No-Bake Fig Cardamom Bars
Oats, nuts, and dried fruit pressed into a bar with coconut oil and honey. No oven, no crumbs.
- calories
- 310
- weight
- 2.1 oz
- cal / oz
- 148
- protein
- 7 g
- serves
- 10, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- Breakfast
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Day hike
- Car camping
- Bikepacking
- Thru-hike
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Old fashioned rolled oats | 2 1/2 cups | certified gluten-free oats if that matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| Nuts and seeds | 1 cup | almonds, sunflower, pumpkin; chop the nuts coarse |
| Dried fruit | 3/4 cup | figs chopped small, or cranberries |
| Chia seeds | 2 tbsp | |
| Coconut oil | 1/3 cup | |
| Honey | 1/2 cup | |
| Kosher salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg | 1 tsp total |
Method
- This one is made at home, on a kitchen stove. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment and leave overhang on two sides.
- Warm the coconut oil and honey in a saucepan over low heat until the oil melts and the two go loose and pourable. Do not let it boil.
- Stir in the salt and spices, then kill the heat.
- Dump in the oats, nuts, seeds, chia, and fruit. Stir until every oat looks wet. Dry patches become crumbs later.
- Scrape it into the pan and press hard with the back of a spoon or a second sheet of parchment under your palms. Press harder than feels necessary.
- Let it set two hours at room temperature, or one in the fridge. Lift out by the parchment and cut into ten bars.
- Wrap each bar. They travel in the pack and need no water or heat.
Most homemade granola bar recipes come out of the pan as granola. The fix is mechanical, not culinary: enough liquid sugar and fat to coat every dry piece, and real pressure when you press the pan. Honey sets firm as it cools and coconut oil goes solid below about 76F, so the two together act as the binder. Skipping the pressing step is what produces crumbs.
Nothing here needs a fridge or a stove once it leaves the kitchen, which is the point. The chia and the pressed shape are doing the same job, holding the slab together so it survives a week of being sat on. In heat above the coconut oil’s melting point the bars soften, so wrap them and keep them out of direct sun.
Packing
Wrap bars individually in parchment or wax paper, then a zip bag. In hot weather the coconut oil softens and they go greasy but stay together; a lid pocket is fine, a sun-facing side pocket is not. Good for about two weeks out of the fridge, longer in cool conditions.
Variations
- Swap the honey for brown rice syrup or molasses to make it vegan.
- Leave the nuts out and go all sunflower and pumpkin seed for a nut-free version.
- Cocoa powder and coconut flakes in place of the spices and figs.
- Add 2 tbsp of milk powder to the dry mix for more protein if dairy is not a problem.
https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/diy-no-bake-chewy-granola-bars