Now you can make your OWN delicious Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt KIND Bars at home that are healthier and much tastier with zero baking required!
Ok so truth be told, I am absolutely obsessed with KIND bars!! They’re the perfect little snack to keep in your purse on the run or in your desk while at work, they’re made with all-natural wholesome ingredients and best of all, they’re soooo dang DELICIOUS!! The only thing I hate is that they’re pretty expensive if you want to a buy them in bulk. Well I have the perfect solution, simply make them yourself!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- peanuts, walnuts, almonds – can’t have a Kind bar without an assortment of nuts! I use dry roasted unsalted nuts for this recipe because we’ll be adding a lot more to these to add flavor along with sea salt
- puffed rice cereal – there are several all natural options for this, but good ol’ fashioned rice krispies will do the trick too if that’s all you’ve got on hand!
- flaxseed meal – adds even more nutty flavor with added health benefits!
- brown rice syrup – this is super important to bind everything together (although some readers have said maple syrup works too!)
- honey – adds a natural sweetness without using refined sugar
- vanilla extract – just adds a little something extra to these bars
- dark chocolate chips – the perfect finishing touch
How to Make Homemade KIND Bars
- First thing you’ll do is add a teaspoon of melted coconut oil to a large bowl to get the bowl nice and greasy and also line an 8-inch pan with aluminum foil, making sure you have some extra overhang on the sides (this will make it easy to pull the bars out once they are set!) Then mix together all your nuts, the puffed rice and flaxseed meal together in the greased bowl and set that aside.
- On the stove top, mix together brown rice syrup, honey, vanilla, and sea salt, and bring to a boil. Once is starts to boil, continually whisk everything for 3 to 4 minutes. THIS STEP IS THE MOST IMPORTANT! You want this mixture to boil for a few minutes so that it will thicken up , getting nice and sticky to hold these bars together.
- Once you’ve got the right consistency, immediately pour the syrup mixture overtop of the nut mixture and stir well to combine. Transfer your sticky nut mixture into your 8-inch pan, spreading it out evenly and making sure there are no gaps. Feel free to get your hands a little damp and press down on the nut mixture so that the bars will set nicely or you can use the back of spoon!
- You’ll want to let the bars cool completely before cutting them (about 30 minutes) so that they are completely set and won’t fall apart when cutting them.
- To make the chocolate drizzle, simply place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring each time until all the chocolate is melted. Then just drizzle over the bars once you’ve cut them (you should get about 10 bars) and let the chocolate set. And that’s it!
There are so many different combinations of Kind bars you can make too, but my absolute favorite are these dark chocolate and sea salt bars (hmm I wonder why??) So if you love these as much as I do then I urge you to make these bars ASAP! They’re healthy, easy to grab on-the-go and made with all-natural wholesome ingredients.
The great thing about making these is there is no baking involved so this makes the process super quick and easy. You can also customize this recipe however you’d like! I chose to make my favorite Kind bar which is the dark chocolate and sea salt version, but feel free to make these bars your own and get creative. I mean peanut butter anyone?? Oh those are SO next. Hey even your kids may want to join in on all the fun!
More Bars You’ll Enjoy
- No Bake Almond Butter Granola Bars (copycat Chewy bar recipe!)
- Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Healthier Pumpkin Bars
- Carrot Cake Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Bars
Homemade KIND Bars
Ingredients
- 1 tsp. coconut oil, melted and cooled (or any oil would work for this)
- ½ cup unsalted roasted almonds, whole
- ½ cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts, whole
- ½ cup roasted walnuts, chopped
- 1/3 cup puffed rice
- 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal
- ¼ cup brown rice syrup
- 2 Tbsp honey
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Line an 8 inch pan with aluminum foil leaving a couple of inches overhanging on each side.
- Drizzle melted coconut oil in a large bowl, making sure to coat the bowl completely so its greasy, and mix together the nuts, puffed rice and flaxseed meal. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, combine brown rice syrup, honey, vanilla and sea salt and bring to a boil. Once the mixture starts boiling, continually whisk for 3 to 4 minutes, until mixture has thickened and its nice and sticky.
