I have had lots of people asking me for alternatives to crappy grain ridden granola bars and they want them small and easy to take along, well this is what I came up with and boy are they addicting. There are an endless amount of possibilities with these so feel free to play around and come up with your own creations. Don’t forget to come by and tell me what you come up with or how much you love them. Enjoy!
Caveman Crunch Bars
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup raw almonds
- 3/4 cup raw macadamia nuts
- 1/4 cup raw pepitas
- 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1/2 cup cranberries
- 1/2 cup coconut oil melted
- 1/4 cup raw organic honey
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit
- Place your almonds and macadamia nuts in your food processor and continue to pulse until you have tiny chunks, you don't want the consistency of flour, keep it rough.
- Transfer the mixture to your mixing bowl and add all of the remaining ingredients
- Mix well by hand to ensure an even distribution of ingredients
- Grease a 9x9 Square baking dish with coconut oil and then transfer your nut mixture to the dish
- Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the center of your bars pass the toothpick test
- Once done, remove from the oven and let cool on the counter in the pan
- Once you can handle the pan without oven mitts, place the bars in the refrigerator and let cool completely
- Remove from the fridge and then slice into bars of the size of your choice
- Individually wrap them in plastic wrap and leave at room temperature or place back in the refrigerator and take them everywhere as snacks.
- Enjoy
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Creole Sirloin with Romesco Sauce
In case anyone else has an egg allergy, I made these with 2 chia “eggs” and it worked great. Added a bit of sea salt, and also used all cashews.
Perfect, thanks for sharing Jenn
I made these and they were delicious! The only change I made was that after viewing some of the comments that they came a bit more on the crumbly side than being a bar, I used an 8×8 pan and they came out looking almost like your picture. I placed the pan in the refrigerator and once completely cool, I cut them into bars. I placed the bars in a glass container and keep them refrigerated.
Oh awesome, I love this recipe, it’s one of my originals.
It sounds like you probably used dried cranberries/craisins – or were they fresh?
Dried
Made this weekend and the flavor is outstanding. The color is much darker than your picture and I would not call the ones I made bars. Turned into a crumble once I tried cutting them. Any thoughts on how to avoid them falling apart? I read a comment about keeping them refrigerated? Thanks!
I’m new to paleo but I have a batch of these in the oven right now! In lieu of cranberries I used smaller portions of dried apricot, blueberry and mini chocolate chips. Very excited to see how these little energy bars turn out.
I’m excited to hear your thoughts!
Told you I was going to get home and make these! Delicious, I only had cashews and walnuts but they seem to have worked out, and I used one big duck egg instead of 2 eggs. Next time I will definitely add chocolate of some kind: chips or cacao powder….mmmm! These will be perfect for walking around NOLA this weekend!
These bars are amazing!! So yummy! When the picky eater can’t stop eating them it’s a winner!
I’m happy they satisfied you and your pickiness ;)
Friend of mine is going to China tomorrow on business so I made her a batch to take along as a heathy snack. Hard to eat Paleo there. Added 1/2 c blueberries. Waiting for them to cool. They smell DELICIOUS. Can’t wait to try them. If they taste as good as they smell, she may only get 1/2 the pan :-)
I have such a hard time finding dried fruit without added sugar and junk. Do you make your own or is there a brand to look for?? I can’t wait to try this.
I get all of mine at a local health food store and they are only sweetened with juice
I made these last night… They are great… plan on making them again…. Do you think if I made some and put them in an air tight container they would be safe to send to Afghanistan? My son would love them.
Shelly I am unsure, but I would say if you vacuum sealed them it might make it
Hi George! You have really out done yourself with these bars! They are amazing!! So so yummy!! In the ones I made I did one and a half of your recipe and used raisins instead of cranberries (I didn’t realize my cranberries had gone bad) and I also used 1/4 a cup of Enjoy Life chocolate chips. They turned out amazingly and made my whole house smell fabulous!! I could barely wait for them to cool to have a taste!! Thank you so so much!! Keep up the awesome work!!
Awesome Stefani, so glad you loved them :)
How do you make them so they look all nice and crisp? They don’t stay together all too well!
It was an art form, I think if I remember i partially chilled them to help them stay together
what’s are nutrition facts on these bad boys?
Kat,
I do not calculate nutrition on anything. If you want to you can use a site like fitday.com or myfitnesspal.com :)
Fresh or dried cranberries.?
Dried
Question – dried cranberries or fresh ones?
Dried
Wow, sorry for the complete repeat question.
