5 Ingredient Nut Bars Recipe – Homemade KIND Bars! (2024)

FAQs

What are the tiny balls in kind bars? ›

puffed millet, rice or other whole grain -- used in all 8 bars. KIND bars contain "crisp rice" in their ingredient list; however their rice pieces are tiny balls.

KIND^® Bars

These bars are where our journey started and it was simple: whole ingredients like nuts, mixed with fruits and spices bound together with honey.

Almonds are frequently used as a main ingredient in KIND bars, while peanuts, cashews and pecans are other popular additions. These nuts are particularly high in monounsaturated fats, which qualify as a “healthy fat.” Monounsaturated fats help reduce blood pressure and protect against heart disease.

Honey or maple syrup

These natural sweeteners also help bind the bars together, and make these bars deliciously sweet (though not too sweet). Or, make date paste from fresh Medjool dates. Dates offer additional fiber, while honey or maple syrup do not.

It's actually just a scientific process called “chocolate bloom”. There are two types of this bloom: sugar bloom and fat bloom. Sugar bloom happens when moisture comes in contact with the chocolate - it dissolves the sugar crystals on the chocolate's surface, leaving a white, powdery look.

Not only are they healthy snacks, but they are specialty snacks for a specialty market, so that adds to the price. With the lowest priced bar ringing in at $1.00, KIND bars are on the low end for most energy bars. To produce a gold-standard nutritious snack using just 6 simple ingredients, it cost $1.23 per bar.

Technically, you could include some of these Kind bars in your daily macro goals, even on keto — but they're by no means healthy. They don't belong in your diet if you don't want to consume more than half of your carbs and sugar for the day in a tiny bar without real nutritional substance.

In 2015 KIND got a warning from the FDA to remove the word “healthy” from its labeling, as it didn't meet their standard for healthy. The FDA claimed that because the bars had more than 1 gram of saturated fat per serving, they couldn't be classified as "healthy."

You're probably thinking, “But Kind bars are so expensive, they must be healthy!” Well, think again. According to Alissa Rumsey, R.D.N., “Just because a product is expensive, doesn't mean it's healthy. In fact, many 'health' bars, including Kind Bars, are just as processed and high in sugar as regular candy bars.”

The Bottom Line

Protein bars often contain compounds called sugar alcohols, which are lower in calories than traditional sugars. Sugar alcohols are associated with multiple gastrointestinal side effects including abdominal pain, bloating, and gas.

Do KIND bars spike blood sugar? ›

Let's take a look at the nutrition label.

Keep in mind, that a sugar packet is 4g of sugar. So this bar is more than 2-sugar packets in your mouth! The Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Kind Bar raised my blood sugar 16-pts of sugar within 33-minutes.

Kind LLC (doing business as Kind Healthy Snacks), stylized as KIND, is an American snack food company based in New York City. It was founded in 2004 by Daniel Lubetzky. Since 2020, it has been a subsidiary of Mars Inc. U.S.

They save well (wrap and freeze them for up to two months), are more affordable than store-bought bars, and don't contain the long list of unpronounceable ingredients. Plus, your kitchen will smell like a bakery while these granola bars bake. Ahhhh.

#2 Use Honey

Binding agents provide structure and stability and help you produce a more stable outcome. Using the right binding agent in your granola bar recipe is a crucial part of keeping your bars from falling apart.

Honey – Along with the nut butter, it helps all these ingredients stick together! I love its warm amber flavor in this recipe. Vanilla extract – It amps up the bars' warm flavor.

You're probably thinking, “But Kind bars are so expensive, they must be healthy!” Well, think again. According to Alissa Rumsey, R.D.N., “Just because a product is expensive, doesn't mean it's healthy. In fact, many 'health' bars, including Kind Bars, are just as processed and high in sugar as regular candy bars.”

Bar nuts are tied to an old conceit: Bartenders conveniently place snacks in front of parched patrons to encourage them to order another round of drinks. Danny Meyer's Union Square Cafe, which opened three decades ago, has built a reputation for having some of the best bar nuts in New York City.

That's why Strong & KIND contains the seeds, Peterson said. "We include hemp seeds in our Strong & KIND bars because they contribute protein, fiber and other important nutrients such as potassium and phosphorus.