These fudgy chocolate paleo bars are a wholesome & filling snack that tastes like dessert!
{5 ingredients}
No added sugars
No eggs or flour
No baking required
The best part about these completely vegan & paleo snack bars is that they don’t need to be refrigerated, making them a great “on the go” healthy option. If you’ve ever tried a store-bought Larabar, this is the same basic concept. The bars are made up of wholesome ingredients, including dates, nuts, and antioxidant-rich cacao powder; and you can customize the recipe by varying the add-ins each time to make different flavors.
(Step-by-step recipe video below)
Custom Flavor Ideas
Chocolate Almond Joy Bars: Use raw almonds instead of walnuts, and add a handful of shredded coconut or 2-3 tbsp melted coconut butter before processing.
Nutella Paleo Bars: Use hazelnuts as your nuts of choice, and you can also add 1-2 tbsp of my Healthy Nutella Recipe if desired.
Chocolate Orange Paleo Bars: Use cashews or walnuts, and add 1 1/2 tsp orange zest before processing.
Super Chia Paleo Bars: Use any nuts you wish, and throw in 2 tbsp chia seeds before processing.
Other Popular Paleo Recipes:
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- Clean Eating Almond Butter Fudge
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- Chocolate Avocado Frosting
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- Coconut Crack Bars
I first made this recipe almost eight years ago… and it is still one of my favorites today!
If you make the plain chocolate version or any of the variations, please feel free to post a picture of your results in the comment section below or tag ChocolateCoveredKatie on Instagram so I can see and like your pictures.
Chocolate Paleo Bars
(Chocolate Brownie Larabars)
Paleo Bars – That Taste Like Chocolate Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw nuts, such as walnuts or pecans (100g)
- 1 1/3 cup pitted dates (220 g)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3-4 tbsp cocoa or cacao powder
- optional heaping 1/8 tsp salt (I always add this)
- optional chocolate chips or broken-up chocolate bar
- optional chia seeds, shredded coconut, etc.
Instructions
*Medjool dates tend to be softer. If your dates are hard or dry, soak them in boiling water for a few minutes to soften them.
Process all the ingredients in a high-quality food processor until fine crumbles form. (A blender technically works, but texture will be stickier and tougher.) Smush into bars – I like to transfer the crumbles to a ziploc bag and roll out the dough from inside the bag. Chocolate chips can be added before or after processing, and feel free to experiment with different nut combinations.
More Healthy Chocolate Recipes:
Chia Pudding Recipe – 5 Flavors
Emily says
20th April 2017 at 8:38 amThese look incredible! Totally trying the chocolate almond joy version.
xo,
Em
http://www.organicallyemily.com
Juliette @ Namastay Traveling says
20th April 2017 at 8:58 amOh wow, I never would have thought to try chocolate and orange! That sounds amazing!
https://namastaytraveling.com/
Carrie this fit chick says
20th April 2017 at 9:24 amIt’s been a while since I’ve had a larabar!! These are probably even tastier and cheaper! Thanks for the recipe, Katie!
Maddie says
20th April 2017 at 10:04 amI am so excited for that chocolate almond joy one. Can’t wait to dust off the blender and try them!
Jeanette Agnew says
20th April 2017 at 10:20 amHi Katie,
My daughter loves peanut butter how would I incorporate peanut butter into this recipe?
Jason Sanford says
20th April 2017 at 1:58 pmUse this recipe, and form them into bars instead of balls: https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/10/02/chocolate-peanut-butter-no-bake-cookies/
jordan @ dancing for donuts says
20th April 2017 at 12:32 pmi can’t believe how few ingredients this recipe is! and i have most of them in my pantry too, which is rarely the case! can’t wait to try these – they sound amazing 🙂
Sandra says
20th April 2017 at 1:36 pmI don’t think the nutritional facts page is loading correctly (I tried it with two different browsers). The recipe looks amazing though! It looks really similar to the chocolate cookie pie crust recipe.
Jason Sanford says
20th April 2017 at 1:57 pmHi, it’s working for me. Can you let me know what error message you are getting? Thanks!
Raquelli says
20th April 2017 at 2:52 pmHi Katie, what an awesome idea! A quick question for you: don’t you need to hydrate the Chia seeds before adding them in?
Thanks!
Raquelli.
Kathryn says
20th April 2017 at 3:15 pmI just made your Hot Cocoa larabars recipe as a crust for your Healthy cheesecake of dreams last weekend! Two of my favorites. So good! I need to experiment more, though. I always stick to the same recipe- because I love it so much!