- Pour syrup mixture immediately over nut mixture and stir to combine. Transfer into the lined pan and spread out evenly, making sure there are no gaps.
- Allow mixture to cool for about 30 minutes then, using the overhanging foil, take the block of nuts out of the pan and place on a cutting board. Cut into 10 even bars and allow to cool completely before drizzling chocolate.
- To make the chocolate drizzle, place the dark chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring each time until the chocolate is melted.
- Spoon the chocolate drizzle over the bars and let sit at room temperature until the chocolate has set.
- Store bars in an airtight container for up to a week or freeze to save for later.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thanks so much for sharing these. I would love to learn how to make the jalepeno strong bars. Have you tried them or can you give ,e some advice?
Love kind bars. Agree their way to expensive. Will try making these tomorrow, they look so good. Hope they come out. Sugars uasally need a temperature of around 250-300 degrees to get hard. Do you think it could be more of a lack of temperiture, than time, that keep these from setting up?
That absolutely could be it! I just found when I whisked the syrup mixture for a full two minutes at a rolling boil that they came out perfectly 🙂 I’m sure it can’t hurt to whisk for a bit longer just to make sure, hope you enjoy these!
Has anyone tried to sub rice syrup with maple syrup??
I made then last night and they were delicious! But they didnt stick together??
Hmm I think the secret to these bars sticking together is making sure the syrup mixture boils for a full two minutes while continuously whisking. This makes the mixture more “candy-like” and should hold everything together when cooled 🙂
Do you think it is possible that maybe it did not stick so well because I used rice crispies cereal as opposed to puffed rice? I was not able to find any!
Hmm I don’t think so! Rice Krispies should work the same as the puffed rice I used 🙂 I think it’s just important to get that syrup mixture to a candy-like texture by having a constant boil for a full 2 minutes, I’ll make these again soon though to test it out again!
I’m going to try those real quick they look delicious! Would love to see the salted caramel inspired versions too!!
Since you talk about the 21 Dau Fix, do you have a 21 Day Fix count on the Kind Bars?
I did a little research on this for you and I’m thinking you could count one Kind bar as a blue + 1 tsp. as they’re mostly nuts and honey 🙂
I keep making these because the taste is awesome. I skip the chocolate though. But, after many attempts, I still can’t get them to hold shape like a store bought bar. They are so sticky, I’ve thought about dusting them with something but I’m not sure. Any suggestions?
Hi Margie! The only thing I can think is that maybe you aren’t boiling the mixture long enough? It really needs to boil (while continually whisking) for the 2 full minutes which thickens the syrup making it perfect for holding the bars together 🙂 I like to use parchment paper to press the bars into the pan which helps them from sticking to my fingers – hope this helps!
Use a candy thermometer and once the syrup reaches 260 remove it. More accurate than time. Hope that helps.
This recipe works beautifully. The brown rice syrup is the key to that “Kind” bar taste. I did find the bars “adhered” to the foil a bit more than I was happy with, so I switched to silicon-coated parchment paper (I had some Wilton brand on hand) and that made easy work of it. Also, I found a thin coat of butter/oil on my cutting knife helped with quick, even cuts. I’m sending my Mom the recipe and an “ingredients kit” so she can make them as well. THANKS SO MUCH for your work in developing this recipe!!
Hi! what would be an alternative for the flaxeed and brown rice syrup….is it key to have in the recipe? Thanks 🙂
You could omit the flaxseed, but the brown rice syrup unfortunately is the key to everything sticking together 🙂
i also had the problem with them not getting firm enough. i only used rice syrup (to make them vegan) but i only let it boil for about 30 seconds or so. is the 2-3 minutes really key to having them get hard at room temp? let me know!
Hi Leah! Yes boiling the syrup for 2 to 3 minutes is super important as this makes the mixture stickier so that everything stays together 🙂 Hope they work for you next time!
These look delicious! Where might I find brown rice syrup or is there a substitute?
You should be able to find brown rice syrup next to the honey and maple syrup at your local grocery store! Try the organic section 🙂