This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.
Packed with nuts, seeds, and dried fruits, these homemade Kind bars are truly addictive. They are healthier than the original bars and super easy to make.
In an effort to keep my diet clean and healthy, I’ve grown into making my own snack bars. From homemade protein bars to no bake oatmeal bars, I have a good collection of them.
With this said, I can’t deny the fact that some store-bought one still taste good to me, KIND bars being one of them. Being as good as they are, these do contain added sugar and a few other ingredients I don’t want in my snacks, including soy lecithin and palm kernel oil.
As an alternative to one of my favorite snack bars, I have come up with a copycat recipe that tastes better than the original.
Table of Contents
Why this recipe works
- No-baking. It takes a few minutes to prepare the mixture and a couple of hours for it to firm up in the fridge.
- Healthy. These homemade snack bars don’t contain refined sugar and unhealthy fats. They are also gluten-free and dairy-free.
- Easy to customize. You can use nuts, seeds, or mix-ins of choice.
Ingredients needed
My copycat recipe features a combination of my favorite healthy ingredients, including nuts, seeds, and dried fruits. Here’s the full list of ingredients.
- Cashews and almonds. Roughly chopped raw and unsalted nuts.
- Seeds. I mostly use sesame seeds for these bars as they are a good source of healthy fats, protein, fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds are also good to add to the seed mix.
- Dried fruits. Aside from adding color and flavor, dried fruits also add fiber, minerals, and vitamins to them. I like using raisins and cranberries. Chop them into smaller pieces for easy mixing.
- Maple syrup. Use pure maple syrup to get the best flavor and avoid adding refined sugar. Honey or brown rice syrup will also work.
- Vanilla extract. To add a lovely vanilla flavor.
- Salt. To balance out the overall sweetness.
- Coconut butter (optional). To drizzle over the bars. Don’t confuse this with coconut oil.
How to make kind bars
Step 1- Make the mixture. Start by mixing all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the maple syrup and mix well until fully incorporated. If the mixture seems to be too loose, add more maple syrup and mix.
Step 2- Set. Transfer the mixture to an 8×8-inch pan lined with parchment paper. Press it into an even layer and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. Drizzle withconut butter to decorate.
Step 3- Slice and serve. Once set, cut into even-sized bars and enjoy.
Tips to make the best recipe
- When adding the maple syrup, start with a couple of tablespoons, mix well, and add more if needed.
- Brown rice syrup and agave nectar are good maple syrup substitutes for this recipe so long as you don’t have any diet restrictions. Pure honey will work too.
- When storing these in the fridge, wrap each of them with parchment paper. This makes an easy grab-and-go snack and prevents them from sticking to each other.
- Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray to further prevent the bars from sticking to it.
Flavor variations
Kind bars come in a variety of flavors, including Caramel Almond & Sea Salt, Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate, Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond, etc. You can recreate some of your favorite flavors by customizing the dried fruits and nuts you use and by adding some extra ingredients if needed.
- Blueberry Vanilla Cashew. Use dried blueberries for the fruit and cashews for the nuts. Don’t forget the vanilla extract.
- Apple Cinnamon Pecan. Use dried apples for the fruit, and roughly chopped pecans for the nuts. Add ground cinnamon.
- Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew. Use dried cherries for the fruit and raw cashews for the nuts. Drizzle with sugar-free dark chocolate.
- Dark Chocolate Almond Coconut. Use unsweetened shredded coconut and raw unsalted almonds. Drizzle with sugar-free dark chocolate.
- Maple Glazed Pecan & Sea Salt. Omit the dried fruit. Use pecans and add a pinch more salt.
Storage instructions
To store. While these homemade snack bars won’t go bad at room temperature, we recommend you store them in the fridge to prevent them from falling apart.
To freeze. Freeze leftovers for up to 2 months.
More no bake snacks to try
Frequently asked questions
Kind bars are one of the healthier snack bar options that contain fiber, healthy fats, and protein. They do have some added sugar, palm oil, and soy protein isolate.
Kind offers a variety of bar series. The Healthy Grains series by Kind features bars that are gluten-free. These bars are made with oats, millet, quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat.
As Kind bars are quite low in calories, they can be a good snack choice for people trying to lose weight. The fiber and the protein in these bars will keep you going until it’s time to eat a full meal.
Kind Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups cashews chopped roughly
- 3/4 cups almonds Chopped roughly
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup dried fruit
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 5-6 tablespoon maple syrup * See notes
- 1/4 cup coconut butter optional
Instructions
- Line an 8 x 8-inch pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine your nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and salt and mix well.