Monica @ One-way to Health says
22nd April 2017 at 5:02 amThese look delicious! Pinned! 🙂
Miriam says
23rd April 2017 at 1:30 amKatie, in my gluten-free brownie bites, I use walnuts, like you suggest in your recipe. From the photo, I see you used almonds. So you probably tried a few varieties. What works best?
Jason Sanford says
23rd April 2017 at 5:47 amDepends on the flavor you’re going for and your personal taste preference – both work well!
Melissa Novotny says
23rd April 2017 at 1:32 pmHi Katie,
How do you think these would freeze?
Kaitlyn Wretham says
23rd April 2017 at 2:26 pmThese look amazing! I will have to try them with some orange, that sounds good! Thanks for sharing, I always love paleo recipes.
Kaitlyn xx
lilacandstyle.com
Lizzy says
23rd April 2017 at 4:15 pmDear Katie,
These look incredible! I was wondering which online recipe nutrition calculator you use? I used to use CalorieCount.com, but they shut down, and I can’t find any other online nutrition calculator that gives me the nutrition facts PER GRAM or per WEIGHT rather than per serving. I was wondering what site you used to calculate this, as I would like to know the nutrition of my foo per weight, rather than “per serving”, as it is much more accurate!
I can’t wait to try these out!!! 🙂
Rich says
24th April 2017 at 8:14 amAwesome job Katie! Your step by step videos are a really great addition too. Thanks! Rich 🙂
Cid says
28th April 2017 at 10:58 amThese tasted awesome! The only trouble I had was forming them into bars. They stayed crumbly. Should I have soaked the dates?
Jason Sanford says
29th April 2017 at 9:53 amI’ve never had that issue, but it sounds like either maybe the dates weren’t medjool? Or just process longer and the nuts will release their natural oils.
Cidalia says
3rd May 2017 at 1:54 pmThanks for the tips! I will buy Medjool dates next time.
Cayla says
3rd May 2017 at 12:16 pmThese are so good. Seriously , they taste extremely brownie-like. I want to eat the whole pan. By myself, Right now. My kids are hounding me for more lol.
Aivile says
29th May 2017 at 1:52 pmHey! Mine turned out to be very sticky and did not harden. I used fresh and soft dates, so what could have gone wrong?
Jessica says
1st June 2017 at 1:45 pmDelicious! Made the almond joy version this morning. Wow, I love them. 7 smartpoints for those of us counting. Way better than some of the energy bars out there. Thanks, Katie!
Cassie Tran says
27th June 2017 at 2:47 pmEverything looks fab, Katie! I can imagine that these would indeed become my favorite bars!
Crystal says
7th February 2018 at 7:07 pmLovely! We are a big Larabar family and we sadly ran out today, so this was perfect! A few tips from our experience:
1. I soaked my dates about 7 min ahead of time, then ran everything through my Vitamix. With the tamper, it did quite well. Nuts were still a bit chunky but nice texture overall.
2. I rolled my dough between two pieces of parchment paper.
3. We used cookie cutters to make them into fun shapes for the kiddos.
Thanks Katie!
Fiona Mc says
24th March 2018 at 1:29 amI made the almond choc but added some oats too balance the coconut oil I had added too much of. I made them as a pre-easter treat for my yogis who loved them.
Jason Sanford says
24th March 2018 at 2:31 amThose are so adorable!
Leslie says
27th April 2018 at 11:37 amI used raw almonds and adjusted the quantities as I still cannot get the dough consistency you show. Nonetheless they are amazing and I could eat these all day long, lol!
Sonia says
13th June 2018 at 9:37 pmHow long can they be stored without being refrigerated?
Jason Sanford says
14th June 2018 at 8:15 amAt least a month!
KelleyJ says
24th October 2018 at 12:25 pmI made these thinking – how good can they be? But holy moly they are even BETTER than brownies. Can’t get over how delicious they are! I will make these again and again and again!
Lisa says
20th January 2019 at 3:18 pmI used almonds & chocolate chips, then added some chia seeds at the end.I made ‘balls’ instead of ‘bars’ because the consistency was kind of crumbly, but nonetheless, delicious. They did firm up & weren’t too crumbly after they rested for a bit.
Leah says
30th March 2019 at 10:14 pmI made the plain and currently enjoying with vanilla almond milk. It’s DELICIOUS!