These cinnamon coconut cashew bars are no-bake, vegan, naturally-sweetened with dates, and super simple to make.

My cinnamon coconut cashew bar recipe is one of my favorites to pass along. Inspired by Lara bars, the main ingredients are cashews and dates, and these really could not be easier to make.

I make sure I always stock up on the ingredients—all are pantry staples—so that I can pull together a week’s worth of breakfast/snack bars in about 10 minutes on a Sunday. They’ll keep in your fridge for the work-week, making them perfect for your plant-based meal-prep.

I’ll walk you through the ingredients you’ll need, what substitutions you can make, and how to add this recipe to your weekly plant-based meal prep rotation.

These bars are no bake—that means spending less time in the kitchen, and no need to heat up the oven in the summer months—like you might for a granola or baked oatmeal bar recipe.

With only 4-ingredients (plus a little water and sea salt), this is an approachable plant-based recipe to try if you’re just starting to cook more at home, or looking for an easy vegan meal-prep recipe. Plus, 4-ingredients (that you can actually pronounce) sounds much more appetizing than the surprisingly lengthy list on the box of many store-bought breakfast bars.

They are naturally sweet (dates, coconut flakes, and cinnamon)—and honestly taste like a cinnamon cookie to me.

cinnamon coconut cashew bar ingredients:

You’ll find the full ingredient list below—but here’s what to expect in this plant-based recipe

Dates
Cashews
Coconut flakes
Cinnamon

plant-based meal prep and serving tips:

Pit and chop your dates: If you have pitted-dates, then you can start by giving your dates a rough chop. I find that this helps everything to combine more easily once in the food processor. If your dates have pits, begin by pitting your dates—I do this by slicing the date open so that the pit is exposed and I can pull it out. Once your dates are pitted, give them a rough chop, and place them in your food processor.

Measure out your cashews, coconut flakes, and cinnamon, and add all of the ingredients into your food processor along with your dates.

After adding a pinch of sea-salt, pulse your food processor until the ingredients combine.

It is up to you how chunky or smooth you want your date bars to be. Mine definitely have more bits of cashew pieces than your store-bought Lara Bars, but they are still chewy.

Once it seems like my food processor has done the work, I will take a small handful of the crumbles and try to press them together to see how well they’d form into a bar. Depending on how dry or sticky your dates are, your ingredients might stick well, or they may crumble apart in your hand. If they stick pretty easily, you’re probably close to being done.

No matter if my dates were on the stickier or dryer side, I still always seem to need to add a bit of water to help them come together.

Pulse you ingredients in the food processor again, and add about a tablespoon of water at a time, while everything is mixing. At this point, the ingredients will come together and form a dough-like mixture in a matter of seconds. As soon as this happens, I stop adding water.

I then carefully remove the blade from my food processor, and place my date and cashew mixture into a dish. This can be any kind of dish—really, I’ve made so many different options work! But, what I have found to work best for me, is my glass pyrex tupperware.

Press your “dough” into the dish so that it flattens out evenly. I use my hands and the bottom of a measuring cup to help me do this if it’s too sticky. I then sprinkle the bars with some extra coconut flakes, and press them into the dough a bit so they stick.

At this point, you could even roll these into snack-balls instead of making them into bars—a great option to change it up.

Finally, these are ready to pop into the fridge to set. I usually make these on a Sunday evening for my work-week ahead, so mine set overnight, but they’ll be ready to slice and eat after about 2 hours in the fridge.

Once cold and set (i.e. not as sticky and messy), slice your bars up! I make mine into 6 squares, but you could cut them however you please.

Often with my recipes, I don’t tend to make enough of one dish to have enough “servings” every single day for 5-7 days. I like a little more variety and room for cravings and flexibility in my week, so I find that 6 bars allows me to go with how I feel each day.

I might enjoy one bar alongside a smoothie for breakfast, or two with a side of fruit, or pack a couple for an easy snack during a workday. I like to change it up each day, so 6 squares works best for me to do that.

You can double this recipe or make as many as you’d like. This is a very forgiving recipe, so if you’re a little short on anything, chances are your bars will still come out great.

I hope you love these as much as I do! Be sure to follow along for more plant-based goodness on Pinterest and Instagram.

Cinnamon Coconut Cashew Bars

Ingredients (makes 6 bars):

12 dates
2/3 cup cashews
3/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut flakes
about 1/2 to 1 tsp. of cinnamon to taste (I prefer a little extra cinnamon)
Pinch of sea salt
1 tsp. of water (if needed, for consistency)

Instructions:

If dates are already pitted, give them a rough chop. If your dates have pits, first remove the pits by and then roughly chop.
Measure out your cashews, coconut flakes, and cinnamon, and add all of the ingredients into your food processor along with your dates, and a pinch of sea salt.
Pulse your food processor until the ingredients combine.
If your dates were really sticky, you may be done at this step. Check by seeing if when you press some of the crumbles together, they stick together. If it is still too crumbly to form bars, then continue with step 5.
Pulse you ingredients in the food processor again, and about a tablespoon of water at a time, while everything is mixing. At this point, the ingredients will come together and form a dough-like mixture in a matter of seconds. As soon as this happens, stop adding water, and stop pulsing your processor.
Carefully remove the blade from your food processor, and place the date and cashew mixture into a flat dish. I use a glass pyrex tupperware dish.
Press your “dough” into the dish so that it flattens out evenly. You can use your hands and the bottom of a measuring cup to help if the mixture is too sticky.
Sprinkle with extra coconut flakes, and press them into the dough a bit so they stick.
Cover dish and place into the fridge to set for at least 2 hours, but overnight is best.
Once set (i.e. not as sticky and messy), slice your bars into 6 squares, or into desired shape and size.
Keep in the fridge until ready to serve and enjoy.

Notes:

Instead of pressing the date and cashew mix into a dish to slice into bars, you could also roll the mixture into snack balls. Snack balls should also be stored in the fridge to set.