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These Granola Bars are super nutritious and nutty, without any nuts. They are naturally sweetened with dates and prunes, which makes them taste so delicious and unique!
I was thinking about making some granola-related stuff for breakfast and snacks again, and then I thought about the Naturally Sweetened Granola I made a while ago. But this time I want to make something a little different. So, here are these Crunchy Prune Tahini Granola Bars.
These granola bars look darker in color because of the prunes. I have to admit that I had a hard time photographing them, but you know that I don’t mind the look as long as it’s tasty.
A peek into these granola bars:
- These granola bars are made with real, simple ingredients.
- They are vegan, nut-free, gluten-free, and made without refined sugar.
- They are super crunchy and nutty, though without any nuts.
- They are perfect as snacks or breakfast with cold plant-based milk.
Ingredients You Need
- Dates & Prunes: Yes, you need both. I’ve tried with only prunes once and it didn’t turn out well. So I changed half to dates to make it work.
- Tahini: I love tahini and it serves really well in these granola bars to make them got the nutty flavor without any nut.
- Rolled oats: By the name of this recipe, I think you might already expect oats to appear, right?
- Pumpkin seeds & Sunflower seeds: These two kinds of seeds are the most accessible ones for me and they are nutritious. So, why not?
- Raisins: I also use some raisins to give these granola bars a different sweetness. You can also use other dried fruits if you want.
- Ground cinnamon: I know some people might not adore the smell of cinnamon, but I highly recommend adding it to your granola, just a tad will do.
How to Make Crunchy Prune Tahini Granola Bars
First, soak the pitted dates and prunes in water for 3 hours. It will make them soft and easy to blend later. And make sure to save the soaking water.
Preheat the oven to 150°C / 300°F. Line a baking sheet with a baking mat or parchment paper. You can also use a big rectangle baking pan if you want.
Add dates and prunes to a food processor. Blend them together first. Then add the soaking water and tahini. Blend to make it into a puree.
In a large bowl, add rolled oats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, raisin, and ground cinnamon. Stir to mix them evenly. Pour the tahini-prune mixture into the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to combine all together.
Spread out the mixture on the lined baking sheet into a single even layer. Make sure to press it down. Bake it for about 30 minutes until it’s mostly dry. When halfway through, use a knife to cut it into squares. You can smell the deliciously nutty, sweet aroma when it’s done.
Let it cool in the oven completely. Use your hand to break the square apart. Enjoy with cold plant-based milk.
How to Serve Crunchy Prune Tahini Granola Bars
I personally like to bake them till pretty dry and soak them in cold soy milk for about 3~5 minutes. The sweet and nutty flavor will impart on the soy milk to make the whole thing taste heavenly and “addictive.”
If you want to make it easier to chewy on, you can underbake them a little. I hope you will love these granola bars as much as I do!
How to Store Crunchy Prune Tahini Granola Bars
Because I bake mine pretty dry, I just store these granola bars in an air-tight container on the counter. It will last for about 2 weeks. If you don’t bake your granola bars that dry, I will recommend putting them in the fridge and finish them within 2 weeks.
Questions You Might Have
Are there other substitutions for tahini?
Yes, you can use other nut butter instead of tahini. I use tahini because I love its taste and it makes this recipe nut-free for my nut-sensitive friends.
I really love these granola bars, making them in 2 consecutive weeks. I hope you will love them too! If you make them or have other questions, feel free to leave comments down below!
More Vegan Snack Recipes:
- Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Cookies (Vegan, 8 Ingredients)
- 1-bowl Vegan Banana Oatmeal Cookies (7 ingredients)
- Matcha Granola Bars (8 ingredients, naturally-sweetened)
Crunchy Prune Tahini Granola Bars (Healthy, Nut-free)
Ingredients
- 85 g pitted dates, (1 /2 cup)
- 85 g pitted prunes, (1/3 cup)
- 120 g water, (1 /2 cup)
- 60 g tahini, (1/4 cup)
- 135 g rolled oats, (1 + 1 /2 cup)
- 4 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 4 Tbsp sunflower seeds
- 30 g raisins, (1/4 cup)
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Soak the pitted dates and prunes in water for 3 hours. Save the soaking water.
- Preheat the oven to 150°C / 300°F. Line a baking sheet with a baking mat or parchment paper.
- Add dates and prunes to a food processor. Blend them together firs. Then add the soaking water and tahini. Blend to make it into a puree.
- In a large bowl, add rolled oats,pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, raisin,and groundcinnamon. Stir to mix them evenly.
- Pour the tahini-prune mixture to the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to combine all together.
- Spread out the mixture on the lined baking sheet into a single even layer. Make sure to press it down.
- Bake it for 25-30 minutes until it’s mostly dry. When halfway through, use a knife to cut it into sqaures. You can smell the delicious nutty, sweet aroma when it’s done.
- Let it cool in the oven completely. Use your hand to break the square apart. Enjoy with cold plant-based milk.
Notes
- Storage: Because I bake mine pretty dry, I just store these granola bars in an air-tight container on the counter. It will last for about 2 weeks. If you don’t bake your granola bars that dry, I will recommend putting them in the fridge and finish them within 2 weeks.
