I whipped these Coconut Date Bars up one afternoon when the kids came home from school telling me how hungry they were. In under 5 minutes, the mixture was sitting in the tin ready to be baked, and just over 30 minutes later they were ready to eat. These coconut date bars were so quick and easy to make and gave me plenty of leftovers to put in kids lunchboxes for the next day and to freeze for future after school hunger emergencies.

The dates give these bars a slightly caramel-like flavour, making them taste so delicious and naughty when in reality they are jam-packed full of goodness. The beauty of this recipe is that you will most likely have everything you need to make it already sitting in your pantry. The only thing you may not have is linseeds, but you can easily substitute chia seeds or hemp seeds in their place.

Depending on the amount of time you bake these for, they can turn out to be soft or crunchy. I baked mine for about 35 minutes and they were soft and delicious, but if you like yours to be gooier or harder (like a crunchy muesli bar) then just adjust the baking time.

What’s your favourite homemade bar recipe?