No Bake High Fiber Bars
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Published Mar 03, 2023, Updated Oct 23, 2023
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These healthy no bake high fiber bars are easy to make with only 6 simple ingredients like Smart Bran cereal, flaxseed and SunButter. They’re crunchy, perfect for meal prep and kid-friendly!
I love my granola bars, but sometimes I want a snack bar that’s a little more filling and without protein powder. Cue these no bake high fiber bars!
I specifically developed these bars with ingredients that are higher in fiber like Smart Bran cereal, flaxseed, dried cranberries and SunButter. These foods not only help with digestion, but they help to keep you full longer (yay for no more mindless snacking). Added bonus: these bars are made with seed butter so they’re school-safe and kid-friendly so if you have a kiddo that needs a little fiber boost these are the bars!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- These bars are made with only 6 simple ingredients!
- Super easy to make and there’s no baking required! Just mix, press and chill.
- Made with sunflower seed butter, so are school-safe!
- One bar has 6 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein!
- Dairy-free, nut-free + can easily be made vegan.
Ingredients Needed
- Nature’s Path Smart Bran cereal – this is the main source of fiber in the recipe and will add a crunchy texture to the bars.
- ground flaxseed – a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids and dietary fiber.
- dried cranberries – a good source of fiber and adds the perfect blend of sweet and tart while also adding a pop of color. I prefer to use dried cranberries that are fruit-sweetened instead of ones that are sweetened with cane sugar. My favorite brand is the Made in Nature dried cranberries.
- mini chocolate chips – I recommend Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips which are allergen-friendly or Lily’s chocolate chips because they are low in sugar and calories.
- sunflower seed butter – a great source of protein and healthy fats while also helping to bind the bars together. I like using the organic SunButter with no added sugar, but you can easily make homemade sunflower seed butter if you’d like.
- honey – a perfect natural sweetener and part of the “glue” that holds these bars together. I love the pairing of SunButter and honey.
How to Make
Line an 8×8 square baking pan with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl stir together the smart bran cereal, flaxseed, dried cranberries and 2 Tablespoons of mini chocolate chips.
In a small saucepan, heat SunButter and honey over low-medium heat, stirring frequently until the mixture is completely smooth. Remove from heat and pour SunButter mixture over dry ingredients and mix until evenly coated.
Pour coated cereal mixture into the prepared baking dish and press down evenly. Sprinkle the remaining mini chocolate chips on top and press them into the bars. Place bars in the fridge for about an hour to set up. Remove from fridge, cut into bars and enjoy!
Substitutions & Notes
- Mix-ins: Feel free to customize this recipe with different mix-ins. You can easily swap the chocolate chips and/or dried cranberries for something else like another dried fruit, nuts or seeds. Some ideas: dried cherries, raisins, coconut flakes, pecans, almonds, walnuts, cashews, pistachios, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.
- SunButter: I went with sunflower seed butter to keep this recipe school-safe for kiddos, but you can easily swap it for another seed or nut butter. Some ideas: almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter or tahini.
- Vegan: I haven’t tried it, but I bet using maple syrup or agave would work as a substitute if you want these bars to be vegan.
How to Store
One of the best things about these high fiber bars is that they store really well and are perfect for meal prep!
After you cut your bars store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. I like using glass storage containers or Stasher bags for storing. For longer storage, you can store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. I like to store them after being cut so they’re ready to grab and go! If you do freeze them, just thaw them in the fridge or at room temperature before enjoying them.
More Bar Recipes to Try
- Chocolate Chip Almond Granola Bars
- Apple Granola Bars
- Tahini Fig Bars
- Cranberry Coconut Granola Bars
- Cereal Bars
- Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars
- Pumpkin Seed and Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Fruit and Nut Bars
- Nut Free Granola Bars
- Apple Oatmeal Bars
- Peanut Butter Protein Bars
- Easy Protein Bars
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars
- Banana Oatmeal Bars
- No Bake Chocolate Energy Bars
- No Bake Peanut Butter Crunch Bars
Be sure to check out my full collection of snack recipes here on EBF!
No Bake High Fiber Bars
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Nature’s Path Smart Bran cereal
- 1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips, divided
- ½ cup SunButter
- ¼ cup honey
Instructions
- Line a 8×8 square baking dish with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl combine smart bran cereal, flaxseed, dried cranberries and 2 Tablespoons mini chocolate chips.
- In a small saucepan, heat SunButter and honey over low-medium heat, stirring frequently until the mixture is completely smooth. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- Pour SunButter mixture over cereal mixture and stir until evenly coated.
- Pour coated cereal mixture into the prepared baking dish and press down evenly. Sprinkle remaining mini chocolate chips on top and press them into the bars.
- Place bars in the fridge for about an hour to set up. Remove from fridge, cut into bars.
- Store leftover bars in a sealed container in the refrigerator. They should last about 1 week or up to 3 months in the freezer.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What is Sunbutter?
Hi Judy – It is sunflower seed butter. Hope you enjoy this recipe!
It butter from the sun bud
These bars are very yummy and because I didn’t have any SunButter I used Almond butter and very good. The only problem I had was that they don’t hold together very well, maybe that was the Almond butter. I will be making them again.
Great! I am so glad that you loved this recipe, Peggy. Yes, I recommend using a drippy butter, and the almond butter might not have been drippy enough to hold the mix together. Thank you for sharing your review + star rating, I really appreciate it!
Hi 1 1/2 cups of bran doesn’t sound like enough to cover pan size ? Is this the right amount ?
Hi Debbie – Yes, 1 1/2 cups of bran cereal is correct. You will be using an 8×8 pan. Let me know if you give these a try and how they turn out! Enjoy!
Hi Debbie, sorry to bother you, would it be alright to add 8 cups of water loosen it up a bit.The first time around the bars were very tough and crunchy. Thanks Debbie 🙂
my sun butter and honey never got smooth over the heat, only a horrible clumpy mess… what did I do wrong?
Hi Rachel – Did you heal it over low-medium heat? Sounds like your heat might have been up too high and it burnt a bit.
I want to make these, but I’m not finding that Nature’s Path cereal readily available in my area, and I don’t want to order it in bulk via Amazon. Is it similar to Fiber One, or what would be another option?
Hi Brenda – Yes the Fiber One original bran cereal should work for this recipe. The ingredients and nutritional facts in that specific cereal is a bit different than the Nature’s Path one, so if you are looking at the nutritional facts, you will need to adjust based off using a different cereal. Let me know how it turns out, hope you enjoy!
Hi, I was wondering if you could add some protein powder to these to make them higher protein?? Have you tried that and what powder would you recommend? I haven’t made them yet but they sound so good!!! But no peanut or almond flour??
Hi Mary – I haven’t tested this recipe with protein powder and I am not sure it would work, it have a feeling it would get to dry and not set well. You can totally use peanut butter if you prefer over sunbutter. I would recommend my Crunchy Protein Bars if you’re looking for a higher protein treat. Enjoy!
Is there a gluten free substitute you recommend for the bran cereal?
Hi Jenni – Unfortunately I have yet to find a GF bran cereal. Let me know if you are able to find one!