- Add your vanilla extract and maple syrup and mix well. If the mixture is too thin/crumbly, add a little extra maple syrup.
- Transfer the mixture to the lined pan and press firmly into place. Refrigerate until firm. Once firm, drizzle with optional coconut butter before slicing into 14 bars.
What a great idea. These look great!! I was a total bar hoarder for a while… I buy one of every flavor too ;D ;D
Haha, love it! It sucks when you find a bar you really enjoy!
So just wondering, instead of maybe making these bars and icing them, could I just make the icing and eat that?
It’s sort of the same thing, right?
Dude. true story. I ate the icing on toast.
Bahaha that’s pretty darn funny that your buddy wanted one every bar at WF. One time I tried making a homemade version and I wanted to die trying to get the freaking brown rice syrup out of the bottle. That shhiz should have a sticky warning label!!!
LOL. Me and brown rice syrup have a complicated relationship. I have a jar method these days.
We can bar hop all around Toronto! See what I did there???
Oh you Tina Fey….who oil pushes. or pulls. or whatever it’s called.
Wow. You totally nailed it. Bars are hard to make. Looks awesome. I adore your recipe! And I adore Kind bars 🙂
Thanks so much, Liz! FYI I have been obsessed with using my iphone!
Because of this post, I just googled to see if Calgary has a Whole Foods and they don’t. Boo.
Although Canadian Whole Foods aren’t nearly as good as American ones, so I guess it’s not that big if a loss. And I didn’t stop at any on the road trip here! What is wrong with me?
HOW DARE YOU.
But. you did eat beef jerky and that deserves epic respect. We need to trade digits.
These are SO pretty, Arman!! I bet they taste pretty darn delicious, too! 😉
Haha, cheers Hannah- appreciate it!
I buy my Kind bars in 18 bar packs at Costco. Saves some $, but I get a little bored of the same two flavors over and over. I’ve also seen many a Kind bar copycat recipe on the interwebs, but these are the first from someone with a penis, so yours win. (I wonder if spam filters will catch my comment because of the word penis? Well, I just used it twice for good measure.) A HP wand would go stellar with a Spartan outfit.
LOL. Mate, you never fail to make me lol. Unlike Fran.
These look awesome! I’ve always wished I could eat Kind Bars. Honestly there aren’t really any nut free granola bars that I love. The Good Bean bars and Krono Bars are decent, but I’d rather make my own (like these!).
Thanks ChelseaKale. I made these for you.
(not really 🙂
I used to be into granola bars in college and thought they tasted delicious, until I found out how to make my own. only last weekend, I picked some up on my drive to Houston and it tasted like cardboard, im not even exaggerating. I will definitely be trying your version soon, how could you not esp with that cheeky yogurt drizzle 🙂
You need to, they are so good!
A++ for story telling! Love it! Please tell me you got Harry’s wand and not one of the others!
Have I ever gone gaga at Whole Foods bar section? Are you kidding? EVER.SINGLE.TIME! I remember last time in London when I had to pay almost 50 Pounds for bars. The cashier lady wanted to know where I come from because apparently only tourists would hoard bars like this. GUILTY 😉
My favorite one is the apple cinnamon raw bite at the moment. It contains fruit, nuts and some spices only and tastes hands down like apple strudel.
Bar fail? Nakd Bar without a doubt!
I did! It can ONLY be Harrys 😉
NAKD bars are fail whale. True story- I ate 5 once for a meal and was still hungry
‘As with anything good in the United States, Australia most definitely did not have them, nor had an equivalent to it in terms of taste or ingredient list’ – yes! Same with with Uk! grrr!
We do have a bar range in the UK called ‘nakd bars’ which are pretty tasty. They aren’t like kind bars, more like Lara bars and are full of clean goodies like dates, raisins and nuts.
YES! They are like larabars but I literally have to eat 5 of those bars to be satisfied.
YES to the HP wand and these Kind bars–they look just like the real thing! <<that is the point, isn't it? 😉 pinning!!
Thanks budddddddy. We need to hang out and discuss all things harry potter and coffee.
There are very few bars that I actually enjoy too. Most taste like glorified and gross cardboard. These look awesome though and thanks for sharing.
Thanks Hollie…lol cardboard. Sounds like some recipes out there too… :p
I’ve never been a big bar fan, cause I feel like three bites and an hour later I’m hungry again. That said, I have had Kind bars and they’re delicious. Way better than other ones I’ve tried! I’m also super jealous of your Harry Potter wand. I really want to go to Universal and see the HP park!
You need to, dude I was like in a Candy Store! (I went to Honeydukes bahahaha).