homemade kind bars

Copycat KIND Bars are a homemade version of the popular, wholesome, nut-packed energy bars...use your favorite ingredients to make them economically at home!

Copycat KIND Bars

nuts

puffed rice

dried fruit (chopped, if the pieces are large)

seeds

salt

vanilla extract

brown rice syrup (warmed just enough to pour easily)

Dried fruit

Vanilla extract is a solution containing the flavor compound vanillin as the primary ingredient. Pure vanilla extract is made by macerating and percolating vanilla pods in a solution of ethyl alcohol and water. In the United States, in order for a vanilla extract to be called pure, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires that...

vanilla bean extract

Adjust the oven rack to the center position and preheat oven to 325°F. Grease an 8- by 8-inch square pan and line with parchment paper that slightly extends above the top edge of the pan on at least two sides; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the nuts, puffed rice, dried fruit, seeds, and salt until combined. Stir the vanilla into the brown rice syrup and drizzle over the ingredients in the bowl. Use a wooden spoon to stir until all of the ingredients are evenly coated.

Scrape the nut mixture into the prepared baking pan. With wet hands, press the mixture into an even layer. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then lift the parchment paper sling onto a cooling rack and allow to finish cooling. Once completely cool, cut the slab into 10 bars using a large knife.

This recipe got me going on making "Unkind Bars." Along the way, my recipe and technique have changed quite a bit, so I thought I'd post my experience to help out. Please use or adapt anything that you find helpful.

First, I quickly switched to  using silicone bar molds, which I ordered from Amazon. They work beautifully, and I've set up the ingredients to make just enough to fill up two sheets of molds. The bars look just like the real thing, and they come out easily. You don't really need to worry about oiling them, but I rub just a little drop of oil into each corner to make sure I don't lose any seedy goodness.

I order the Torani Puremade (non-GMO) salted caramel syrup, whole brown flaxseeds, Lundberg brown rice syrup, and almond or walnut oil from Amazon. It's MUCH easier than chasing them down somehow locally. 

I buy the nuts at Costco because they have the best price on the largest amounts. Because I eat these bars every day, I go through a lot of them!

I buy whole brown flaxseeds, store them in the freezer, and crack what I need for each batch. Flaxseeds are tremendously healthy, but their oils go rancid very quickly, so proper storage is key, and it's important not to buy ground flaxseed if you can possibly help it for the same reason. I purchased a small Hamilton Beach coffee/spice grinder from Amazon that I use just to crack the seeds open but not pulverize them. It has worked very well. You can use it to make ground flaxseeds, too, to add to breads, biscuits, or muffins, if you just spin the seeds longer.

Here's my recipe, in two variations:

UNKIND BARS

Variation 1: Breakfast bars
3/4 c almonds
3/4 c walnuts
1 c old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/4 c Kashi Go Original cereal, or other whole-grain puffed rice cereal
1/2 c whole flaxseeds
1/4 c Lundberg organic brown rice syrup
2 Tblsp Torani Puremade salted caramel syrup

Variation 2: Nut bars
2 c almonds
1 c walnuts
1 c Kashi GoLean Original cereal, or other whole-grain puffed rice cereal
6 T whole flaxseeds
1/4 c Lundberg organic brown rice syrup
2 Tblsp Torani Puremade salted caramel syrup

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place parchment paper on a large baking sheet. Chop almonds and walnuts and spread them on the baking sheet along with the rolled oats, if using. Brown them in the oven for 10 minutes, or just until golden and fragrant, stirring halfway through if desired.

Meanwhile, pour a small amount of neutral oil, such as walnut or almond oil, into a small bowl. Wearing disposable gloves or a plastic baggie, dip fingers into the bowl and work the oil quickly into the corners of 2 sets of silicone bar molds, 16 bar molds total. (You don’t need to obsess; the mixture doesn’t stick badly.) Spread a small amount of oil evenly across the bottom of a large bowl, oil a silicone spatula, and oil the measuring cup and small bowl that will hold the syrups. (All of this isn't strictly speaking essential, but you'll be grateful you took the time.)

Place the puffed cereal in the large oiled bowl. Crack the flaxseeds in a spice grinder or coffee grinder and add them to the bowl. Pour in the nut mixture when it is finished browning and stir.

Warm the syrups for 20 seconds in the microwave in the small oiled bowl. Pour over the other ingredients and stir thoroughly with the oiled spatula to incorporate. Mixture will be crumbly.

Place the oiled molds onto the parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Using a 1/3-cup measure and the silicone spatula, press mixture evenly into the molds. Each bar will be approximately 1/3 cup, loosely packed in the 1/3-cup measure.

Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from oven to a cooling rack. Allow bars to cool for 15 minutes in the molds so that they can solidify. Remove from molds and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before wrapping each bar in a small sheet of parchment paper and storing them in a freezer bag in the pantry. (I keep the parchment wrappings in their freezer bag and reuse them.)

Nutrition for Unkind Breakfast Bars:
Calories: 153
Total Fat: 9 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Mono Fat: 2 g
Poly Fat: 2 g
Sodium: 25 mg
Potassium: 118 mg
Total Carbs: 16 g
Fiber: 4 g
Sugars: 5 g
Protein: 5 g

Nutrition for Unkind Nut Bars:
Calories: 189
Total Fat: 14 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Mono Fat: 6 g
Poly Fat: 6 g
Sodium: 22 mg
Potassium: 192 mg
Total Carbs: 14 g
Fiber: 5 g
Sugars: 5 g
Protein: 6 g

Mine are good but don’t cut nicely and I let them cool for a very long time... Interested with the Honey Maple Syrup Combo do you use the same amount to get the nuts to stick together as the brown rice syrup? Curious...

These are sooooo good! I’m making extra batches to have on hand. I added coconut flakes and went with the chocolate chips too. Thanks for creating and sharing :D

These were really good.   Sweet enough without added honey.   Salty enough, could even have stood less salt.  
Will make again.   Hardest part is deciding what ingredients I want to use.

Thank you for posting this! It is saving us a ton of money to make them ourselves and I think they actually taste better than KIND bars. I added more vanilla extract (closer to 1 TBSP) and maple syrup / honey instead of brown rice syrup. In my version, the sweetener caramelizes after 35 minutes in the oven and the bars firm up and are cuttable after an hour on the counter and I keep them refrigerated to keep them firm. (Note: Looks like brown rice syrup has a high glycemic index and arsenic content so I opted against using it.)

Brown rice syrup is not available where I live so I used maple syrup instead. I also subbed the seeds for shredded coconut and used puffed quinoa instead of rice, still turned out super yummy! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, I will definitely use it again!

Thank you SO MUCH FOR THE COPY CAT KIND BARS recipe . I just made them   SO GOOD .I know I will be making the often. What a great keeper recipe.

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The most viewed homemade kind bars recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine