Fruit and Seed Bars
Food allergies are a serious problem in this country — nuts being a particular culprit. Most schools in our area (and many around the country) have banned nuts all together, regardless of whether or not the kids are known to have nut allergies. Thankfully, safety measures like those or having designated nut-free areas in school cafeterias help protect the ever increasing number of America’s allergic children, but it can make life difficult for busy moms who rely on protein-filled snacks for their kids that are made with nuts. I can’t imagine how challenging it must be for parents who deal everyday with food allergies, so I’ve been spending a lot of time developing recipes which use protein and nutrient-rich seeds as an alternative to nuts.
I think these bars deliver the goods: sunflower seeds are packed with protein and Vitamin E, pumpkin seeds with magnesium, and flax seeds with an off the charts amount of omega-3 fatty acids. Add in all of the other healthful ingredients in this recipe, and these fruit and seed bars are just as sweet, crunchy, healthy, and delicious as any nut-filled protein bar you’ll find in stores. Even if you or your kids don’t have a food allergy, try making a batch of these bars. My guys can’t seem to get enough of them. And, it’s a treat that most schools will be happy to welcome.
Fruit and Seed Bars (Makes 20 Bars)
1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
1/2 Cup Raw Pumpkin Seeds (also known as Pepitas)
1/2 Cup Raw Sunflower Seeds
2 Tbsp Flax Seeds
1 Cup Dried Fruit (blueberries, raisins, currants, cranberries and/or cherries)
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
1/3 Cup Honey
1/2 Cup Sunflower Butter
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a food processor, pulse the first 6 ingredients until finely chopped (it’s ok if there are few coarsely chopped pieces).
3. Add the honey and sunflower and pulse until starting to combine.
4. Pour the mixture into a 9 x 9 inch pan, greased then line with parchment and press down into the pan until completely even.
4. Bake for 25 minutes.
5. Let the bars completely cool before cutting with a serrated knife into bars.
6. Serve.
*Cool, place in Ziploc bags, label and freeze. Defrost to room temperature and enjoy!
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Do these freeze well?
If they are stored properly, yes. But I have not tried it.
Where do you get sunflower butter? This isn’t something I have found in any of the stores here. Also, do you ever post nutritional info..calories, carbs, protein, fiber etc?“
You can get sunflower butter at any health foods store like whole foods or trader jo’s or any other store.
Some Targets also carry it now!
if you have a natural foods isle in your store check there. usually on the shelf above the almond butter
Any alternatives to the coconut flakes? (I am not a coconut fan.)
I would just add half cup more of dried fruit. You can just not put them in.
I can’t wait to make these TODAY. My son is obsessed with granola bars, but they all have so much sugar. Thank you!
I don’t know where Shallena lives, but in CA, Trader Joe’s has Sunflower Butter.
Could I use something other than Sunflower butter if i can’t find it? No trader joe’s around here…
You can use almond butter or peanut butter, as long as there is no allergy.
I think Whole Foods carries Sun Butter. I’ve seen it more recently even at some Super Targets as well as some local grocery stores here in CO.
My local Super Target has sunflower butter and soy nut butter..we have a peanut allergy in our house so I do soy nut butter and it tastes great in granola bars…I make a very similar recipe to this one but I do add almonds and a splash of molasses…yum!
My Kroger has sunflower butter. It’s located in the whole foods area. It’s kind of like a peanut butter but very yummy
My Target actually sells sunflower butter! And most of my food stores are also carrying soynut butter, which is a big hit with my daughter (who is allergic to nuts). Good luck!
What is the reasoning behind greasing the pan then lining with parchment? I’ve baked both ways but never done both at the same time…
Thanks!
They come out much easier, so you can lift the paper and cut them on the board.
I just want to thank you for the attention and consideration to allergy-friendly recipes. I have frequented your website since my twin boys were starting on solids (they are now 2) and modify as many recipes as I can for them (allergies to milk, soy, nuts and egg). Your recipes are usually a big hit! I would love to see more recipes like this! Thanks so much for making my life a little easier as I try to feed my very allergic children nutritious, tasty food.
