Easy to Make Paleo Nut Bars

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Do you like nuts? If you do, you’ll love these paleo nut bars! Since starting the paleo diet, I’m always searching for good healthy snack options that are easy to make. I wish I could just go down to the health food store and pick up a paleo snack bar to take with me on the go, but it doesn’t exist. So instead, I put together this simple recipe for paleo nut bars.

The snack bars that are currently sold in stores are not acceptable for the paleo diet (at least I haven’t found any). They typically contain added sugar, GMO’s, soy, dyes, and natural flavors. Even though natural flavors sound like something good and natural, it’s really not at all! It can include MSG and aspartame,  sweetener.

These paleo nut bars are easy to make. It took me less than five minutes to cut up the nuts and mix them with raw honey and shredded coconut. They are so delicious and will give you a great boost in energy. I usually like to have them mid-morning and they hold me over until lunch time. Be careful though, because they taste so good, they can be pretty addicting!

Before You Make Them

Prior to making these bars, take all the nuts and seeds you plan on using and let them soak overnight in water. Have them soak for 12 to 18 hours. It is important to soak seeds and nuts prior to eating because they contain phytic acid, which can interfere with digestion of the beneficial minerals in the nuts/seeds. Some foods that contain a high amount of phytic acid are brazil nuts, cocoa powder, almonds, and walnuts. Eating foods high in phytic acid is not a concern as long as you don’t have too much. So for those on the paleo diet, who tend to eat more nuts/seeds, it is a good idea to soak them all at least overnight. Soaking the seeds breaks down a good portion of the phytic acid as does roasting them. So, for this reason, I generally soak all of my nuts/seeds.

How to Soak the Nuts and Seeds:

The night before you plan on making these bars put your nuts/seeds inside a bowl. Pour enough water to cover them and leave the bowl on your kitchen counter overnight, maybe until the next afternoon. You can then dehydrate the nuts/seeds by placing them on a baking sheet and baking them in the oven on a low temperature for about 15 to 30 minutes. The nuts can then be stored on your counter in a glass container for months. I keep mine in a glass mason jar, grab a handful for a snack or use them for recipes, like this one!

Paleo Nut Bars Ingredient Options

You can use any kind of seeds or nuts you prefer. The ones below are my favorite and taste great together! Not only can you change the kinds of nuts to get different flavored paleo nut bars, but you can also add in dried fruit or chocolate chips.

Paleo Nut Bars Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of almonds (see it here)
• 1/4 cup of walnuts (see it here)
• 1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds (see it here)
• 2 tablespoons of flaxseeds (see it here)
• 1/4 cup of shredded coconut flakes unsweetened (see it here)
• 1/4 cup of melted coconut oil (see it here)
• 1/3 cup of raw honey (see it here)

*Note: You can substitute any kind of seeds/nuts for the kinds I used above.

Instructions:

1. Chop the nuts to your desired size. I used a knife to cut the almonds and walnuts in half. I left the seeds as is.
2. Add all of the nuts, seeds, and the coconut flakes to a large mixing bowl and stir.
3. Add in the coconut oil (if it is not already liquid at room temp., lightly heat it so that it will melt) and raw honey.
4. Stir well. You may need to use your hands to make sure the honey is thoroughly mixed in.
5. Grease an 8×4 baking dish with butter. Any size dish will work. I chose this size because the bars came out a little bit thicker.
6. Use your hands or a spoon to put the mixture of nuts into the baking dish. Push it down with your hands and make sure it is evenly spread out. It can get pretty sticky, but just do the best you can; a spoon may help.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
8. Let cool for 15 minutes then place in your fridge. Keep in fridge until ready to eat.

How to Store the Paleo Nut Bars

After they come out of the oven, you have to let the paleo nut bars cool, in order for them to harden up. For me, once they reached room temperature they still were falling apart a little. I wanted them to be hard and crunchy so I put them in the fridge and left them there until I was ready to eat them.

You can also keep them in the freezer and move them to the fridge when you’re ready to eat.

Tips:

• Use a buttered knife to cut the bars and gently lift them out of the baking pan.
• Store them on a plate or some type of dish because they tend to stick to paper, making it harder to remove them when you’re ready to eat them.