The kids will love the taste of this Clif Kid® ZBar copycat, and you’ll love that they are lower in sugar, have more fiber, and use healthier fat to cook in!

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A school snack request, and a cookbook update!
I’ve got another recipe to share that just didn’t fit into my newest cookbook releasing this summer! My youngest had come home from school last year asking to try “Zbars” that she saw kids at school with. I wasn’t impressed with the added sugar most of all, and since I was right in the middle of creating a new cookbook focused on breakfast, I figured this would be a great time to create a look-a-like that could be a snack or a breakfast on the go!
What’s so bad about a ZBar?
I saw the marketing on the box and figured it couldn’t be that bad, right? Seemed to be marketed to active kids, with a skateboarding little dude on the front. The front boasted of fiber and being a great snack bar. Some of the different types even noted the protein. And, really, compared to many, they aren’t that bad. A closer look at the ingredient label gave me some red flags for a snack that might become a weekly addition to her breakfast or lunchbox.
- 9-10 grams of ADDED sugar. Excuse me? That is 2 full teaspoons of sugar per bar. I did buy a box to taste so that I could make sure that when I created this recipe the texture and taste felt similar, and these bars literally taste like a candy bar. No wonder all the kids like them!
- The added sugar in the form of tapioca syrup and cane sugar. My copycat bars are fully sweetened with whole fruit, but if you do need to add extra sweetness in case your kids are used to more, you could use a natural sweetener like raw honey or pure maple syrup.
- Canola oil is an inflammatory fat used in many packaged snacks because it is cheap and saves their bottom line. The last thing that these kids need is more inflammation. They are trying to focus at school, sleep well at night, and play! Giving them foods with healthy fats such as butter or coconut oil will calm the flames of inflammation, satiate appetites, and nourish their brain and hormones.
- Natural flavors can mean a host of different things. It could be fine, but it also could be chemicals that mess with our kids inflammatory processes among other things.
Let’s talk about the ZBar ingredient swaps!
- I got the idea of sweetening these bars with dried figs because the actual bars use fig paste! Why they couldn’t just leave it at that is beyond me! Dried dates will swap for the figs too. These bars are plenty sweet, but you could absolutely add a few more figs, OR add raw honey or pure maple syrup to the dough to sweeten it up. The figs also boost the fiber in the bars since whole fruit fiber is amazing! Each bar ends up having about 1 or a little over 1 fig per bar, which adds at least 1 more gram of fiber per bar, in addition to the oats.
- Butter instead of canola oil. Which tastes better anyway! Its a simple swap and honestly I felt like made these bars have an even better flavor. Coconut oil works well if you cannot have butter.
- Vanilla extract and a touch of molasses for a warm cookie, brown sugar like flavor. It truly smells like baking cookies when you make these!
Let’s get started!
To get started, you’ll want to soak your dried figs (or dates) in some hot water. Add your figs to a small bowl and fill the bowl to cover the figs with hot water from the tap. You’ll let them soak while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. This will soften the figs so they blend into a paste easily into the dough.
The Method :: The Oats
The idea of these bars is actually super simple and brilliant. Use whole grain rolled oats for an amazing fiber count and yummy flavor. To get the right texture I ended up liking to blend some of the oats into a “flour.” The original bars have some oat bits that you can see too, so after blending up some of the oats in to oat flour, you’ll add in more whole, rolled oats that will get blended, but not all the way.
The Method :: Blending the rest of the ZBar Dough
Once you’ve blended some of the oats into flour, you’ll add the rest of the ingredients. Blend this into a thick, almost cookie dough. You’ll have to scrape the sides down a bit, but it does come together.
The Method :: The Pan for the ZBar Dough
Any 8×8 baking pan will work for this recipe. I am over the moon about my silicone 8×8 pans. The bars pop right out after baking, and it just makes recipes like this that much faster and fuss free. If you use a regular pan, line it with unbleached parchment paper to prevent sticking. You could also press the dough into a granola bar pan or mini granola bar pan!