These are delicious! I took them out of the oven about 30 minutes ago and couldn’t wait until they cooled completely – they smelled so good I had to try them warm.
The only change I made was to use almond butter as I’m not concerned about nuts and had it on hand. They are way better than store-bought bars. I think my little guy is going to love them. Thanks for a great recipe!
I just made these and they taste great, but they fell apart when I tried to cut them. What did I do wrong? Did I not bake them long enough?
Great recipe though. I’ll be making them again. Hopefully my 2 1/2 year old likes them as much as I do.
Did you allow them too cool completely before cutting into them? Make sure you combine all the ingredients well.
is there an alternative to sunflower seed butter? My daughter is allergic to nuts, sunflower seeds, in addition to egg, dairy, corn, sesame… BTW, i love your recipes!
You could use another nut or seed butter but since she is allergic, I don’t know. Can she have soy nuts?
possibly rice syrup?
Soy Nut Butter!!! It’s all we use in our nut allergic house..
Any alternative to Oats? My son is gluten-free.
besides GF oatmeal you could also try quinoa flakes. Natural food stores carry them as well as Whole Foods.
Bob’s red mill makes gluten free oats, as do many specialty companies.
my 20 month old helped make these bars and she LOVES them! I used cashews instead of sunflower seeds because that’s what I had, and they still turned out great.
I am really blown away at the amount of food allergies kids have these days compared to when I grew up. Is it because parents introduce certain foods too early?
I made these the other day and since no one in my house has any food allergies of any kind I used raw almond butter in place of the sunflower seed butter and the dried fruits I used were blueberries, cherries, cranberries and chopped turkish apricots. These are a HUGE hit with my almost 2 year old as well as myself and husband.
Also I seem to never be able to find certain dried fruits like cranberries or blueberries without added sugar. I soaked and rinsed mine for a while making sure they didn’t rehydrate but to try to get some of the sugar off. It seemed to help a little. Not sure where I can find dried fruit without sugar added, even whole foods has them with sugar added.
This is a keeper recipe though! Thanks!
For a while, our Whole Foods had cranberries sweetened with apple juice…but it was the same amount of sugar, if not more. I would love to find some without added sugar, too…
Also, about the food allergies. I’m not sure why really. But I do know that we took ALL of the protective measures we knew of with allergies…not introducing solids until 6 months, waiting even more than 4 days between new foods, holding off on allergenic foods until much later, breastfeeding (still as a toddler), making ALL of his baby food from scratch and from organic foods…and he still ended up with food allergies! My mother has TONS of severe food allergies – not sure if that played a role, even though dr.s say it only matters if the parents have allergies (and we don’t, though I might have a gluten sensitivity).
I wonder all the time how he has them… If he didn’t, I would probably be wondering the same thing you said about giving foods too soon b/c I think it’s a common problem, but I know that played no role in it for us. Sometimes you can do it all right and still have problems.
Same thing for us, Daisy! Followed all the rules and even drove an hour to Whole Foods once a week to buy organic food to make his baby food…..still allergic to nuts:(
The only difference is I do have food allergies. Brings mom guilt to a whole new level:(
I have twin boys – obviously they were exposed to the same things in utero and I fed them the same foods as infants and toddlers. One has allergies and the other doesn’t – not sure that we should feel guilty about the food allergies.
Ditto again on the “doing everything right” and still ending up with food allergies. I nursed exclusively for 6 months, introduced things VERY slowly and my son still has allergies to dairy, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts. Oh, and no family history of allergies either. In fact, my husband grew up on a dairy farm! I’m on board with the “too many antibacterials” bandwagon causing these allergies. A little dirt and germs is a good thing!
Do you use unsweetened dried fruit in this recipe? I saw Trader Joe’s had unsweetened dried blueberries and cranberries but wasn’t sure if they would change the flavor of the recipe.
