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No-Bake DIY Clif Bars (vegan, gluten-free)

No-Bake DIY Clif Bars are ideal for lunches, snacks, hikes, camping, workout fuel, and so much more! They are vegan, gluten-free, and frugal to make, too.
diy no-bake clif bars collage

Make Your Own Clif Bars

It doesn’t matter if it’s a three-course meal on the grill, a simple barbecue, or an impromptu picnic, summer outdoor eating lends a magical feeling to food. Even unwrapping and eating a popsicle, trying to keep up with its melting, is such a treat.

And because I like to get out and go, energy bars are always a convenient and oh-so-portable option for heading off to the park or making longer treks by plane or car. When I’m hungry and busy, and there is no other food in sight, an energy bar eaten on a park bench in the sunshine exceeds haute cuisine.

I’ve written recipes for energy bars in the past, including my rendition of homemade Lara Bars, but the other day I decided to tackle another of my favorite ready-made bars: Clif bars. I like them a lot, and so does my husband, but the $1.69-per-bar cost is a bit much considering how much we like to have them around.

What do the Bars Taste Like?

Clif bars are chewy and soft, similar to an under-baked oatmeal cookie. Looking at the ingredients list on the wrapping, brown rice syrup and oats are two of the main ingredients in all the bars. Also on the list are some scary scientific additives that I’d rather do without, along with a weird soy aftertaste. So rather than add any soy protein powders or the like, I decided to keep the ingredients simple and readily available (as well as pronounceable).

No-Baking-Required Clif Bars

I tried a baked option first, combining several recipes into one and swapping out a number of the ingredients for high protein nuts and some whole grain. I was thinking I could under-bake the bars slightly to get the chewiness (it didn’t include any eggs). The results were tolerable, but extremely dense–arguably an edible enema. Thankfully, Nick thinks they are delicious, so all is not lost.

I went back to the drawing board and, using some of my no-bake cookie recipes as reference, concocted a no-bake Clif bar. Yum! While not exactly the same, it is pretty darn close. Plus it’s far less expensive–and no yucky aftertaste.

Ingredients for the Bars

  • Crisp rice cereal (e.g., Erwhon Crisp Brown for gluten-free, or Rice Krispies are fine)
  • Uncooked quick-cooking oats
  • Ground flaxseed (flaxseed meal)
  • Finely chopped dried fruit (e.g., raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, etc.)
  • Finely chopped nuts or seeds (pepitas are great)
  • maple syrup or brown rice syrup (or honey if not strictly vegan)
  • Nut or seed butter of your choice (e.g., peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter)
  • Vanilla extract
  • Optional: ground cinnamon

ingredients for diy clif board on a wooden board

How to Make DIY Clif Bars

Combine the rice cereal, oats, flaxseed meal, dried fruit, and nuts in a large bowl.

Combine the syrup and nut butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until melted and well-blended (alternatively microwave in small microwave-safe bowl 30-60 seconds until melted). Stir in vanilla until blended.

Pour the nut butter mixture over cereal mixture, stirring until coated (use a wooden spoon at first, then get your hands in it. It will be sticky, but this way you can really coat everything. Just scrape off your hands when you’re done).

steps for mixing the ingredients for homemade clif bars

energy bar mixture being pressed into a lined metal pan

Press the bar mixture firmly into an 8-inch (20 cm) square pan (sprayed with nonstick cooking spray) using a large square of wax paper (really tamp it down).

Cool in pan on a wire rack and then chill at least 30 minutes set the bars. Cut into 12 bars. (Wrap bars tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator).
finished energy bars, uncut and cut

How to Store the Bars

Tightly wrap the individual bars in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

Enjoy these as easy fuel for all of your adventures, large and small!

More Easy DIY Energy Bars to Try

diy no-bake clif bars collage

DIY No-Bake Cliff Bars (vegan, gluten-free)

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

No-Bake DIY Clif Bars are ideal for lunches, snacks, hikes, camping, workout fuel, and so much more! They are vegan, gluten-free, and frugal to make, too.