The Method :: Baking and Cutting the ZBars
After your ZBars bake, let them cool completely before cutting into bars. You could even put them in the fridge to speed the process. The beauty of making your own bars is that you are in control of how big you cut them! If you have smaller kids, make them into bites! Bigger kids will appreciate a full size bar. I actually have ended up cutting these full size bars in half for lunchbox additions for my youngest so she still has room for her lunch. If she has it for a snack, she eats a full sized bar.
The Method :: The Chocolate Drizzle
This part is as simple as a bag of chocolate chips. Use whatever you have! Just melt the chocolate in a small sauce pan over low heat, and pipe the drizzle on. You can use a piping bag with a small round tip, or snip the corner of a Zip Top bag to pipe. You could let the kids do this part too! Let them customize the drizzle how THEY want it to look! It doesn’t have to look like the original if they don’t want it to!
ZBar Storage
The chocolate drizzle hardens as it cools, and these bars will be ready to stack and store just as conveniently as the store bought kind. They will keep in an airtight container in the pantry for a good week or 2. Or you can freeze batches of them to pull easily.
Healthy Copycat Clif Kid® ZBar
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried figs or dates
- 2 cups rolled oats divided
- 1 tbsp softened butter or coconut oil
- 1 tsp blackstrap molasses
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup applesauce
- ¼ – 1/3 cup grassfed collagen or vanilla protein powder of choice. Optional if you don’t have access.
- 1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- Pinch of sea salt
- Optional 3-4 tbsp mini chocolate chips for the inside of the bars
- Dark chocolate chips to melt for the drizzle on the top
Instructions
- Start by softening the dried figs in hot water from the tap. Put the figs in a bowl, and fill the bowl with hot water from the tap until the figs are covered in water. Let this soak while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. You’ll want the figs to have a good 10 minutes of soaking before adding them to the blender.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. I use an 8×8 silicone baking pan for this recipe so that the bars pop out easily. If you have a regular 8×8 baking pan, you’ll want to line it with unbleached parchment paper so the bars don’t stick.
- Put 1 ½ cups of the rolled oats into your blender and blend into oat flour.
- Add the other ½ cup of oats, butter, molasses, vanilla, applesauce, collagen, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt to the blender. Then, strain the water from the figs, and add the soaked figs to the blender.
- Blend the ZBar mixture until everything is combined. You will have to scrape the sides down a bit, You will still see some bits of oat in the mixture – this is how ZBars look! You could blend it until fully smooth if you wish, though.
- Spread the ZBar mixture into your silicone baking pan. I like to use a spatula dipped in water so that the mixture doesn’t stick to the spatula.
- Bake the ZBars at 350 degrees for 25 minutes until the sides are golden brown. Let the bars cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning them out to cool completely. Let the bars cool completely before cutting into bars.
- To make the chocolate drizzle, melt about ¼ cup of chocolate chips in a small sauce pan, and use a small tipped piping bag or Zip Top Bag with the corner snipped to apply the drizzle. The chocolate will need 15 minutes to harden back up. You could speed the process by putting the bars in the refrigerator.
- To store your ZBars, place them in an airtight container in the pantry for up to a week, or freeze them for up to 3 months.
Notes
- You can make other ZBar flavors too! To make the Blueberry Muffin flavor, swap the mini chocolate chips for dried blueberries. To make the Brownie flavor, add cocoa powder and/or chocolate protein powder to the mixture. For the Iced Oatmeal Cookie flavor, take out the chocolate chips and add more cinnamon. You can do a traditional powdered sugar/milk icing for the glaze, OR use melted coconut butter for a healthier option.
can I substitute the applesauce for something else because of an apple allergy
Hi Paula! I actually think yogurt or coconut yogurt would swap just fine for the applesauce. A mashed banana would work too!
Hi! We love your cookbook! Do you have available the nutrition information for your recipes? I am especially interested in the fiber and protein. Thank you!
Hi Stacy! I don’t have the nutritional facts off hand, but you could pop this recipe into any free nutritional calculator that you find on Google!
Since I have all of these ingredients, less the collagen, I will take it as a sign that I should try this recipe! Also, I think it’s time I add some collagen to my pantry. Thank you, Renee!
That’s great Krystal! I hope everyone enjoys them!