This week is back-to-school for many children. I have been excited to start packing the girls Lovable Lunches again this year.
One thing I want to do more of this year is pack more homemade items in my girls lunch boxes. Today I made nut-free bars that my girls love, so this will be one of our lunch staples for the year.
Yield: 2 dozen
Nut-Free Bars
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
These nut-free bars pack in protein and are great for school lunches!
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup hemp hearts
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 1/4 cup goji berries (soaked)
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of sea salt (I use Celtic)
- (You can make this recipe using any seed combinations and if you do want to add nuts you can replace some of the seeds with nuts - you really can make this recipe your own. You can replace the goji berries with raisins or chocolate chips if you like too).
Instructions
- Soak the goji berries in hot water for 3-5 minutes.
- While they are soaking, line a 9x12 pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, mix together coconut, seeds and hemp hearts and set aside.
- In a small pot, melt the coconut oil and honey. Once melted stir in the vanilla, sea salt and strained goji berries.
- Pour the honey mixture over the seed mixture. Stir till well blended.
- Push mixture into the pan and bake at 300 degrees for half an hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely or they will fall apart. Once it is completely cool you can cut them into bars. I like to place mine in the fridge after they are cool for about 15 minutes and then I use a pizza cutter to cut them. I keep them in the freezer and take them out each morning to put in my girls lunches. They would keep in a sealed container for 7-10 days.
What are some of your favorite homemade recipes to pack in your kids lunches for school?
You may also like this Rhubarb Platz Recipe.
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Angela says
These sound delicious!
Thanks for the recipe — may have to try these one day
Jody @ Mommy Moment says
I made them using what I had in the house. I’m sure we will make many varieties of these throughout the school year. I’m glad I am keeping them in the freezer though because they are SO DELICIOUS! LOL.
Christina says
I’m going to make those for myself!
Jody @ Mommy Moment says
Christina, you’ll have to let me know how you like them or what combination you make if you decide to change them up a bit.
Monica says
These look delicious and very versatile too!
Jody @ Mommy Moment says
Monica, they sure are! You’ll have to let me know if you decide to try them.
Salma says
These look really good! My son is starting pre-school this year and we need nut-free snacks and lunches so I may have to try it out. I’ve never used hemp hearts or goji before!
Jody @ Mommy Moment says
Nut-Free lunches can be tricky for parents which is one of the reasons I shared this recipe. You can substitute the hemp hearts for other seeds and you could use raisins or chocolate chips instead of the goji berries.
Jennifer says
Definitely going to try these!!! My husband would love these for his lunches too!!!
Jody @ Mommy Moment says
My husband loves them and wants them packed in his lunch too!
Laura11 says
This is perfect – you know and control exactly what goes into them – lots of fibre and energy for the day, and no concerns about nuts! Way to go!
Heidi C. says
My son has a nut allergy so I will definitely be making these!
Judy C (Cowan) says
Yummy, I am going to make these for my hubby. I think he will really like them and I like that you can keep them in the freezer and pull out as needed.
nick a. says
great idea for lunch bags
Jeannie says
Those look very yummy! I think I’ll be making these for my son’s preschool where there’s a no nut policy there.
Jody @ Mommy Moment says
I hope you love them as much as we do!
Tabitha P says
I just made these, and they didn’t seem to “set” very well. Mine don’t look as dark as yours do, what type of honey did you use? Maybe I have to cook them longer? They’re super tasty though! 🙂
Jody @ Mommy Moment says
Tabitha, Did you make sure they were completely cool before you tried to cut them? I used honey from a local farmer. Try putting them in the fridge for a while to see if that works – if that does not work let me know, I’ll try to figure out what else it could be.
Tabitha P says
Yeah I did all those things and they seemed flimsy at the end, I’m just wondering if maybe they didn’t cook long enough, perhaps my oven wasn’t hot enough. I stuck them in the freezer so hopefully they’ll retain enough togetherness til the kids get to eat them 🙂 I’ll try again once these are gone. And I’m back from Blissdom! (I’m taking one of your microsessions!) 🙂
Jody @ Mommy Moment says
That is a little odd – maybe they did need a little longer in the oven? Maybe take a picture and show me at BlissDom?
I can’t wait to see you at BlissDom – please tell me who you are when we are there – I am terrible at recognizing people!!
Jo-Anne Pfoh says
being on the go so much I often had a hard time finding a healthy snack to take along these work. thank you so much
ikkinlala says
These look really tasty. It wouldn’t keep them nut-free, but they’d be a great way to use up some nuts and seeds before this year’s order gets here.
Jody @ Mommy Moment says
I love nuts, but since my girls can not bring them to school because of the no-nut policy, I made this variation.
Lisa says
This looks like a great recipe to try. My kids are picky so we’ll see if they go for them, but I definitely like these as an alternative to store-bought granola bars. Thanks!
diane says
Thank you for this recipe! I’ve been looking for a new bar recipe and this one looks great. I’ll make it tonight.
nadine says
these look so yummy! going to try this out in my kids lunches for sure!
Tammy M says
These look delicious!
George M says
I’ve tried this recipe and my kids loved them.
MultiTestingMom says
Oooo – I can’t wait to try these out, but maybe without the goji berries, don’t love those as I find them too sour! Thanks 🙂
Jody @ Mommy Moment says
You’re welcome! I need to whip up another batch of these today! My girls love them so much.
And you can substitute the goji berries for raisins if you like them better.
Florence C says
Looks delicious. I would like these.
Judy Cowan says
These sound very yummy and healthy! Thanks for sharing the recipe, will have to make some up!
Alexa Nernberg says
Your Nut Free Bars look really good. These are definitely on my list to make. Thanks for sharing this recipe with your readers.
Annie says
Hi!! I’m just about to make these and I was curious if you had any suggestions for something that would bind the bars together that wasn’t a sugar. I’d like to use some honey, maybe 1/4 cup — is there anything else I could use to hold them together? Thanks!
Jody @ Mommy Moment says
I know some people use sunflower butter or a nut free type peanut butter. I love using honey in this recipe too
Lynda Cook says
These are packed full of great healthy seeds, love it, I need to make a trip to Bulk Barn, would love to make these for myself!!