Ingredients

  • 1 and 1/4 cups crisp rice cereal (e.g., I like Erwhon Crisp Brown, but Rice Krispies are fine)
  • 1 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
  • 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed (flaxseed meal)
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped dried fruit (e.g., raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, etc.)
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped nuts or seeds (pepitas are great)
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup or brown rice syrup (or honey if not strictly vegan)
  • 1/2 cup nut or seed butter of your choice (e.g., peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Optional: 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Combine the rice cereal, oats, flaxseed meal, dried fruit, and nuts in a large bowl.
  2. Combine the syrup and nut butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until melted and well-blended (alternatively microwave in small microwave-safe bowl 30-60 seconds until melted). Stir in vanilla until blended.
  3. Pour nut butter mixture over cereal mixture, stirring until coated (use a wooden spoon at first, then get your hands in it. It will be sticky, but this way you can really coat everything. Just scrape off your hands when you're done).
  4. Press mixture firmly into an 8-inch square pan (sprayed with nonstick cooking spray) using a large square of wax paper (really tamp it down).
  5. Cool in pan on a wire rack, then chill at least 30 minutes to help it set.
  6. Cut into 12 bars.

Notes

Storage: Tightly wrap the individual bars in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

Variations
Cheery Cherry
: Use chopped dried tart cherries for the fruit and lightly salted roasted almonds for the nuts. Use any nut butter (almond butter is great, but I know, a bit pricey--but worth it!), and add 1/4 teaspoon almond extract.
Apple Pie: Use chopped dried apples for the fruit and rice syrup or honey for the syrup. Be sure to add the cinnamon option, and use toasted walnuts or pecans for the nuts.
Chocolate Chip Cookie: Replace the dried fruit with an equal amount of semisweet miniature chocolate chips (or cacao nibs, or carob chips). Combine the cereal mixture with the syrup mixture, then let the combined mixture stand 10 minutes before adding the chips.
Pepita-Cranberry:Use chopped cranberries for the dried fruit and raw pepitas for the nuts/seeds. Use either honey or brown rice syrup.
Peanut Butter Cookie: Use chopped dates for the dried fruit and dry roasted peanuts for the nuts. Use honey, or half honey-half molasses for the syrup and peanut butter for the nut butter.

Nutrition Information
Serving Size 1 bar
Amount Per Serving Calories 0Total Fat 0gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 0mgSodium 0mgCarbohydrates 0gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 0g

Did you make this recipe?

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Jana Spencer

Saturday 29th of January 2022

Original recipe= 155 calories each (12 bars)

Dave

Monday 2nd of November 2020

If you've got a magic bullet or blender of some kind a quick couple pulses will turn flax seed into ground flax seed :) same with oats into oat float

Lucy

Thursday 3rd of September 2020

Here is how I kept my bars from crumbling: Firmly knead the "dough" inside the bowl and add a teaspoon of water and knead some more to incorporate the water. . Keep kneading and adding a tiny bit of water until the dough can be formed into a cohesive ball without falling apart. Then, place the dough into the pan and very firmly press it down evenly using something flat. After chilling in the fridge cut it into bars with a sharp knife.

Camilla

Friday 4th of September 2020

Great tips, Lucy! :)

Karen

Saturday 23rd of November 2019

Good recipe. To hold together I put the dry ingredients with the added nuts/dried fruit into a blender first and chopped for about 30-40 seconds (I had to manipulate a bit to push it down, but it blended beautifully). I put the blended ingredients in a bowl and then added the heated nut butter, vanilla and syrup, working it with my hand. They're great that way, otherwise I was just fighting them trying to keep them together. HTH.

Camilla

Saturday 23rd of November 2019

Great tips, Karen! Thanks so much for sharing this with everyone ?

Jane

Sunday 23rd of June 2019

I am so glad I found this recipe! My son has gotten into bike riding lately and he goes out on two or more hour rides. He tends to wear down a bit on the way home so he's been spending a small fortune on energy bars. He asked me to see if i could find a recipe to make some instead. I gave this a try by making a double batch for him. I used honey with the peanut butter (one of his favorite childhood sandwiches) and found some mixed dried berries, cranberries, blueberries and one other I'm not sure of lol. I put this in a 9 x 13 pan and let it set up,, cut it in 24 bars and wrapped them individually. He tried one when he came to pick them up and before I knew it two had disappeared! He loves these and they are so much cheaper and frankly healthier to make them yourself!

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