Yes they are unsweetened
I had the same issues as one of the posters above- the bars never seemed to glue together in the pan and even after they cooled, it still all fell apart like granola. I am pretty sure I followed the recipe to the letter. I was really looking forward to these too.
I tested these 3 times and they worked well for me, I will be testing them again tomorrow and see what tips I can add so they can work better for everyone
Thanks for posting these!! I can’t wait to make them. The littlest one has food allergies and loves some specific (pricey) allergy-friendly bars we get at Whole Foods, but these would be great and much less expensive!!
Question… We already have ground flax seed on hand. How much would we use in place of the 2T flax seeds?
Just use 1 Tsp
I just made these and had the same problem with them falling apart. I think the recipe has an error. In #3 you say the honey and sunflower mixture – when do you mix it and how – in a bowl or heat in on the stove like you do in your granola balls? The parts that had the butter/honey were stuck together but the parts that weren’t mixed well didn’t. Am I missing something here? Thanks.
Sorry for the confusion, did not mean to say mixture. You really need to pulse all the ingredients so they are chopped fine, then you add the honey and sunflower evenly throughout the ingredients and keep pulsing until it comes together ( you may have to open the lid and with a spatula scrape down the sides and keep pulsing again) The mixture will eventually come together – you have to be patient so you can allow the dry ingredients to soak in the honey and butter. When it is done cooling, cut them in with a serrated knife and serve
I actually heated the honey and sunflower butter together in a pot on the stove until it was soft and well-combined, then added it to the other ingredients. I was concerned it wouldn’t combine easily so I put it all into a mixing bowl (after pulsing the seeds, oats, dried fruit) and got my bare hands in there to mix it all up. It worked great and was a great stress relief at the same time! The bars turned out great but I immediately thought I’ll try them with mini dairy-free chocolate chips next time. A bit of candied ginger would be good too if you don’t mind a teeny amount of added sugar.
Oh yeah…and I toasted the seeds first too! Added a really nice flavour to the bars. Delicious!
Once again an amazing recipe! I made these this morning so that I would have a quick go-to for between meal snacks. I used peanut butter, dried apricots, dried blueberries and raises. They are rich and filling! Thank you!
Seed and fruit bars!
Where do you find dried fruit,pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and coconut that are NOT processed on the same equipment as tree nuts? My daughter is allergic to tree nuts and I have a hard time finding dried fruit, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and flake coconut that she can have. these sound great!!!
I find several of these products at Whole Foods, Peanut Free Planet (website), and sometimes I find the Enjoy Life brand of nut free trail mix at my local Vons. Once I find brands that work for us, I can sometimes order them cheaper from online sellers. Good luck. It’s tough finding safe foods for our kids, but they are out there!
Are these suppose to be soft or crunchy? I cooked mine longer then you said and they still seemed soft (maybe undercooked). Should I try cooking them longer or at a higher temperature to make them crunchy?
The flavors are wonderful. Thanks for all the great recipes. My toddler loves making them with me.
Yum! No coconut for me & used almond butter instead of sunflower butter. After food processed dry stuff I mixed in the honey & butter with my hands. Turned out great, not much breaking apart as I cut it with a large pizza cutter.
Yum! No coconut for me & used almond butter instead of sunflower butter. After food processed dry stuff I mixed in the honey & butter with my hands. Turned out great, not much breaking apart as I cut it with a large pizza cutter. Kids loved them too!
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These bars were absolutely delicious! I substituted peanut butter for the sunflower butter and slivered almonds for the flax seeds. Also, I only had an 8×8 pan so I needed to bake them a bit longer. Thank you for this wonderful recipe! The variations are endless.
yes.. the bars were so delicious!
But after baking and cooling them down completely, the bars were crumbly while cutting.. I used a glass baking dish for baking. And I’m wondering if that needed extra baking time than what’s mentioned?
I will try in a metal pan next time and see if that holds up the bars any better.
Yes, usually with glass you need to extend the baking time by anywhere from 5-10 minutes!
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