What do you reach for when you want something sweet but don’t feel like turning on the oven to bake something? Once you try these bars, I think they’ll be the answer to that question! With only five key ingredients and enough sweetness to satisfy without crashing later, you just need a food processor and microwave to throw together these bars. But fair warning: even though they’re healthy, they’re often one of the first desserts to go when I bring them to family get-togethers!

Whole Food Plant-Based, Vegan, Oil Free, Refined Sugar Free, Gluten Free.

When I shared these tasty bars in my Stories, I got so many DMs asking for the recipe – and now it’s ready for prime time! I knew I had to push this to the top of my list after it grabbed so much attention.

I don’t have the biggest sweet tooth, so coming up with dessert recipes isn’t my strong suit, but when I do share one, you know it’s going to be special because I’m pretty picky about sweets.

A friend of mine once told me that the only thing stopping her from going plant-based was dessert. She loves to bake, but every recipe she makes has oil, butter, or eggs – or all three! But I can now say from experience that these bars and my Vegan No Bake Snickers Bars are exactly the sort of recipes that can pull sweets lovers over to the “green side”, so to speak.

These bars took some trial and error to get right. I wanted to come up with something with minimal ingredients to keep it simple, and these only have 5 key ingredients beyond pantry staples – oats, nut butter, Medjool dates, maple syrup, and dark vegan chocolate. If you’ve been following me for a while, you probably know that I expect you to keep ground flaxseed in your kitchen, so I’m not counting that, nor the water, turmeric and black pepper.

Honestly, you could even leave out the chocolate drizzle on top if you’re not a fan. Or, if you fall squarely in “the more chocolate, the better” camp, you could spread the chocolate completely across the top. It’s dark, so it’s healthy! *wink wink*

If you don’t have hazelnut butter and don’t feel like making any, I have made these with peanut butter before and they were also quite good, although the hazelnut butter has a nutritional edge. Nut butters in general have a lot of fat, but much of it is the “good” monounsaturated fat that has been linked to a lower heart disease risk and better blood sugar control – great properties in a dessert, if you ask me!

The first two versions of these bars were either too soft or too dry. But the third time’s a charm, as they say, and I’ve found a combo that is quite addictive. In fact, although each batch makes 8 bars, I actually made 3 batches in 24 hours the day I nailed the recipe because they vanished in a snap once my family tried them. So if you want to impress someone, make them a batch of these No Bake Oat and Hazelnut Bars and you’re sure to win them over!

Ingredients:

Makes 8 bars

-1 cup (100 g) oats, processed into flour (gluten free if necessary)

-1/4 cup (25 g) jumbo or rolled oats (gluten free if necessary)

-2 tablespoons (10 g) ground flaxseed

-6 Medjool dates (120 g), soaked into hot water for 10 minutes, then pitted

-1/4 cup (64 g) hazelnut butter

-4 tablespoons (40 ml) maple syrup

-2 tablespoons lukewarm water

Optional (but recommended):

-1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

-pinch of black pepper

Topping:

-1/2 oz (15 g) vegan dark chocolate (you may use more and coat the bars completely if you prefer) (gluten free if necessary)

Method:

1. Line a 6.5” x 6” dish with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a food processor, add all the ingredients in the order listed above (including the turmeric and black pepper, if using).

3. Blend for about 30 seconds or until the dates become incorporated into the mixture. You may have to pause and scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure all the ingredients are mixed well.

4. Spread the oat and hazelnut mixture into the prepared dish. Press down so that all the bars are even.

5. Place in the freezer for 1 to 1 ½ hours.

6. Take the dish out of the freezer. Melt the chocolate in the microwave and drizzle on top of the bars – act quickly before it hardens!

7. Once the chocolate sets, chop into 8 bars. The chocolate should only take a few minutes to set – unless your house is pretty hot, in which case you might need to put it back into the freezer to help it set. Store in the fridge in an airtight container.

Nutritional Facts per bar:

Calories: 184

Carbs: 26.4 g

Protein: 3.7 g

Fats: 7.3 g

Fiber: 3.7 g