Homemade Kind”er” on your wallet Bars!

I love, love, love Kind Bars. They are my favorite “healthy treat”. Now, these are a treat and should be eaten in moderation but they are a much better choice than candy bars, and nuts are a great source of healthy fats. These bars do come in at about 200 calories each but they are gluten-free, and I only use raw honey and pure syrup to make them, so the sugar source is better than pure sugar. This recipe makes 16 bars! *You will need a candy thermometer for this recipe.

1 Bag of Trader Joes (or any variety, you can use 16 oz. of whatever nuts you like) Fancy Mixed Nuts (Roasted and Unsalted)  – 16 oz.

1/2 cup Rice Krispy cereal or any puffed cereal

1/2 cup dried cranberries or dried fruit of your choice

1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

1/8 cup chia seeds or flax seeds

1/2 cup Raw or Clover Honey

1/3 cup Pure Brown Rice Syrup, Maple Syrup or Corn Syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

*1/2 bag dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional if you want to add chocolate to the bottom or on top as a drizzle)

Prepare a deep baking dish (9×13 ideally) lined with foil and spray well with coconut cooking spray. If you want to use the chocolate you will pour the chocolate chips in before you start the rest of the recipe and bake at 350 F for 2-3 minutes. Remove and spread chocolate completely over the foil. Let cool and refrigerate while you are preparing the rest of the recipe. You can also drizzle chocolate on top of your bars once finished, I will mention this at the end!

In a large bowl mix nuts, dried fruit, puffed cereal, sunflower seeds and chia seeds. Set aside. Take your baking dish with now set chocolate out of fridge or just have your prepared baking dish ready!

In a large non-stick pot add honey, syrup, vanilla and salt. Put candy thermometer into the pot and over medium-high heat stir until heat reaches 260 F. The mixture will bubble and will get hot pretty quickly. Use a wooden spoon or heat resistant spatula to do the stirring. Once the heat reaches 260 F, immediately pour mixture over the nuts and stir all together until well coated. The mixture sets really quickly so do this fast. Pour the nuts into your baking dish and use your wooden spoon or spatula to press down all the way so that all the nuts are smoothed down. Use a glass cup sprayed with coconut oil at the bottom to help evenly press down all the nuts. Let sit for 20 minutes. If you have a chocolate bottom, you might need to refrigerate again for 10 or so minutes to harden the chocolate back up.

Once cooled remove the foil from your baking pan (it should just easily lift out) and using a very sharp flat knife, cut the one big piece into 4 large squares and then 8 rectangles and then into 16 rectangles. You can also make small little squares or use cookie cutters. Whatever you fancy! Place in airtight container once completely cooled with parchment in-between so the bars do not stick to each other and refrigerate or leave out at room temperature.

*You can also chocolate drizzle on top. If you want to do this instead of deal with a bottom chocolate layer, just melt your chocolate after your bars are cut and use either a drizzle bottle or a spoon and drizzle away :).

Makes 16 bars. If following 21 Day Fix, these bars are equal to 1 💙 and 2 tsps each. For Weight Watchers, I think they would be around 4 points each, or equivalent to a Kind Bar.