Homemade Dried Fruit Nut Bars Recipes

DRIED-FRUIT-AND-NUT HEALTH BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place dates in a small saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a simmer. Drain reserving cooking water. Puree dates in a food processor with honey and 1/4 cup reserved cooking water until smooth.
• Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides. Mix oats or quinoa flakes, nuts, papaya, cherries, blueberries, bran, flaxseed, wheat germ, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Mix in date puree. The mixture should be moist enough to hold together. If necessary, add up to 1/2 cup more cooking water. Press mixture into pan.
• Bake until center is firm and edges are golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 16 bars.

HOMEMADE DRIED FRUIT & NUT BARS

Steps:

• Line the pan with parchment or aluminum foil. Cover the sides at least halfway up on 2 sides and over the edge by about 1-inch on the other 2 sides. The longer sides create handles to lift the 8-inch square after it cools.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F/160 degrees C, with a rack in the center of the oven.
• Whisk the flour, baking soda and powder, and salt. Add the brown sugar, and mix until the ingredients are well combined. Mix in the dried fruit and nuts, using your hands. Toss everything together until the fruit and nuts are well-coated with the flour and sugar mixture.
• Lightly beat the egg and vanilla together in a small bowl, then add them to the floury dried fruit and nut mixture. Using a fork, mix the liquid into the dry ingredients, until the mixture is uniformly moist and no flour/sugar remains untouched.
• Spoon the mixture into the pan and press it in evenly, so that the mixture forms a compact layer. Add a topping of chopped chocolate or sweetened coconut and gently press it in.
• Bake for about 40 minutes, until the topping is lightly browned. Hopefully the bars will pull away slightly from the sides, but you may not notice that. Cool the uncut bars in the pan. When completely cool, remove the entire 8-inch square, using the overlapping parchment or foil "handles." Place it on a cutting board and cut into small squares. Because the square is dense, (carefully) use a cleaver or large, sharp knife.

DRIED CRANBERRY FRUIT-NUT BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix almond flour, butter, and 1 egg in a bowl until well combined. Press into the bottom of an 8-inch square pan.
• Stir chocolate chips, walnuts, cranberries, coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds together in a large bowl. Cover the almond dough with this mixture.
• Mix cream and remaining egg thoroughly in a small bowl; pour evenly over the fruit-nut mixture.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature, 30 to 45 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours before cutting into 16 bars.