Sesame Seeds Bars aka Bulk Bin Bars are still a personal favorite. I named them Bulk Bin Bars because I originally used various flavors of trail mix for the 2 cups of nuts, seeds and dried fruit, but these days I'm more likely to customize flavors. The base seeds are still sesame and sunflower, and everything is held together by a mixture of butter, honey, and brown sugar.
If you like Strong Bars (my husband misses the old ones with interesting flavors), you should like Sesame Seed Bars. They are wonderfully flavorful and buttery, and have a way of surpassing people's expectations. Or at least that's how it seems when I serve them, as I get quite a few recipe requests, which is always a good sign.
Sesame Seed Bars Substitutions
The version in the recipe card and in the photos has a lot of sesame seeds, but you can swap some of them out for other nut & fruit combos. You can also replace the honey with corn syrup and vanilla, and I'm pretty sure coconut oil would work in place of butter. If you try an interesting variation, let me know. Also, these freeze well. I wrap them individually in sandwich bags, then put the wrapped bars in a freezer bag and press out all of the air.
Small Batch Version
If you'd like to try a small batch version, you can line a loaf pan with parchment paper (I use a layer of foil and parchment) and make a half batch. To read the temperature of the syrup mixture, use an instant read thermometer or just carefully tilt the pan and use a deep fry thermometer. The honey and sugar mixture will hit 240F pretty quickly. with the small batch version and the regular size version.
More Great Recipes With Sesame
Recipe
Sesame Seed Bars aka Bulk Bin Bars
Ingredients
- ¾ cup raw sesame seeds, plus 2 tablespoons
- 1 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1 cup shredded coconut unsweetened or flaked sweetened
- 2 cups dried fruit and nuts (apricots, sliced almonds, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, etc.)** (240 grams) -- approximate
- 1 stick unsalted butter (114 grams)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup honey
- ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a 9-inch square pan with non-stick foil or use regular foil and a layer of parchment paper.
- Spread the sesame seeds and sunflower seeds on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 4-6 minutes. Be careful, as they burn easily. Add the coconut and continue baking for another 2-3 minutes or just until the coconut barely starts to brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
- Using a chef's knife, carefully chop the trail mix so that big chunks of things like dried apricot and Brazil nuts are no more than ½ inch across. The goal of chopping the trail mix is to make the pieces more uniform. If the trail mix bits are already about the same size, you can skip this step. Put the trail mix and toasted sesame seed mixture in a large mixing bowl.
- In a small saucepan, combine the butter, salt, honey and brown sugar and set over medium heat. Cook mixture until until it reaches 240ºF (soft ball stage) on a candy thermometer, then pour the honey mixture into the seed mixture and stir well.
- Empty into the prepared pan and press down as tightly as you can using a piece of nonstick foil. It may seem like you have too much to fit in the pan. Just press down super hard.
- Let cool completely. Lift from pan and cut into bars. At this point you can serve them or put them in the refrigerator where they will become chewier and firmer.
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