I’ve tried chilling them to help them stay together, but that doesn’t always help. Thanks nonetheless; they’re still delicious. I make them quite often now! (The girl at the natural foods store suggested Barley Malt, but that’s not Paleo!)
P.S. You’re going to be just fine now that you’re out, man! Good luck from a squid. :-)
Mine stuck to the pan on the edges, I think nest time I will use parchment paper on the bottom of the pan. But other than that they are awesome, I cut mine into 15 pieces. I might do currants and apricots next time instead of cranberries.
Yummy
These are stinkin’ amazing! :-) I crumbled them up in a cereal bowl and added almond milk and blueberries. This recipe is going straight into the “keeper” file! Hurray!
Woohoo, glad you loved it
Thank you so much for this recipe! I just took them out of the oven and my house smells amazing. I added a little bit of every nut I had in my freezer-walnuts, pecans, pepitas, sunflower seeds, cashews, slivered almonds and macadamia nuts. I also chopped up a chocoperfection bar and threw that in too but next time I will use cacao nibs instead. Use a variety of dried fruits (I do my own in the dehydrator) and also added a little nutmeg. I cant wait to try them!
Those sound amazing. I hope you love them
Anybody have any ideas for egg substitutes? I’m allergic. Not sure if “flax eggs” would work…
Leah I have never tried but I think flax eggs would be your best bet. Or you could make my caveman crunch recipe that is egg free and doesn’t need to be a bar
Awesome!! I wonder if the recipe should only have 2 teaspoons of cinnamon….not tablespoons?”
Mine turned out way more brown than yours…but they are SO ADDICTIVE!!
I added 2 scoops of ViSalus shake mix too ;)
Sudie I just love cinnamon so you can adjust to taste
Do you think these could be made and kept raw if I use flax gel to sub for eggs and put them in a dehydrator instead to firm? I’m wondering if the health benefits of the raw nuts are lost with baking them at 400*?
I honestly do not not Angel, I am sorry
Thanks for posting this recipe! I am loving your blog! I am making this right now and it is literally in the oven, but I have added a cacao mixture with it!!
Awesome Sylvia, hope you love it
I used hazelnuts and brazil nuts, and left out the cranberries completely. Haven’t tried them yet, but they smell so good!
I hope they taste as amazing as they smell :)
I made these today and they came out perfectly. They are THE PERFECT SNACK. I omitted the pumpkin and sunflower seeds and used pecans instead. Substituted butter for the coconut oil, and used a combo of xyliotl and palm sugar. Can’t wait to share with Paleo friends .
So glad you loved them, hope you enjoy many more recipes
Hi guys, I went on myfitnesspal and figured out the calories on those yumy bars. I divided them into 10 servings and it came to 288 calories, 21 carbs, 23 fat grams and 4 grams of protein. Not too bad and it’s a perfect pick me up treat!
Have been making a batch of these weekly! love crumbling it with a banana and coconut milk for breakfast or for a snack on the go! thanks so much!
You are so welcome, that sounds amazing
These are a great base with which to experiment!!!!! I have made this numerous times and always change things up. Love the taste and portability. Thanks.
Awesome. What kind of flavors have you made?
I made this, with a few substitutions (you never have EVERYTHING on hand!) So, I put in raisins and dried bing cherries instead of cranberries, and used three eggs, walnuts instead of sunflower seeds. THESE were awesome. I had to intentionally hide some from myself because I just kept nibbling on this. Three eggs held it together somewhat, still some crumbling, but ok, since it was pure deliciousness. Even the 3 year old granddaughter liked it and wanted more. :) Happiness achieved.
I had NO success with my food processor, so I got out the old hand pushed chopper, and chopped the almonds and macadamia nuts. The almonds did not even want to chop in a coffee grinder. So, I got a work-out. Oh, and because the 3 eggs made everything look too liquidy, I added a half cup of almond flour.
I loved these. Omitted half the oil by using apple sauce and instead of fruit I used unsweetened dark chocolate chips. Very tasty.
That sounds delicious
My house smells so frickin good right now! I switched it up a little and omitted the cranberries but added penzeys orange zest and enjoy life chocolate chunk chips. Giggity Goo.
That sounds amazing
These are amazing! I make them before hiking trips to replace granola bars. I also add shredded or chopped carrots to the mix, just for something extra. No matter how I tweak it, the bars come out awesome!!
