If you need the perfect back-to-school snack or lunchbox treat, skip store-bought and make my Vegan Dark Chocolate Raspberry Granola Bars. They are filled with nourishing ingredients like figs, hemp seeds, and almond butter. Plus, they’re 100% gluten- and dairy-free. My toddler is obsessed with these!
Other healthy snacks you’ll love are my Black Bean Brownies, 3-Ingredient Banana Oat Bites, Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies or GF Chocolate Chip Muffins. More high-protein and healthy breakfast options we love are Protein Brownie Overnight Oats and Vegan Egg Frittata Muffins with Homemade GF Bread.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Homemade Instead of Store-Bought: Store-bought snacks, especially granola bars, are simply not healthy. I make my own at home, and they taste way better too!
- Cost Effective: It is so much cheaper to make your own cereal bars at home, same goes for Nature’s Gatorade!
- Crave Worthy: With the dark chocolate and crunchy raspberry topping, these granola bars taste like dessert but without the junk.
- Low Sugar: Most granola bars are basically just candy bars filled with sugar! This homemade version is low in sugar instead.
- Dietary Friendly: Whether you are gluten-free, dairy-free, on an anti-inflammatory diet, or just want to eat more whole, real foods, my Vegan Dark Chocolate Raspberry Granola Bars are free from common triggers!
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Notes on Ingredients
- Healthy cereal: I like to use Ezekial cereal because it’s whole-grain and low sugar. Any low-sugar healthy, crunchy cereal works great!
- Almond butter: If you want to make this recipe nut-free, use sunflower seed butter. Peanut butter would also be delicious!
- Dried figs: Any dried fruit is fine like dates, apricots, or cherries.
- Dark chocolate: I like to use a low-sugar or stevia-sweetened dark chocolate for these bars.
- Freeze-dried raspberries: If you can’t find raspberries, any freeze-dried fruit would work. Apples and strawberries are easy to find and would be really yummy!
Please take note that this is important information about the ingredients used in this recipe and the FULL recipe with measurements and details can be found DOWN BELOW (scroll to it) in the recipe card.
How do you make Vegan Dark Chocolate Raspberry Granola Bars?
- Line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper.
- Add all ingredients, except dark chocolate and freeze-dried raspberries, to a food processor and blend.
- Empty the food processor contents into the 9×9 baking pan and press the dough down flat.
- Freeze for 10-15 minutes while you melt the chocolate.
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave.
- Pour the melted chocolate over top and spread into an even layer.
- Sprinkle on crushed freeze-dried raspberries.
- Freeze for 30 minutes before slicing and storing in the fridge or freezer. Enjoy!
- Step 1: First, add everything to a food processor, except dark chocolate and freeze-dried raspberries.
- Step 2: Then, blend until a sticky, combined “dough” forms.
- Step 3: Empty the food processor contents into a lined 9×9 baking pan.
- Step 4: Next, press the granola bar dough down so it’s flat. Freeze for 15 minutes while you melt the chocolate.
- Step 5: Melt the dark chocolate and pour over the bars, smoothing it out to create an even layer.
- Step 6: Lastly, top with crushed freeze-dried raspberries, freeze, slice, and enjoy!
Commonly Asked Questions
Store these bars in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. You could also store them in the freezer for a heartier texture–totally personal preference–where they will last up to 3 months. I keep mine in the fridge! Make Antioxidant Berry Muffin Baked Oatmeal or Protein Brownie Overnight Oats for another meal-prep friendly breakfast.
I like Ezekial cereal because it’s whole-grain and low sugar. Purely Elizabeth makes a gluten-free version with great ingredients as well. Other brands I like are Seven Sundays and Love Bird.
No worries! You can replace them with any freeze-dried fruit. Apples or strawberries would be delicious and can usually be found at common stores like Target or Walmart. You could also just omit them altogether.
Yes! They make a great lunchbox snack. They can be made nut-free. Just be sure to use a nut-free cereal and use sunflower seed butter in place of almond butter. Everything else is naturally nut-free. Make Apple Dessert Nachos or Berries and Cream Collagen Booster Smoothie for another nut-free treat!
You can, but I recommend keeping them in the fridge or freezer. The chocolate will stay nice and crunchy, and the almond butter will firm up which helps keep these bars together. Also, they will last much longer in the fridge or freezer!
Most store-bought snacks are just a version of ultra-processed foods. They’re filled with refined sugar, refined flours, artificial flavors, preservatives, food dyes, and more. These bars are made from scratch from whole, real foods like whole grains, nuts, and seeds. They’re gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free.
Tons! My toddler loves these 3-Ingredient Banana Oat Bites, Soft-Baked Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, and Berry Muffin Baked Oatmeal.
“These bars are insanely delicious. I love using a crunchy cereal as the base. The fact that they are no-bake makes them SO easy to make.”
– Jordan
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Extra Helpful Tips
- Use a creamy, runny almond butter for the best texture in these bars.
- Any kind of healthy, low-sugar, crunchy cereal will work.
- Choose dark chocolate over milk to keep these bars healthy and low in sugar.
- Substitute any seeds you prefer. For example, flax seeds instead of hemp and sunflower seeds instead of pumpkin.
- Store bars in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. You could also store them in the freezer for a heartier texture–totally personal preference–where they will last up to 3 months. I keep mine in the fridge!
- Make my Homemade Vegan Protein Bars or Vegan Brownie Banana Bread next!
If you tried these Vegan Dark Chocolate Raspberry Granola Bars or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 5-star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Vegan Dark Chocolate Raspberry Granola Bars (better than store-bought!)
Equipment
- 1 spatula
Ingredients
- 2 cups healthy cereal I use Purely Elizabeth or Ezekiel cereal
- 1 cup almond butter creamy, natural
- 1 cup dried figs
- ⅓ cup hemp seeds
- ½ cup pumpkin seeds
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chips melted
- freeze dried raspberries for topping
Instructions
- Line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper.
- Add all ingredients, except dark chocolate and freeze-dried raspberries, to a food processor and blend for a couple minutes to combine. Everything should be crushed, emulsified, and a “dough” should form.
- Empty the food processor contents into the 9×9 baking pan and use your fingers to press the dough down flat.
- Freeze for 10-15 minutes while you melt the chocolate.
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in between.
- Remove the bars from the freezer and pour the melted chocolate over top. Use a spatula to spread the chocolate into an even layer.
- Sprinkle on crushed freeze-dried raspberries.
- Freeze for 30 minutes before slicing and storing in the fridge or freezer. Enjoy!
Notes
- Use a creamy, runny almond butter for the best texture in these bars.
- Any kind of healthy, low-sugar, crunchy cereal will work.
- Choose dark chocolate over milk to keep these bars healthy and low in sugar.
- Substitute any seeds you prefer. For example, flax seeds instead of hemp and sunflower seeds instead of pumpkin.
Jordan Stacy says
These bars are insanely delicious. I love using a crunchy cereal as the base. The fact that they are no-bake makes them SO easy to make.
Kelly says
these are waiting for me when i get home and i cant wait!
Chaya says
What’s a clean gluten free cereal you’d recommend.
Also, what can replace the chopped figs.
Jordan Stacy says
Hi Chaya! Jordan from the HealthyGirl Kitchen team here. We love the Purely Elizabeth, Seven Sundays, and Ezekial cereal brands! In place of chopped figs, another dried fruit would work like dates, dried apricot, or raisins.