No Bake Tahini Cashew Bars

No Bake Tahini Cashew Bars

Gluten-Free • Vegan • Vegetarian • Plant-Based • Dairy-Free • Whole-Food Focused • No Refined Sugar

Introduction

These No Bake Tahini Cashew Bars are a rich and satisfying treat made with just four simple ingredients: raw cashews, soft dates, tahini and dark chocolate.

Cashews and tahini create a creamy, nutty base while providing plant-based protein, healthy fats and important minerals. Dates naturally sweeten the bars and help hold everything together, while dark chocolate creates a rich finishing layer.

With no flour or grains required, these bars are easy to make gluten-free. Choose certified gluten-free and dairy-free dark chocolate to make them suitable for anyone looking for a gluten-free vegan treat. Using chocolate without refined sugar can also keep the recipe free from refined added sugars.

Benefits of All the Ingredients

Raw Cashews

Cashews create the rich, creamy foundation of these no-bake bars.

They provide plant-based protein and predominantly unsaturated fats, including monounsaturated fats.

Cashews are also a useful source of several minerals, particularly copper, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and manganese.

Their naturally mild flavour works particularly well with sesame-based tahini and dark chocolate.

Cashews are naturally gluten-free. However, nuts can be processed or packaged in facilities that also handle gluten-containing foods, so choose cashews labelled gluten-free when preparing the bars for someone with coeliac disease.

Dates

Soft pitted dates provide natural sweetness while helping bind the cashews and tahini together.

Dates contain dietary fibre, potassium and copper, alongside smaller amounts of several other minerals and naturally occurring plant polyphenols.

Because dried dates contain relatively little water, their naturally occurring sugars are concentrated. Combining them with the fats, protein and fibre from cashews and tahini creates a more substantial snack than dates alone.

Plain dates are naturally gluten-free. Check packaged varieties for additional ingredients or cross-contact warnings when strict gluten avoidance is required.

Tahini

Tahini is made from ground sesame seeds and gives these bars their distinctive creamy, slightly nutty flavour.

It provides plant-based protein and predominantly unsaturated fats, along with minerals including copper, phosphorus, magnesium and manganese.

Sesame seeds also naturally contain compounds known as lignans, including sesamin and sesamolin.

A tahini made primarily or entirely from sesame seeds is a simple whole-food-focused choice.

Tahini is naturally gluten-free, although gluten-free labelling is preferable when preparing food for someone with coeliac disease.

Dark Chocolate Chips

Dark chocolate provides a rich contrast to the naturally sweet dates and creamy tahini-cashew base.

Cocoa contains naturally occurring polyphenols and provides minerals including magnesium, copper and iron.

Chocolate products vary considerably in their cocoa, sugar and dairy content. Choosing a higher-cocoa dark chocolate with a simple ingredient list can reduce the amount of added sugar.

For gluten-free vegan Tahini Cashew Bars, choose dark chocolate chips specifically labelled both gluten-free and dairy-free. If you want the bars to contain no refined sugar, select chocolate sweetened without refined sugar as well.