So awesome, so glad you enjoy them and tweak them to your liking :)
Do you know roughly about how many calories per bar? I’ve been making all kind of variations of these with different dried fruits and sharing them with friends and co-workers and that’s what they keep asking me. HA! I’m on a stricly paelo diet and eat very clean but it would be nice to know. Thanks!
I don’t do caloric information but you can easily by going to myfitnesspal.com and entering the values. Sorry i dontknow.
Made these today… um delicious! I put raisins in for cranberries and did 1 cup macadamia, 1 cup almonds (because that is what I had on hand). Very versatile and not overly sweet. Definitely going into the paleo treat rotation at our house!
Woot woot keep being creative. So glad you enjoyed
Amazing! Thank you so much for the recipe!
You are so welcome Ryan
Are those DRIED Cranberries?
Sure are sorry. I used the dried ones that are only sweetened with apple juice
Wow, these are awesome…I added some dark chocolate bits in there as well! Great website!
Woohoo, thank you so much :)
what would the nutritional info be on these? Calories, protein..etc? Just curious. Have not found a good “bar snack” everything has grains or soy.. YUCK.
Ah Jeff I don’t ever count anything on these but you could toss them into fitday.com to get that info. But of course these would beat all those bar snacks with grains or soy easily
Hi there, this looks delicious. My nutritionist advised me against all honey, though. Is it possible to make this without honey?
Yes you can. Just so you know it only ends up being less than 1 tvsp honey per serving
Thanks for your reply! Can’t wait to make these :)
According to Wikipedia, Stevia is plant based and is not artificial and does not affect blood glucose levels. That said, I would think that the honey would have a binding effect that Stevia would not. So I used the honey. I have the bars in the oven now and am looking forward to eating them. Thanks for the recipe.
I hope you like them
Just want to say thank you for your recipes! I make your Caveman Crunch Bars in cookie form which have now become a staple at our house, and they were a HUUUGE hit at a recent paleo potluck our crossfit gym had earlier this month. Instead of almonds and macadamia nuts, I used pecans and walnuts and also added 3/4 c unsweetened banana chips. Soooo good.
You are most welcome Christina, thanks so much for stopping by to tell me :)
Ok thanks! It's such a small amount of honey so it should be okay to use the real thing. Thanks for the advice on the stevia.
I don't and have never used Stevia. If you are on a no sugar plan the stevia shouldn't be used either, the artificial sweeteners trigger a very similar response to regular sugar and are worse for you. I highly recommend you use 100% raw organic honey, if not leave out all sweeteners.
Hello George, I was wondering if the honey can be replaced with Stevia, and if so, how much would you suggest?. I am on a no sugar plan right now. I am really hoping, these look so good!
I have the company working on this issue, Thank you
The PDF function on this does not work – it ends up with a PDF file, but it omits the ingredients!
Do you actually put the 1/2 cup of coconut oil in the mixture? Also, will the texture of these be like a "chewy" "granola" bar or should it be kind of tough/crunchy?
These look great! I've been making a larabar-esque concoction, but I need to try something that will hold up better at room temp; these look perfect.
I used 2 Tbsp lol, you can use as much as you like
Just wanted to ask – these are supposed to have 1-2 teaspons of cinnamon in them, not 2 tablespoons of cinnamon right? :-)
Pukekoblue, that is awesome to hear, I love them too
Delicious! I used raisins instead of cranberries, and half unsalted butter because I ran out of coconut oil. I think these might become a favorite treat!
Oh awesome, so glad you enjoyed
Made my second batch of these. Having a nasty chocolate craving so i added some cacao and just a bit of Coconut cream. That fixed that! These are simply awesome.
Awesome Mare, I am so glad you enjoyed
My daughter and I made these this past weekend and couldn't stop eating them. They are sooo unbelievably delicious! Thanks!
That is completely up to you. I have done it both ways an they are both yummy. If you use dried make sure there is no sugar added
Are the cranberries fresh or dried?
Oh awesome Sommer let me know how you like them
This is amazing, thank you so much. I've been looking for a granola alternative. And I like to snack more than eat so this is going to be a welcome addition!
Awesome I am so glad you like them ;) makes me want to keep cooking
These are wonderful. My daughter and I just tossed these together … Only took me about 10 minutes (probobly only 5 for those without built-in assitance;) )and were super easy for her to help with. I added Cocao Nibs and no Pepitas. Great templite to change up… will definitly be using this again!
Thanks Juli they are amazing
Not would make, they WILL make lol
These would make a great breakfast! its like a granola bar! I grew up eating those for breakfast!