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Chia trail mix bars combine all of your favorite trail mix flavors in a hearty and chewy snack bar. Customize these date-based bars with your favorite ingredients for a healthy snack your whole family will love.
If there's one thing that can get me excited about organizing my (sometimes bottomless pit) kitchen pantry, it's getting the chance to fill it up with foods we love that are on sale.
With back to school season in full swing, I'm happy to share how you can get up to $15 in Back-to-School digital coupon savings on the brands that you love, like Big G and Cascadian Farm Cereal, Nature Valley Snacks, and GoGurt Yogurt.
This stock-up sale is happening at Publix (woot woot - love it there), and is a snap to take advantage of.
**The sale is now over.**
While all of the General Mills products included in the sale are currently sitting pretty in my pantry and fridge, I used the Cascadian Farm Organic Oats and Honey Granola in one of my very favorite types of healthy snacks: chia bars.
Guys, I can't get over how easy these no-bake bars are to customize. With a base of Medjool dates, nuts, and dried fruit, the sky's the limit for mixing and matching flavors.
With this version, I took popular trail mix ingredients such as nuts, dried fruit, granola, and a touch of chocolate in the form of cocoa powder and processed them all together into these chewy, hearty date and chia trail mix bars. They're great to be packed in a school (or work) lunch box and make a delicious afternoon or anytime snack.
The whole family can get behind these!
It might be tough to envision how all of these ingredients come together into (mostly) smooth bars, but that's the magic of dates. And the food processor. 😉
You can see some of the stages in the photos above. Everything will begin by getting chopped up really small. Moisture will be released as the dates and nuts break down, leading to a cohesive mixture that will hold its shape when you press into it. That's the goal!
Cascadian Farm Organic Oats and Honey Granola is such a great addition to these trail mix bars. Besides providing extra nutrition and flavor, it adds little crunchy specks that add to the heft these bars have. Very satisfying to snack on! It also helps the texture of these firm up just right, and slice super cleanly.
As everyone has their own trail mix preferences, I kept a few ingredients a bit vague in the recipe card. Use your preferred nuts and dried fruit. In this particular batch I used a combination of almonds and pecans, with dried cranberries as my dried fruit of choice. I'm thinking dried cherries would be an amazing variation that I can't wait to try next time.
Date and Chia Trail Mix Bars
Ingredients
- 8 whole pitted Medjool dates
- ½ cup nuts such as walnuts, almonds, pecans, or a combination
- ¼ cup Cascadian Farm Organic Oats & Honey Granola
- ¼ cup dried fruit such as dried cherries, dried cranberries, etc.
- 2 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder (4 teaspoons total)
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and process in 15-20 second bursts or until the mixture is cohesive and holds its shape well when you press into it. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to incorporate all of the ingredients.
- Lay down a sheet of plastic wrap and turn out mixture onto the center. Place another sheet of plastic wrap over top and press mixture into a rectangular shape around ½"-thick. Press into the sides to ensure no scraggly pieces become separated.
- Wrap the rectangle tightly with the ends of the plastic wrap sheets and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or until it has firmed up well. Slice into eight bars, storing bars in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
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Arpita Chari says
Can I use regular oats for this? I don't live in the US so don't have access to this product. What else would I need to add to the oats to get the same texture as the granola used?
Alyssa says
Hi Arpita, while I haven't tried it with this exact recipe to know for sure, I've blitzed up dry rolled oats along with dates in a bar recipe before and it has worked. At its base granola consists of oats coated in oil/sweetener and baked in the oven until crisp and golden.