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Everything But The Kitchen Sink Fruit and Nut Bars

January 16, 2014   33 Comments

Have you ever heard the phrase “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”?

Fruit and Nut Bar Recipe

I believe it means that if you really like something you will try to copy it. Right now, I am hoping that KIND bar (a sponsor of Snack Girl’s book campaign) doesn’t mind my imitation.

KIND bar was gracious enough to give me KIND bars to send to people who buy Snack Girl To The Rescue! before it goes on sale on April 15th. I love KIND bars and KIND has rescued me in many airports, convenience stores, and gas stations.

But, this didn’t stop me from trying to make my own fruit and nut bar. My kitchen cabinets are filled with little bags of nuts and dried fruit from all the recipes that I attempt. So, I grabbed some slivered almonds, hazelnuts, and pumpkin seeds and mixed them with raisins and dates.

The results? Here you go:

These are now missing. I should call around my neighborhood and see who stole them.

What I like about these bars is that I can make them smaller than a KIND bar and put them in a little baggie to toss in my purse. I like my snack to be around 100 calories so this is a good fit.

I did use light corn syrup for this recipe which will drive the non-GMOers crazy. I couldn’t find brown rice syrup which would work equally as well in my Stop & Shop. You cannot use maple syrup because it isn’t thick enough.

Have you tried to make your won fruit and nut bar? What did you use?

Everything But The Kitchen Sink Nut Bars Recipe

1.6 from 24 reviews

makes 16 bars

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Ingredients

1 ½ cups chopped assorted raw or toasted nuts and/or seeds
1/3 cup cereal
½ cup chopped dried fruit
1/3 cup light corn syrup or brown rice syrup
dash of salt (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper AND spray it with non-stick spray for easy removal of the bars.

Mix together nuts, dried fruit, and cereal in a large bowl. Pour over corn syrup and add a dash of salt. Mix well and spoon into baking pan. Press the mixture down with the back of the spoon.

Bake for 17-20 minutes until lightly browned on the edge of the bars (see photo). Cool on baking rack for 20 minutes and slice into 16 bars.

Store at room temperature for three days, refrigerator for 2 weeks, or freeze for later consumption.

Nuts and seeds: walnuts, cashews, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, almonds, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, etc.

Cereal: Rice Krispies, Puffed wheat, Cheerios (chopped), Brown Rice cereal, etc.

Dried fruit: raisins, apricots, dates, cherries, cranberries, figs, mangoes, shredded coconut, apples, prunes, peaches, etc.

Nutrition Facts

For one bar: 85 calories, 4.4 g fat, 0.0 g saturated fat, 10.9 g carbohydrates, 4.8 g sugar, 2.1 g protein, 1.3 g fiber, 3 mg sodium, 2 Points+

Points values are calculated by Snack Girl and are provided for information only. See all Snack Girl Recipes

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33 Comments:

I'm addicted to kind bars! These look great though I confess I'd be tempted to dip them in dark chocolate like some type of the KIND kind:)

Snack Girl, you rock. I have been wishing I could figure out how Kind does that--now we are free to experiment

!!! Thank you so much. I didn't realize that one could replace corn syrup with brown rice syrup. That is, in itself, a great revelation!

Could you use honey in place of corn syrup?

These look awesome. I love coconut so if I try it I may throw some dried flakes in the mix.

honey or dates syrop (Silan) is a much better option, or even melted dark sugar will do the trick. i wonder if these tempting bars can be done without the cereal. or could oates finely chopped could be roasted a bit and then used instead of the cereal. i am going to try.

I am for sure trying this, thank you. I like the Kind Bars as well. They are quick, easy, and filling when your on the go.

I love Kind bars. Will try your recipe. Sounds

wholeshome and fantastic. You're the Best, as I said many times before.

Looks yummy! I am going to try this!

• 6 eggs
• 1 Cup Honey (12 oz)
• 1 Cup Apple Sauce
• 1/3 Cup Corn Syrup

• 2 Cups Peanut Butter (Crunchy or Creamy)

• 9 Cups of Oats (Quick or Regular)
• 2 tsp. Vanilla
• 2 tsp. Almond Extract
• 2 Sticks Butter (Softened)
• ¼ tsp Baking Soda
• 1 Cup Chocolate Chips
• 1 Cup Raisins
• 1 Cup Coconut
• 1 Cup Dates
• 1 Cup Nuts

(You can also add dried fruit of your choice)

Mix all the ingredients together until well blended.

Put in a large UNGREASED sheet cake pan, and bake at 350

for 18 minutes or until golden brown

Cool completely, then cut and into individual servings

This recipe was formulated for diabetics. It is a great one!

Shelly, that recipe looks like it was made for an army! LOL!

I also wonder if Honey can be used in place of Corn/Brown Rice Syrup?

Shelly's recipe sounds great, wondering if I

could use coconut oil or another choice instead

of butter, also maybe cut recipe in half.

Thanks a lot for sharing

Honey may be too thick for this to work - and they would be too sticky. If you tried it the worst thing that would happen is that you might have crumbles instead of a bar. I say give it a go.

You can use all nuts and no cereal if you want. The cereal lightens them a bit.

