Chocolate Fig Snack Bars! Chewy fruit-sweetened base, puffed millet plus a mix of healthy seeds, semi-sweet chocolate on top – hello new favorite no-bake snack!
I am on a major no-bake bar kick. It’s following close on the heels of my turmeric cookie kick. And by “kick” I mostly just mean many many batches of these made and devoured at an inappropriate rate. But the whole variety is the key to health/life applies to different flavors of no-bake bars too, right? I mean it’s basically the same as rotating your greens.
These Chocolate Fig Snack Bars are how we fulfill our love for rice crispy treats while still feeling like adults. Replace cereal with puffed millet. Replace marshmallows with dried figs. Replace no chocolate coating on top with a snappy layer of semi-sweet. Throw in cinnamon, sea salt, and a mix of seeds. Just look at us being all sophisticated.
What’s the deal with puffed millet? Dare I say it’s kinda having a moment on top of smoothie bowls and jars all over instagram these days. I’m sure you’ve seen it, those pale little puff balls that at first glance look like a) buckwheat groats b) hemp seeds or c) tiny packing peanuts. They’re not much for flavor, but the texture of those feather-light little dots does yummy things for a creamy bowl. Sometimes you don’t need the loud and crunchy of granola. Sometimes subtle and puffy is just right.
If you’re currently like: what is she even talking about? This is what I mean. Btw I’m crushing pretty hard on that account right now, which may or may not be where this whole puffed millet thing all started.
Sprinkly smoothie bowl toppings inspiring figgy no bake bars – instagram, this is you using your powers for good.
Now that the why millet? part is answered, let’s talk about this flavor situation. It’s another inspired tale that started with a bowl. This bowl. I am nowhere near done loving figs + chocolate, these snack bars are just a chewy transportable way to carry on the happy of that combination.
Fun fact: figs act as the sugar and the glue in these no-bake bars too, so that means the ingredient list is short and (naturally!) sweet.
We also went the whole dash-of-cinnamon-and-sprinkle-of-sea-salt route, because any granola bar worth your time has those things going for it.
Puffy, fig-sweetened, nutritiously seed-filled base. Glossy, almost-candy treatment on top. Toasted coconut because un-toasted coconut doesn’t look nearly as groovy.
You don’t need me to tell you that you and your tiny humans and your friends and your dog (minus the chocolate) will adore these. You don’t need me to tell you that easy + healthy + snack is the best kind of recipe. You don’t need me to tell you how pack-able and meal prep perfect they are. And you definitely don’t need me to tell you how cutting them into twelve bars instead of nine so that it feels very normal to eat two at a time was the best decision I made.
You just need to try them. Then you’ll know EXACTLY what I mean.
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Chocolate Fig Snack Bars! Chewy fruit-sweetened base, puffed millet plus a mix of healthy seeds, semi-sweet chocolate on top – hello new favorite no-bake snack!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (175g) dried figs
- 1/3 cup (90g) nut/seed butter (I used almond butter)
- 2 cups (40g) puffed millet*
- 1/2 cup (70g) pumpkin seeds**
- 1/2 cup (60g) hemp seeds
- 1/4 cup (40g) chia seeds
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2/3 cup (120g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Soak the dried figs in warm water for 30 minutes to soften. Drain and pat dry.
- Blend the figs and almond butter in a blender of food processor to form a sticky paste.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the puffed millet, seeds, salt, and cinnamon. Stir.
- Add the fig paste and mix.
- Press into a pan lined with parchment paper (I used an 8×4″ glass dish), and refrigerate.
- Melt the chocolate chips. You can add 1 tbsp coconut oil for easier spreading.
- Pour the melted chocolate on top of the bars and smooth evenly.
- Chill for at least two hours until firm.
- Slice into bars and enjoy!
- Keep leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for 7-10 days.
Notes
*You can substitute other kinds of puffed grains or crispy rice cereal.
**Use any mix of nuts or seeds you like, just be sure the total comes to 1 1/4 cup.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 201
- Sugar: 12
- Fat: 12
- Carbohydrates: 19
- Fiber: 3
- Protein: 7
Keywords: snack, no-bake, granola, breakfast, easy, vegan, gluten-free, chocolate
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Great looking recipe! Do you think you could substitute dried figs for a different dried fruit?? And could you recommend anything to sub for the nut butter to make a lower fat/calorie version?? Think I might top it with greek yoghurt instead of chocolate!
