These Homemade Seed Bars are a delicious and nutritious nut-free snack that has plenty of crunch. A blend of mixed seeds and oats and then naturally sweetened with dates and then topped with a dark chocolate layer. They take just 5 minutes to make and no cooking needed. This seed bar recipe is so easy to make, can be adapted to use whatever you have and they make great school snacks too.
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We love nut bars and nut balls, but they are not suitable for school snacks due to the nut-free rule. So, I have been working on making some nut-free school snacks and this recipe for seed bars might just be my favorite.
It really tastes like it has nuts in, and my kids (who aren't big fans of seeds) LOVE these. It is also MUCH cheaper than buying seed bars in the shops.
We try to include as many seeds as possible in our diet and this seed bar recipe is perfect for that as it has 4 different seeds in it. These are really sweet, but the bars themselves are naturally sweetened with dates.
Then we added some melted dark chocolate on top, but that is optional. The perfect grab and go snack!
Looking for more healthy snack recipes? Why not try our amazing Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bars, delicious Homemade Fruit and Nut Chocolate Bars, simple Healthy Flapjacks or our copycat Homemade Kind Nut Bars?
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Ingredients and Substitutions
A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Dates - This seed bar recipe is naturally sweetened with just dates. We used Medjool dates as they are the softest and give the best caramel flavor. They help to bind them too.
- Seeds - We used a mixture of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds and flaxseeds to make this recipe for seed bars. But really, any seeds can be used as long as you make up the total measurement of seeds used here.
- Oats - You could just use seeds, but we always bulk out this seed slice recipe with some oats to make it more budget friendly. It also gives it a more chewy texture that my kids love.
- Coconut - This is optional, but some desiccated coconut adds a really lovely texture and a little natural sweetness.
- Cocoa - There is chocolate on top, but to add to the chocolate flavor we added in some cocoa powder.
- Salt - This helps to really bring out the sweetness of the bars.
- Vanilla - Use vanilla extract, not essence.
- Chocolate - We use 80% dark chocolate as this keeps it vegan, but any chocolate will work. You could even add a little bit of white chocolate and swirl it in to make it look really nice and balance out the dark chocolate too.
- Coconut oil - This helps the chocolate to melt easier and also gives a shinier finish.
Variations
Protein powder - If you wanted to give this healthy seed bar recipe a protein boost, then you could swap the cocoa powder for a chocolate protein powder.
Nuts - If you wanted to do half nuts and half seeds, then that is definitely an option. You could blend up some almonds, cashews and walnuts in replace of some of the seeds.
How To Make Healthy Seed Bars
Prep: Line a 25x20cm (8x10") baking tin with parchment paper.
- Step 1: Put the dates into a bowl and cover with boiled water. Leave to soak for 10 minutes.
- Step 2: Put all of the seeds, the oats, coconut, cocoa powder and salt into a food processor. Process until everything is combined well.
- Step 3: Drain the dates and add them to the food processor along with the vanilla. Process again until well combined.
- Step 4: Pour the mixture into a lined baking tin and press down. Make sure you press down really firmly as everything needs to be well packed in, so that it all sticks together.
- Step 5: In a small saucepan, gently melt the chocolate and coconut oil together until smooth and silky.
- Step 6: Pour the melted chocolate over the seed mixture and spread out into an even layer.
- Step 7: Refrigerate for one hour. When the chocolate has hardened, cut into bars.
Seed Bar Storage
- We cut these into bars, but you could cut them into squares to make them more bite sized pieces.
- These store really well. You can slice them up and then put them in an airtight container and keep them in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
- These chocolate topped seed bars also freeze really well. Slice them and individually wrap them and put them in a freezer bag. They will keep for up to 3 months. I get them out of the freezer in the morning to put in the kid's lunch boxes and they are defrosted by lunchtime.
More Chocolate Recipes
If you've tried these chocolate seed bars, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
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Recipe
Chocolate Topped Seed Bars
Ingredients
- 240 g (1.66 cups) of Medjool dates - pitted
- 40 g (0.33 cups) of Sunflower seeds
- 50 g (0.75 cups) of Pumpkin seeds
- 20 g (1.5 tablespoon) of Chia seeds
- 15 g (1.5 tablespoon) of Ground flaxseeds
- 80 g (1 cups) of Oats - (use certified gluten free oats to ensure this recipe is gluten free)
- 40 g (0.5 cups) of Desiccated coconut
- 2 tablespoon of Cocoa powder
- 1 pinch of Sea salt
- 1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract
- 100 g (3.5 oz) of Dark chocolate - 80%
- 1 tablespoon of Coconut oil
Instructions
- Put 240 g of Medjool dates into a bowl and cover with boiled water. Leave to soak for 10 minutes.
