in her class this year, so I will probably make more of these in the future.
  5. Just made these this afternoon - I had to add more water to achieve the "syrup" but they came together nicely - I also added some raisins. I had not read the blog to see that they are chewy rather than crispy which is definitely the case. Sometimes in the evening when we want something sweet I will take a couple of bars and put them in the toaster oven to crisp them up a bit - turning them part way through. That does work well. But chewy is good too! Very good flavor.
    1. I haven't been able to find the ground vanilla beans anywhere but Amazon. One of my readers said that they found them at Marshalls once though.
    1. I'm sorry, I don't have the nutritional info, but I think if you plug the ingredients into caloriecount.com, you can figure it out.
  6. These sound great but we are fructose, dairy, gluten & soy free. Can you suggest alternative to fruit as well? My little one is in kinder & my eldest is in prep at school so nut free is on our radar but cooking fructose free too is impossible! I would love to make our own muesli bars as the fruitb& nut free in shops are soo expensive!
    1. Can you use sunflower seeds? That may work, but it will change the taste a bit. I think they still could be good if you use sunflower butter.
  7. I tried making these this afternoon, but they turned out a little mushy :( I don't know where I went wrong exactly, but I knew it wouldn't be good when the rice cereal started snap and crackling. I used a nutrabullet to mix apples, dates and water. I added the water very slowly in a few increments. It was either a chunky mixture that wouldn't blend all the way or thick but gooey- never syrupy like maple syrup or honey. I am leaving them in the the oven on a low heat hoping they might dry out a little, but I think it may be a lost cause. Suggestions?
  8. Hi Melissa! I have everything to make these bars for my kids except for the dates...can I use organic raisins instead? How much should I use? Thanks!!!
    1. The dates help with the binding. I'm not sure if raisins will work? Do you have sunflower butter? I bet you could use that.
      1. I do! Perfect! Thanks for the awesome recipes I absolutely love your site! As a family of vegetarians - gluten free - nut free it is sometimes difficult to find awesome recipes that are super healthy and delicious and fit within out dietary preferences and needs!!
        1. Thanks Mari! I hope you enjoy these. If there is ever a recipe you want to make of mine that contains nuts, just ask and I would be happy to help you make it nut free. :)

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