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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.
These look so delicious! #recipeoftheweek
Thank you, Kirsty!
YAY for Kind Bars…I’ll take a whole stack please. =) I love making recipes like this – and throw everything in my food processor for ease. You’re a pretty funny guy…I love reading your posts. Thanks much for sharing this lusciousness with us at Weekend Potluck. Keep ’em coming Man. And have a great week ahead.
Pretty funny guy? I am the Jimmy Kimmel of the blog world 😉
Just kidding. Jimmy Kimmel isn’t even funny. This week I have red velvet pancakes and copycat Bounty bars to contribute- I think you guys call them Mound Bars or Almond Joy bars!
See? You ARE the Jimmie Kimmel! =D I’ll be sure to check out both those recipes…thanks so much for sharing.
These look great! My favorite are the apricot & yogurt so I’ll have to try them that way. Do you think it would work to use ground flax seed instead of the oat bran? I’ve never used oat bran so I’m not sure if there’s anything comparable.
Hi Bevin! Hmmm I haven’t tried it with ground flax but I can’t see it NOT working- the only thing is, I would perhaps need some extra liquid if it’s too firm or if its too soft, add extra nuts. Do you have rolled oats?
Thanks for responding. I have a ton of oats, both the “old fashioned” and “quick cooking” kind
No worries at all- I’d say use the quick cooking first as they are most similar in texture to the oat bran 🙂
I love when you use words like cheeky. It makes me giggle, in a decidedly immature fashion.
I love KIND bars. I rarely eat them because they’re expensive but I can dig the ingredient list like no other. Plus they taste fantastic and yours look very much like the real deal, right down to the yogurt drizzle.
A Harry Potter wand. We need to talk about this weird fetish. 🙂
LOL. I should pack this wand with me.
Confession- I ate the ‘yogurt’ drizzle on toast. I even have photo evidence.
I like it! Lauren did beer pairings with these in Colorado when she worked for them… can I drink booze with yours too? 😉
Of course- but you be the expert on that, because me + beer is like me + wine. No bueno!
These look pretty darned close to the real thing. I need to try this. Thanks, Arman!
Thank you! I hope you try them out!
Yours looks 100 times better than the packaged variety – much prettier and loving all the colors!
Thanks buddy! 🙂
Peanuts and cashews? Pffft fail… I consider pretty much every store bought bar a fail because I can’t eat any of them. There are a few peanut free versions out there, but I’d much rather make my own so that I can load them with oats, honey, almond butter, and chocolate.
Sunshine, they are adaptable- you can sub the peanuts and cashews for all almonds 😉
Kind bars recently launched a new line of savory bars, and I am obsessed wit the jalapeno one. Seriously, it’s so good. If you’re feeling wild when you go visit Gigi (which you should be at all times) then please BUY ONE! I love me some Kind bars, but yours look WAY better aka more fruit and less processed. I go gaga at WholeFoods…period.
NO WAY. I love savoury so I need to check those out.
Mine look better because I was going to pose naked with them.
Damn right, you’re smart! KIND bars, along with the Costco version of KIND bars, are some of my favorites.
Bar fail? Those Chewy Quaker granola bars. Like, what are those flimsy rectangles of sugar that have approximately 20 oats in them?
I think you should come to Boston University, show your squat form to the physical therapists, and then get free KIND bars. 😀
LOL I saw that- I will squat my latte coloured ass to the ground!