We’re ringing in 2023 with an incredible snack recipe from my friend Nicole, who you probably recognize as the one & only Kale Junkie. She’s the queen of kitchen hacks, quick and easy snacks, and nourishing, super flavorful meals and I’ve been loving her recipes for years!
Nicole published a beautiful cookbook, Love to Eat, which has 75 amazing recipes focused on flavor and intuitive eating. Such a great book for the new year as she states “you too can find freedom to eat the foods you love, without guilt, and to live your damn life once and for all.” Yes, please!
Without further ado, say hello to these delicious tahini oat bars packed with nutrients from oats, seeds, and dried fruit. They’re naturally sweetened with honey and have an epic chocolate topping because we know everything is better with a little chocolate. These babies are easy to make (no food processor required!), perfectly chewy, and make the BEST snack to keep in your fridge or freezer. Should 2023 be the year of homemade snacks? Absolutely.
Prep them for the week as 8 larger bars or 16 smaller bites, and kick off the new year strong!
Ingredients in these tahini oat bars
These incredible nut free bars are filled with nourishing ingredients you’ll love. The oats, seeds, and cacao nibs give them the perfect texture, and that gorgeous chocolate topping makes them the ultimate treat. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- Oats: feel free to use regular or gluten free rolled oats as the base for these bars.
- Dried figs: diced, dried figs give the bars little bites of sweetness and a chewy texture.
- Tahini: using all natural tahini keeps the bars nut free and helps them stay together.
- Honey: they’re also naturally sweetened with a little honey!
- Mix-ins: get a boost of fiber, protein, antioxidants, healthy fats & omega-3s with chia seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds and cacao nibs. These mix-ins, plus the rolled oats also make these bars great for breastfeeding mamas!
- Extra flavor: don’t forget the vanilla extract (learn how to make it here!), cinnamon, and sea salt.
- For the chocolate drizzle: you’ll also melt some dairy free chocolate chips with coconut oil to give the bars a lovely chocolate topping.
Looking for an extra boost of protein?
These tahini fig oat bars pack over 10g of protein, but feel free to add even more by mixing in 1-2 scoops of collagen peptides or unflavored protein powder!
Make these bars your own
Easily customize these tahini oat bars to your taste preferences! Here are some swaps that I think would work well:
- For the figs: feel free to use your favorite dried fruit like dried cranberries, cherries, or even chopped Medjool dates.
- For the tahini: if you’d like to use a different nut or seed butter I’d recommend an all natural cashew butter to maintain the flavor of the recipe.
- For the mix-ins: if you only have a couple of the mix-ins on hand, feel free to double up. For example, you can easily swap the hemp seeds with more chia seeds, etc.
Can I make them vegan?
Feel free to swap the honey for maple syrup, date syrup, or coconut palm syrup, and remember to use dairy free chocolate chips to keep these bars vegan.
Delicious tahini oat bars in 5 simple steps
- Prep your pan. Start by lining an 8×8 inch pan with parchment paper so that the bars don’t stick.
- Mix the bars. Add all of the ingredients for the bars to a large bowl (except the chocolate) and mix until well combined.
- Set the bars. Pour your mixture into the prepared baking pan and place them in the fridge to harden.
- Make the drizzle. Melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil together in the microwave, then pour over the refrigerated bars. Place them back in the refrigerator for an hour so that they set.
- Slice & enjoy! Once the chocolate has set, remove the bars from the pan, slice them into 8 or 16 bars, and enjoy.
Storing tips
- In the fridge: store these tahini fig oat bars in an airtight container or a freezer-safe bag in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- In the freezer: feel free to keep the bars in a freezer-safe bag in your freezer for up to 1 month. If you do keep them in your freezer, be sure to leave them out on the counter for a few minutes before serving so that they soften up a bit.
More no bake snacks you’ll love
- Coconut & Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars
- Salted Caramel Coconut Cashew Energy Bites
- Snickerdoodle Tahini Date Smoothie
- No Bake High Protein Peanut Butter Cereal Bars
- Monster Cookie Energy Bites
Get all of my no bake snacks here!
I hope you love these no bake tahini fig oat bars! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Nicole’s No Bake Tahini-Fig-Oat Bars
Ingredients
- For the bars:
- 1 ½ cups gluten free or regular rolled oats
- ½ cup dried figs, diced small
- ½ cup tahini, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ cup cacao nibs
- 3 tablespoons chia seeds
- ¼ cup hemp seeds
- ¼ cup sesame seeds
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 to 2 scoops collagen peptides or unflavored protein powder (optional)
- For the chocolate drizzle:
- ½ cup dairy free dark chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Instructions
- Line an 8 by 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper. The best way to do this is to rub a little bit of oil on the inside of the pan so the parchment sticks.
- To make the bars: In a large bowl, combine the oats, figs, tahini, honey, cacao nibs, chia seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and collagen peptides and mix until everything is coated well.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, using a spatula to make sure it’s spread evenly. Place the pan in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- To make the drizzle: Melt the chocolate chips and oil. If you have a microwave, place the chocolate chips and oil in a small microwave-safe bowl and heat in two or three 30-second intervals, mixing together in between intervals. If you don’t have a microwave, melt the chocolate and oil together in a double boiler on the stove top.
- Once the chocolate and oil are melted and are nice and smooth, remove the pan from the refrigerator and pour the drizzle on top. Return the pan to the refrigerator for 1 hour so the chocolate sets and the bars harden.
- When ready to slice, lift the parchment paper to remove the bars from the pan and place it on a flat surface. Slice into eight bars for larger pieces or sixteen squares for smaller pieces. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Nutrition
Recipe by: Kale Junkie | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This sounds wonderful for nut-free school munch bag!
But I would love you to have the ingredients into grams! it will be more precise and easy to fallow!
Hi! Our team is doing our best to manually add grams to our baking recipes. Thanks for your patience!
These are SOO gooddddd. I’ve seriously never had a no-bake bar that I’ve liked this much, I did do *some* subs: crushed rice cakes for oats (bare w me) and peanut butter for tahini. I also used unsweetened chocolate to make it healthier and sprinkled w fancy sea salt. Definitely try this recipe!! (I’m sure it’s good Monique’s way too, haha)
So happy to hear that!
These are so delicious! Great snack to have on hand
Oh my goodness. These were so good! Admittedly, I didn’t have all of the listed ingredients on hand (I couldn’t find the cacao nibs or hemp seeds at my grocery store), so I did modify it a bit by adding more chia seeds, finely chopped cashews, and finely chopped dark chocolate. I’d love to try this again with all the listed ingredients because they were AMAZING as it was!!! Sweet enough for dessert, but nutritious enough to snack on during the day.
Cant wait to make this soon for me i never had tahini oat bars before perfect for my after office snacks love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work