Thanks for all the great questions!

This is a great way to make a healthy snack. If honey and maple syrup are not thick enough to suit, just boil the water out of them and add some coconut sugar (lower glycemic) until the desireable consistency is reached.

BTW, why not use oats instead of boxed cereals, although the choices mentioned are almost as good as it gets in the cereal aisle except maybe Kashi or Muelsi? Oats are a whole grain and packed with vitamins.

I looked up the nutrition value in Kind bars and yours look a lot better Snack Girl. This company still appeals to the sugar, fat, salt addictions we all have. Seriously, if all these are not in our foods we probably would not eat at all. The sugar, unless it is coconut or palm sugar, would keep me from eating these. Have you tried these sugars? They are natural, delicious and properly used won't elevate your blood sugar.

What kind of cereal did you use Snack Girl?

Also could you use Rice Krispies?

I love KInd bars!

Ok, I reread the recipe! The cereal is listed there...sorry!

I make my own power bars for my daughter who has a tree nut allergy. I add flaxseed, sunflower seeds, protein powder, egg whites, agava, coconut flower, dates or raisons...whatever I have!!!

shelly what is your recipe for???

honey is used for generations in the middle east for sesame bars and nuts bars. but it has to be cooked and boiled, then the nuts or sesame are put in and then put on a shallow dish to cool. it hardens very quickly so it has to be cut into bars as soon as the mixture is stabilized. it requires no baking.

If you can't find an ingredient in a store like brown rice syrup go on line and order it on amazon prime. You don't have to pay for shipping and you don't pay premium price for it. My husband and I do that all the time. Thanks for the recipes. I love them and I appreciate the comments made also. I am currently going through a very trying time with a 95 year old mother in law living with us that has diabetes and makes me out to being the bad guy because I won't let her eat sweets all day long. I need all the help I can get. Thanks again

HI Mary Ann, We are also diabetic and part of the disease is that some people crave sweets. I am sure you have tried Swerve and Nectresse. These are derived from fruit and are considered safe for diabetics. I make all my baked goods with them and coconut sugar. We are in our sixties and I cannot imagine how hard it is for someone of 95 whose biggest enjoyment and something to look forward to is food. Also, Almond meal and garbanzo flour can be used in place of wheat flour thereby lowering the carbs consumed. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare a quick bread and about an hour to bake it. Maybe you could make her some. I am sure she would appreciate it very much. I usually make two loaves for us and we can snack on it all day long without any problems. She could try a little to see how it affects her blood sugar. Just a thought?

ever heard of Spelt flour? (it is also called "kusmin" - it is a very good option for those who dislike regular wheat flour. most delicious for baking cakes and cookies and bread etc.

Spelt is an ancient relative of common wheat. It has gluten (this info for those with celiac disease).

Thanks Lisa for this recipe and thanks for the readers about the tip on boiling honey or melting coconut sugar. I usually only use either honey or coconut sugar.

Made this with some raw honey and boiled as Adi suggested and it came out great. Added some dried Goji berries. Did not cook, just put in refridge. Next time I will cut before it gets to hard, but breaks off easily. This is going to be my go to snack. Very satisfying.

The KIND snack bar has been my favorite one for years. However, it's quite expensive for each bar compared to other brands. I would try to make it with only nuts and seeds and dried fruit and I may use chocolate or nutella even though I don't know if nutella would turn the combination to a tasty bar. Anyways, thanks for sharing the recipe.

I'd love to try another great granola recipe! Thanks for a good one :)

I made these homemade KIND bars with corn flakes, craisins and almonds and walnuts with light corn syrup flavored with vanilla. Oooh la la !! YUM!!! Easy and ready in a snap! Thank you :)

Has anyone tried these with agave syrup?

There have been recent studies on agave syrup showing that it might actually benefit diabetics. I don't have the link at my fingertips but will check for it.

As a diabetic, I sometimes use it in cooking.

A word to those using nuts, seeds and grains. In order to reduce or rid them of phytates they should be soaked and cooked. This includes nuts, seeds, beans (all including soy beans and tofu), other legumes such as lentils, and grains. For instance oats, nuts and seeds could be soaked overnight or longer, rinsed and roasted. Sprouted wheat flour can be used instead of regular flour. " It also enhances the hydrolysis of phytic acid, an enzyme inhibitor, which allows for better absorption of nutrients."

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-health/flour-power-10-r…

Phytic acid or phytates bind vital nutrients which then cannot be absorbed by the body. Thus, iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc are bound to phytic acid keeping them from being absorbed. Therefore, anemia, bone disease (osteoporosis) and other ailments can be attributed to a deficiency in these vitamins.

However, Vitamin C does counter this effect somewhat as well as meat consumed in conjunction with those containing phytates.

http://www.americanbonehealth.org/blog/?p=165

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2820048

Sadly, the agave syrup did not turn out so well, but I now have several baggies of sweet, crunchy yogurt topping :)

Just wondering what kind of cereal I should use?

I love healthy snacks that incorporate dried fruits and nuts. This is the perfect recipe to make my own fruit and nut bars. Great snack for the summer when you're on the go or at the beach/lake. Loved this post. Thank you for sharing.

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