Apricot-lemon & chocolate-nut butter snack bars – which would you choose? I would take both, no doubt about it 🙂 The apricot-lemon flavor is so zingy and fresh with a creamy lemony filling and the chocolate-nut butter is crunchy and chocolatey with a lush nut butter filling. Flavorwise very different, but equally delicious and made with very similar ingredients.Â
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These are pretty wholesome snack bars, but definitely more on the dessert-snack side. That’s the way we love our snacks! Here are some tips on how to make your own and don’t miss the recipe for these yummy bars below!
Tips for making snack bars
- Use dates, apricots, raisins and even dried berries (like cranberries) as a sweetener and as the basic ingredient for snack bars. Dried fruit give a lovely chewy and soft consistency to snacks.
- Dried fruit together with nuts, seeds, oats (or other grains) are a great base for a snack bar. You can use whatever nuts and seeds you have in your pantry, don’t be afraid to experiment 🙂 My top tip is to leave some nuts and seeds very coarse to give a lovely crunchy texture to the bars.
- I prefer nut butter, coconut butter or coconut oil or a mixture of all of these to keep the snack bar batter together. But don’t use too much, as it will get too oily. My tip is to start with 1 tbsp, then blend, and add more if the batter isn’t sticky enough. If you don’t use oils, just use nut or seed butters. They’re my favorite ingredients!
- To give the bars extra flavor, add Ceylon cinnamon, ground cardamom, vanilla, cacao powder or any other spices you wish. Again, don’t be afraid to experiment! I even added chili flakes to my chocolate snack bars once and they were heavenly (not very child-friendly though, my kids dislike very spicy foods). Also remember to add a pinch or two of salt! Salt is what binds the flavors together, and it brings out the sweetness of food.
- If you want your snack bars to be even more like dessert, add more sweetness. Maple / date / coconut syrup are my preferred snack bar sweeteners. You can also add a filling to your bars like I did and I swear it brings your snacks to a whole new delicious level! The filling also freezes well, and it’s an amazing chilled treat in the summer time
So what are you waiting for? Let’s get your blender rolling 🙂
♥ Tiina
Apricot-lemon & Chocolate-nut butter snack bars
Cuisine: vegaaninen, gluteeniton
Prep time:
Total time:
Ingredients
- [b]Apricot-lemon snack bar[/b]
- [br]
- Snack bar:
- 3,8 oz / ~ 110 g) cashews
- 0,85 cups / 2 dl gluten-free rolled oats
- 5,3 oz / ~150 g dried apricots
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1,5 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp Himalayan salt (or other good quality salt)
- [br]
- Filling:
- 1/4 cups / ~0,5 dl melted coconut butter
- 2 tbsp coconut cream (the creamy part from a coconut milk can)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- pinch of salt
- [br]
- [b]Chocolate-nut butter snack bar[/b]
- [br]
- Snack bar:
- 0,85 cups / ~2 dl gluten-free rolled oats
- 0,4 cups / ~1 dl buckwheat groats
- 1,7 oz / 50 g dates
- 1,9 oz / 55 g raisins
- 1,7 oz / 50 g dark chocolate (70%)
- 4 tbsp peanut butter or any nut butter you like
- 3 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp Himalayan salt (or other good quality salt)
- [br]
- Filling:
- 3 tbsp peanut butter or any nut butter you like
- 3 tbsp coconut cream (the creamy part from a coconut milk can)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Snack bars (same instructions for both flavors): Blend nuts and oats/buckwheat first until crumbly. Add other ingredients and blend until the batter is easy to shape.
- Roll the batter into a thin rectangle shape and put in the freezer.
- Mix filling ingredients with a spoon / whisk.
- Cut frozen sheet into bars. Spread filling onto one side and add other layer on top. Freeze for at least 30 min.
- Store snack bars in the freezer and enjoy as a snack or dessert.
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