Yep you can absolutely use other dried fruits–raisins, dates, prunes, etc. I don’t recommend subbing the nut butter though, because anything like applesauce or banana that can normally work as a lower fat option has too much water in it and will make the cereal very soggy unfortunately. You could try just using more dried fruit, but it may be tricky to get it to blend by itself. Good luck!
Just made these with organic corn flakes instead of millet because I had a bag of dried figs that expired this week. They’re too healthy to taste so damn yummy – I applaud you!
★★★★★
Salvaged just in the nick of figgy time!! That sounds delish with the cornflakes too, I just love cereal in recipes😋 Always love getting your feedback Ashely, hope you are having a marvelous weekend!
Oh man, I’m loving all the fats going on in these bars…almond butter, hemp seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds! I actually recently bought a bag of hemp seeds and am absolutely loving them. I love the soft texture and nutty flavor of them. All the good stuff in these barsf! I’ve never tried millet before and certainly not puffed millet, but it looks like they are crunchy and airy like puffed brown rice cereal? They look like they are very gooey and crunchy at the same time and that dose of cinnamon I bet gives such a lovely warmth to the bars. I’ve never bought figs in my life I don’t think. I’ve only ever eaten figs in fig newton bars, haha. Of course when you top them with melted chocolate, you know they are going to be good. Chocolate coating and you just can’t go wrong! Great recipe Natalie!
I am on a major hemp seed kick (like to the point that I googled “can you eat too many hemp seeds?” lol), so I’ve been tossing them in everything lately. Yep yep, very much like puffed rice cereal and all those other puffed cereals that I usually avoid because styrofoam but mixed up with other things in bar form I love the texture. Wait…WHAT?!? Never bought figs? Oh my goodness, we are so alike but yet so different in food preferences lol. Well at least we will always agree that chocolate on top > no chocolate on top😊
At first glance it really does look like buckwheat groats!! Ok, it also looks like I need to try adding millet (my autocorrect keeps trying to change millet into mullet 😂😂) into my diet again…it’s been a long time. And so funny because Josh just brought home a bag of dried figs!! These look so chewy and gooey and dangerous – especially with the chocolate on top! We go through hemp seeds and chia seeds so fast and this looks like a fun way for us to change up how we use them! 😍 And I need more no-bake recipes in my life. I’m loving the ingredient list and can’t wait to give these a try!
Bahahaha!! My autocorrect was doing the same thing, and the thought of a mullet snack bars is so gross I was like PLEASE STOP😂 Oh man, the hemp seeds. Last week I went through an entire TJs bag in like 4 days and immediately googled “risks of consuming too many hemp seeds” lol. They are just so yummy in and on everything! For me millet has been a-okay, similar to quinoa I guess, so I hope its the same for you🤗
Hi Nathalie, I just made these after 5 weeks of back injury kept me in bed. So I have been reading a LOT of recipes for a long time and dying to get up and make them! They turned out brilliantly flavour wise – hard to stop eating them. The only issue was my chocolate topping cracked each time i tried to slice them into bars. It’s no problem this time but i wondered if you had any tips in case i ever wanted them to look a little more “perfect”? Thanks for all the yummy recipes! 🙂
Hi Jane! First of all congrats on finally being able to get back into the kitchen, I’m honored you picked these as your comeback recipe🤗 As for the chocolate cracking, let them sit out at room temp for 10-15 before slicing and you shouldn’t have that issue. If you slice straight from the fridge the chocolate will be too cold and very likely to crack. Hope that helps and have fun baking!
Sorry NATALIE – spelt your name wrong – apols 🙂
Can I freeze these? Doubt I’ll get through the lot before they go off… OR WILL I???
Haha if you snack anything like I do, I don’t think that will be a problem😄 They do last a good week or 2 in the fridge even, but you could try freezing them. Haven’t tried it personally, but should be fine!
Can I use buckwheat groats instead of millet?
Should work, yes! The texture will be a bit crunchier but sounds yummy to me 🙂