These no bake snack bars are one of the best date recipes you can make! Sweet, chewy, and wholesome bars are chock full of nuts and have no added sugars.

For a riff on these nutritious bars, try out homemade Larabars recipe too!

There are plenty of healthy snacks that you don’t need to cook or bake. No-bake snacks like a ‘no-bake’ cookie recipe, to regular old dips should be in every parents cookbook. Today we are sharing this no-bake date bar.

These bars taste a whole lot like a peanut butter cup and my kids love them. You can’t beat how easy, healthy, and simple they are. They also store great! These are a perfect lunch box treat. I also love having them on hand for those times I need a treat terribly but know that I don’t really need a treat. They are perfect craving busters.

What are the benefits of eating dates?

Dates are a great food to include in your kids day. Not only are the packed with fiber (almost a full gram of fiber per date) they are portable and delicious. Dates are also low in moisture, making them sort of a naturally dehydrated fruit. This makes them easy to take an eat on the go. They are higher in calories than other fruit which is great for picky eaters, as they can pack a log of energy into a small amount of food. That’s what makes these bars an even better snack. With the peanut butter for protein, the dates for fiber, and the cocoa powder and coconut for flavor, kids can eat dates all day long.

Because dates are so sweet, dates provide the perfect natural alternative to added sugars in any date recipe. In fact, dates are such a great source of natural sugar, they have been processed to make natural sweeteners such as date juice, date sugar, dehydrated dates, date paste, ground dates, and even diced dates that you can add to recipes you want to sweeten up naturally.

Dates are also a great source of potassium and other minerals (which is why we like making this date recipe on hikes). From the California Date Commission:

Dates have a natural balance of many minerals such as calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, iron, selenium and potassium. All of these minerals work in harmony to help lower blood pressure on a daily basis.

How to buy and store dates?

We like to buy our dates at Costco. You can find them in the produce department in a container with the pits already removed from the dates. We like to look for dates with shiny skin, that isn’t too dried out, because they are easier for the kids to eat, and they can blend in the food processor a lot easier.

If you buy dates with the pits in them, you must pop them out before blending in a food processor. You’ll feel or see the long pit (or seed) on the inside if you tear open the date.

We store our dates in the pantry or on the counter. Because they are so low in moisture, like dried fruit, dates can last up to 6 months when stored in an airtight container! Although we eat ours much more quickly than this.

Can I eat dates every day?

You can! One serving of dates is 5-6 dates, which is really easy to do when you blend them in a food processor and make delicious no bake date bars like this!

Other No-Bake Date Recipes!