No-Bake Tropical Protein Bars

No-Bake Tropical Protein Bars with dried fruit, cashews, coconut, and sunflower seed butter. Naturally sweetened with orange juice and no-added-sugar.

What’s your preferred form of expression?

I’m much better at expressing my feelings through writing than speaking.

This won’t surprise you, friend, because you’re reading this on a screen somewhere.

When I was a little girl and needed to get something off of my chest, I wrote it all out on a wide rule sheet of paper and placed it under my parents’ pillows for them to find.

It always felt a little less scary to and chaotic to corral words on a page instead of on the tip of my tongue, you know?

These No-Bake Tropical Protein Bars might get you tongue tied, too, but only because they’re so darn good.

You just need 10-ingredients and lots of tropical fruit to create them!

I wonder what my parents thought about finding loose-leaf under a cool pillowcase after a long day.

If that’s not a sign that I would one day make the written word a part of my career, I don’t even know.

But today I’m not going to write you a gloomy letter with all of the feels, I’m going to write you a recipe with all of the flavor.

These No-Bake Tropical Protein Bars are fruity, chewy, and fresh.

It’s adapted from a recipe I used to make from Tone It Up called “Berry Bliss Bars”.

They’re packed with protein, healthy fats, and fruity complex carbs while also being dairy-free, grain-free, gluten-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free, with a nut-free option!

Whew, that was a mouthful.

The recipes starts with a gluten-free, grain-free, and flourless base.

We add cashews and shredded coconut to a blender and process until you have a fine flour.

If you’re nut-free or avoiding nuts for whatever reason, sub sunflower seeds instead of the cashews here.

I like to add a scoop of vanilla protein powder to mine for a solid protein boost, but you can also omit and sub almond flour or more cashews in its place.

Add a dash of cinnamon for kicks and you’re done with the dry ingredients.

Next we mix in the fruit.

First of all, make sure you select dried fruit that is JUST the fruit dried, if possible.  This means no added sugars, oils, preservatives, etc.

For this recipe I used dried cranberries, dried pineapple, dried mango and dried apples, all cut into small bite sized pieces.

You can try subbing out some of the fruit but this mix is my favorite!

The mix sounds a bit strange, a lot of summer mango and pineapple with a hint of fall apple and cranberry, but the overall flavor is sweet and tropical.

Don’t skimp on the fruit here– this recipe is no-sugar-added and relies on the dried fruit for all of the sweets!

PRO TIP: Dried mango and pineapple in particular can be hard to score with a knife, so try cutting them into pieces with a kitchen shears instead.

Now for the wet ingredients to bind everything together.

This means creamy SunButter No Sugar Added plus the juice from one fresh squeezed orange.

And when I say that juice from one orange, I mean ALL of the juice, bud.

Squeeze hard and don’t be afraid if a little pulp falls into the mix.

Mix your bar batter up well and see if it will stick when pressed together with your fingers.

If it’s still dry and crumbly, use the juice from another 1/2 orange and that should do the trick.

All that’s left is covering them and waiting.

The hard part.

I think these No-Bake Tropical Protein Bars are best when left in the fridge overnight, but usually 30 minutes will do the trick.

If you’re impatient like I am, try popping the dish in the freezer to expedite the deliciousness.

Use a knife to cut them into squares before serving.

Be aware the bars are delicate because of all of the dried fruit popping out, but don’t stress if they don’t cut perfectly.

They won’t. Believe me, I tried. So don’t stress!

These No-Bake Tropical Protein Bars are the best grab and go breakfast, delicious snack, and fruity dessert.

They’re ideal for workout fuel, breakfast meal prep, and portable snacking.

I love to eat mine with a smear of SunButter and a glass of almond milk as a breakfast or mid-morning snack.

The bars will soften slightly at room temperature, so be sure to store leftovers in the fridge for firmer squares.

They keep for about a week and freeze well if you can’t finish them within 7 days!

If you try these No-Bake Tropical Protein Bars, let me know!

Be sure to leave me a comment, rating, and review so I can use your feedback to create more yums.

Give me a shout on Instagram and use #floraandvino to show me your bars!

Check out my Pinterest page to pin more recipes like this one to make later!

Want more grab and go bars? You’ll love my Raw Almond Butter Superfoods Bars, Blueberry Maple Baked Breakfast Bars and PB&J Baked Breakfast Bars!

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XO Lauren

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This post is brought to you by SunButter, but all words and eats are my own. Thanks for supporting the sponsors that keep me hungry!