Apricot Granola Bars

These Apricot Granola Bars are a staple recipe to have on hand when you need a quick healthy snack and an easy slice recipe for the week. Fabulous to pop into your kids lunchbox and also great to take to work.

These dried apricot granola bars require zero baking, only refrigeration. They’re soft yet solid, filled with nourishing dried apricots, energizing hemp seeds and nutrient-dense hulled tahini created from sesame seeds. 

Why Make Homemade Healthy Granola Bars?

Homemade granola bars are a fantastic recipe to make. Not only are they tasty but you can load them up with various healthy ingredients. You will also find that granola bars can be baked, such as my recipe for these scrumptious baked Seed Bars. Having a recipe for the no bake variety is great because they take less time to make however, there is the chilling time in the refrigerator but I’m sure you understand 😉

Add Delicious Dried Fruit & Nourishing Seeds

These healthy and no bake tahini and apricot granola bars are made up mostly of old fashioned rolled oats, tasty dried apricots and lots of tahini goodness. To add some sweetness, maple syrup is used as a more natural alternative to other refined sugars. The addition of hemp seeds add extra protein and healthy fats. Only 7 ingredients are needed to make these granola bars and you’ll have a healthy snack ready to enjoy. You may also love to wrap each bar in a strip of parchment paper and tie them with jute twine for a pretty rustic look to take with you on the go. 

Key Ingredients

Old fashioned rolled oats adds bulk and is classic in granola bars. Use certified gluten free oats to make your bars gluten free if desired. 

Dried apricots as the dried fruit component. Their delicious flavour and fabulous vibrant colour is very attractive in these bars. 

Hemp seeds to add extra protein and healthy fats. They also offer a slight crunch. 

Fine salt enhances flavour and balances out excess sweetness. 

Hulled tahini as one of the main flavours and helps stick everything together. 

Maple syrup as the natural sweetener. 

Coconut oil to help stick all of the ingredients together. Also helps these bars stay solid when stored. 

How To Make These Apricot & Tahini No Bake Granola Bars

• First prepare your pan by lining a square 8 inch x 8 inch (20cm x 20cm) baking pan with parchment paper. Set this aside and let’s get onto making your bars! 

• In a large mixing bowl, add your oats, chopped apricots, hemp seeds and the salt. Mix this well and set it aside. NOTE: ensure your apricots are finely chopped into small pieces as large pieces can make these bars crumble more. 

• Now in a small-medium sized pot, add your tahini, maple syrup and your coconut oil. Place the pot over a low heat and gently melt the mixture down until  it’s smooth. Mix it occasionally with a spatula. Ensure your mixture doesn’t come to a boil or simmer. 

• Once it’s completely melted, remove it from the heat and pour it over your dry mixture. Mix until it’s well combined and the dry ingredients are well coated, using a wooden spoon is helpful for this step!

• Transfer your mixture into the lined pan and press it in firmly. I recommend you take a small drinking glass and use the base of it to press the mixture down into the pan until it’s well packed. This will achieve the best bars possible that do not crumble when sliced later on. 

• Place your slice in the refrigerator and it chill for 2 hours or preferably overnight so the bars are completely solid.

• Remove from the pan and using a sharp knife, cut it in half to create two even halves. Then slice each half into long bars widthways. Enjoy! 

• Store in an airtight container, refrigerated, for 1 week – 10 days. 

Recipe Tips & Substitutions

• If you wanted to make these gluten free, please look for good quality gluten free rolled oats that you know for a fact are gluten free. Bobs Red Mill Gluten Free Old Fashioned Rolled Oats are great!

• To prevent your bars from crumbling when you slice them, chop your apricots into small pieces, close to diced. I know this will be time consuming however it’s worth it. The larger your apricot pieces are, the more they’re likely to fall out when you’re eating the bars, causing the ingredients around them in the bars to crumble, if that makes sense. The bars themselves are soft yet solid but when you have larger pieces of fruit or nuts, they tend to not stick as well and as a result, they can fall out. 

• Refrigerate your bars for a minimum of 2 hours or preferably overnight as the longer they sit in the fridge before you slice them, the better they’ll hold together when you cut them into the bars. 

Looking for more healthy slice recipes? Here are some favourites:

Seed Bars

Pumpkin & Apricot Chocolate Slice

Healthier Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

Almond Butter Crispy Chocolate Bars

If you make this recipe please be sure to let me know how you go in the comments below and tag me on Instagram with your delicious photos & video! I love to see what you guys are making from the blog and enjoying with your loved ones. 

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