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Well it doesn’t happen often in my neck of the woods, but we’ve been enjoying the real “hot days” of summer this month. This is the time we take advantage of sprinklers and baby pools and popsicles and our precious air conditioning. And no bake bars. Because who wants to turn on the oven?

I’ve been making these no bake bars for years, with several different variations but ultimately the same core recipe. I like to think of them as healthy eatmore bars; they’re chewy, chocolate-y, crunchy… absolutely delicious. These bars are gluten, dairy, and refined sugar free and packed with fibre, protein, and healthy fats to really satiate your appetite without the sugar headache that comes with a candy bar. And with the new school year coming up around the corner, they’ll also make the perfect healthy lunch box snack that’s sure to please your kiddos and nourish their bodies while they’re busy learning! Looking for other no bake recipes? Check out my Super Seed No Bake Bars and my No Bake Energy Bites.

This recipe is very adaptable. If you need to make them nut free, simple sub out the peanut butter for Sunbutter, and use one of the seed options for the mix-in (like pumpkin seeds which I’ve used this time!). If you’re looking for something lower carb, sub out the oats for more nuts, seeds, or coconut. For a fun crunchy alternative to oats, you can make these more like puffed wheat squares by subbing puffed rice or kamut for the oats. If you don’t like coconut, swap it for more oats or nuts/seeds, and you could always substitute butter or ghee for the coconut oil if you prefer. As long as you keep the ratio of dry to wet ingredients the same, you should be fine!

The best way to keep yourself from having recipe flops? Taste and adjust as you go!! Everyone’s palette is different, if you are more used to milk chocolate you’ll probably want to add more sweetener. If you like very dark chocolate, maybe you can get away with a tad less. If your mixture ends up feeling too dry, add a splash of almond milk (or whatever milk you prefer to use). If you adjust as you go you are sure to end up with your own perfect bars – just how you like them! I always try to add cues to my recipes where it is a key moment to taste and adjust as needed – this is the key to making sure your recipes turn out the way you want them to.

Be sure to let me know how it goes for you in the comments below or tag me on Instagram (#garnishathome), I’d love to hear how you make them your own! Talk to you soon 🙂

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5 from 6 votes

Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Bars

The perfect easy, healthy snack that will actually fill you up! These bars are gluten, dairy, and refined sugar free, packed with protein, fibre, and healthy fats. Great for lunch boxes or nutritious snacks at home!

Course Dessert, Snack

Keyword Dairy free, gluten free, healthy snack, healthy treat, kids snacks, lunch box, no bake bars, refined sugar free

Prep Time 10 minutes

Servings 20 bars

Author Garnish at Home

Ingredients

• 1 cup natural peanut butter or nut/seed butter of choice, substitute Sunbutter for nut free
• 1/2 cup coconut oil or butter/ghee
• 2/3 cup honey or liquid sweetener of choice
• 6 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp espresso powder optional (enhances chocolate flavour)
• pinch sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats certified gluten free if necessary
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup nut/seed of choice (sliced blanched almonds, roasted pumpkin seeds, roasted peanuts, chopped pecans, chia seed, flax seed, hemp seed, etc.) use a seed for nut free

Instructions

• In a pot or large measuring cup, melt the peanut butter and coconut oil together and stir until combined (either on the stovetop or in the microwave).
  
• Remove from heat and whisk in the honey, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and salt until combined. Taste the mixture and add more honey if you like it sweeter.
  
• Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. It will be quite thick (mine often forms into a pliable ball), but if it seems too dry you can add a splash of almond milk (or milk of choice) to loosen it up. This time I used roasted pumpkin seeds as my nut/seed of choice.
  
• Spread mixture evenly in a parchment paper lined 9×13" pan. Cover and allow 1-2 hours to set in the fridge, or 30 minutes in the freezer before slicing and serving. Keep refrigerated, bars become melty left at room temperature for too long.
  

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This post includes affiliate links, meaning I made a small commission at no extra cost to you, should you decide to click through the links and purchase anything. These are my honest opinions and I would never recommend anything to you I didn’t absolutely love and use on a regular basis. Hope you find these lists helpful!

Natural Peanut Butter – This is a staple in our house, I love that the only ingredient is peanuts! We use it on toast and pancakes, as a dip for apples, in smoothies, in baking… it’s absolutely delicious! Packed with healthy fats and protein with no added sugar, natural peanut butter is excellent choice for nutrient dense snacks.

Gluten Free Old Fashioned Oats – When baking for someone who is Celiac or gluten intolerant, it is important to make sure your oats are certified gluten free to make sure there is no cross contamination in the product. Bob’s Red Mill is a reliable brand for gluten free oats, they are top notch quality and taste great!

Unsweetened Coconut Flakes – I used to always buy sweetened shredded coconut for baking recipes until I looked at the label one day and realized there was a ton of added sugar. I switched to unsweetened coconut flakes and noticed absolutely no difference in terms of taste. This has become a staple ingredient for me in my no bake bites, super seed bars, and other baking recipes. Love it! I have found the Yupik brand on Amazon to be the best quality and most affordable option for baking ingredients.

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