- Put 40 g of Sunflower seeds, 50 g of Pumpkin seeds, 20 g of Chia seeds, 15 g of Ground flaxseeds, 80 g of Oats, 40 g of Desiccated coconut, 2 tbsp of Cocoa powder and 1 pinch of Sea salt into a food processor. Process until everything is combined well.
- Drain the dates and add them to the food processor along with 1 tsp of Vanilla extract. Process again until well combined.
- Pour the mixture into a lined baking tin and press down. Make sure you press down really firmly as everything needs to be well packed in, so that it all sticks together.
- Gently melt 100 g of Dark chocolate and 1 tbsp of Coconut oil together until smooth and silky.
- Pour the melted chocolate over the seed mixture and spread out into an even layer.
- Refrigerate for one hour. When the chocolate has hardened, cut into bars.
Recipe Video
Recipe Tips
- We cut these into bars, but you could cut them into squares to make them more bite sized pieces.
- These store really well. You can slice them up and then put them in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge for up to 10 days.
- These chocolate topped seed bars also freeze really well. Slice them and individually wrap them and put them in a freezer bag. They will keep for up to 3 months. I get them out of the freezer in the morning to put in the kid's lunch boxes and they are defrosted by lunchtime.
Nutritional Information
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The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
As all appliances vary, cooking times are a guide. Please note that by changing the serving size, the cooking time may also need to be altered.
Sara says
Delicious! All the family love them and they work well as a great pre sport snack for the kids.
Caroline says
These are amazing. My kids love them too. Fantastic to satisfy those sweet cravings.
Gillian says
These are amazing and perfect for my sweet tooth. I will make these on repeat now as they are a great snack.
Abbe says
Absolutely yum! I have a sweet tooth but try and eat as healthy as possible and these really hit the spot! 3 year old loved them too. Super easy and quick to make. I dont like coconut so left that out and didn't have coconut oil to hand so just used normal kitchen oil. Kept the same measurements for everything and they turned out perfect. Will make them on repeat on sunday night for snacks and lunch boxes through the week.
Sarah says
I am so glad I stumbled across Dannii’s Facebook page. These are amazing and one of the favourite things I have made from the recipes. I don’t change the recipe although I just made a batch and sprinkled small amount of sea salt to top of the dark chocolate cover. I cut these into small squares and limit myself to one or two a day of these so I still feel like I’m treating myself but with super healthy ingredients. Thank you Dannii these are amazing. Have also made the healthy flapjacks which we love.
Bronwynne Bird says
A huge hit with the whole family - from 1yrs old to 70yrs old. So quick and simple to make and it feels really good to eat them. Absolute bonus that they're nut free for school lunches!
Sam says
I've made these a few times and they're really good! A nutritious feel-good snack with the bonus of dark chocolate to satisfy a craving - I often have one of these mid-afternoon when I need a boost! They freeze well and don't take long to defrost.
Mel Perkins says
I’ve made a few batches of these now, they are so delicious and help me get to my 30 plants a week while still feeling like a sweet treat! I’ve signed various ingredients (including adding prunes in place of half the dates, as I had some that needed using up) and they still worked perfectly. Only problem is my daughter wants to eat them all but surely these are mine?!!
Emma says
Omg these are amazing. A lot of chocolate, probably more than I love giving my little kidlets but I feel the goodness from the seeds balance them out ha. A little bit crumbly so be prepared for a bit of mess. So good, easy to follow, and truly yum. I love they keep for 10 days too but I doubt they'll last that long!
Dannii Martin says
Did you use the right amount of chocolate? There is only 100g in the whole recipe, which makes 18 servings. That is just 5g of 80% dark chocolate per serving which is a very very small amount - even for kids. I am glad you enjoyed them though.
Dannii Martin says
Also, they will only be crumbly if you push everything down really firmly to pack it all together.
Michelle says
Hi, I made these for the first time this morning. I pressed the seed layer down with a potato masher and then a jar but it's still so crumbly. Delicious but I am eating it with a spoon. Not sure how I would take these as bars in a lunchbox??
Dannii Martin says
Did you use medjool dates and soak them?