Healthy copycat Starbucks lime frosted coconut bars that are gluten free, dairy free, and blood sugar friendly! The delicious base is made with a mix of rolled oats and almond flour, finely pulsed white chocolate chips, and coconut, and the light lime icing is made with 3 simple ingredients. This healthy lime frosted coconut bar recipe is an easy healthy breakfast for summer you can make ahead for the week that you can feel good about serving the whole family!
When Starbucks came out with their latest treat last week, you all DECIMATED my DM’s in hopes of a healthy version of your new favorite Starbucks recipe. If these were going to turn out as delicious as my Healthy Starbucks Coffee Cake, Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars, Starbucks Iced Lemon Loaf, and Starbucks Pumpkin Loaf, I was up for the challenge. So, I rushed to my local Starbucks to taste test and make one for you!
All I can say about these coconut lime bars is that they taste better than the original and they’re the perfect healthy breakfast to make on repeat this summer. Plus, they’re topped with a zesty homemade frosting that’s SO good and Instagram-worthy. Like if you need a healthy recipe for a summer party, these bars will be a show-stopper. Okay, so there’s actually a ton I could say about these bars. Like how beyond being absolutely DELICIOUS, they’re loaded with health benefits that’ll make this a healthy breakfast for diabetics, for a crowd, and for good digestion.
So, what do you say? Are you putting these lime coconut bars on your summer baking list or what? Your future self will thank you!
What makes lime coconut bars healthy?
I swapped all the blood sugar-spiking ingredients in the original Starbucks recipe for nutrient-dense, whole foods to lighten up these coconut lime bars without sacrificing any of that delightful classic flavor. These healthy lime coconut bars are:
- Blood sugar balancing. These lime coconut bars have the perfect ratio of protein, fibers, and fats, (thanks to the nut butter, almond flour, and rolled oats) which will help you avoid that spike and crash and give you long-lasting energy instead.
- Gluten free. We’re using almond flour and rolled oats to keep these bars gluten free. Plus, these ingredients add a boost of healthy fiber to help keep your blood sugar stable!
- Dairy free. You can choose to keep these coconut lime bars dairy free by using dairy free white chocolate chips and dairy free cream cheese in the icing.
Everything you’ll need to make lime coconut bars
These healthy coconut bars are made with simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry and fridge. Here’s everything you need to make them:
- Almond butter or cashew butter: both work well in this recipe! Whichever you choose, opt for an unsalted creamy variety. This adds healthy fats and protein to our healthy lime bars.
- Maple syrup: we naturally sweeten the base of these bars with pure maple syrup, which is higher in antioxidants and a lower glycemic index than other sweeteners to help you avoid the spike and crash!
- Molasses: optional, but recommended for the authentic browned butter flavor in Starbucks lime-frosted coconut bars. Plus, it’s been shown in studies to help stabilize blood sugar levels.
- Egg: you’ll need just one egg to create the perfect texture in these healthy bars. If you’re vegan, you can totally sub a flax egg here.
- Almond flour: I love using this heart-healthy, gluten free flour in baking recipes because it’s been proven to help manage blood sugar for diabetics and encourage weight loss, so you can have your cake and eat it, too.
- Rolled oats: make sure to use gluten free rolled oats to keep this healthy breakfast gluten free. Don’t use steel cut or quick oats because it’ll mess with the texture.
- Shredded coconut: we’re using shredded coconut to give a nutty, sweet, and light flavor to these healthy bars. Plus, coconut is proven to be a fat-burning food that helps with digestion and weight loss.
- White chocolate chips: we achieve the dessert-for-breakfast vibes of these healthy lime coconut bars by pulsing white chocolate chips into the batter of these bars.
- Cream cheese: feel free to use regular cream cheese or dairy free cream cheese in this recipe. Both work great!
- Powdered sugar: for the perfectly sweet, homemade cream cheese frosting, we beat organic powdered sugar with cream cheese. If you’d rather use coconut sugar, see my quick recipe for making your own below!
- Limes: obviously, the star of the show is lime. Feel free to use either two key limes, two small limes or one large lime for the bar and then either the juice of one small lime, one key lime or half a large lime for the icing.
- Baking staples: you’ll need fine grain sea salt, baking powder, and vanilla extract to help these bars bake up properly.
Podcast pairings
While you’re baking these healthy lime coconut bars, dive into one of these podcast episodes to learn more about the amazing health benefits inside this healthy breakfast!
On blood sugar: this recipe is SO blood sugar friendly, and this episode talks all about how you can hack your blood sugar for weight loss, energy, hormone balance, and sleep!
On dopamine: this healthy breakfast is sweet, which can definitely boost our dopamine and this episode is all about how to hack dopamine to experience more pleasure in daily life.
On gut health: learn about the surprising future of gut health (including the hidden causes of bloating and constipation that no one’s talking about) with Dr. Will Bulsiewicz.
How to make paleo powdered sugar in one minute
Once you make a batch of this coconut powdered sugar, you can store it in the pantry to use in more recipes that need a healthy substitute for powdered sugar!
- Add 1 cup of coconut sugar to a blender.
- Blend it on high until it is powdery.
- To make it even more powdered sugar-like, add 1 tablespoon of arrowroot starch to the blender. This helps to get the consistency to be super similar to powdered sugar. That’s it!
Storing tips
These healthy lime coconut bars are the perfect make ahead breakfast. You can store them in the fridge in a tightly sealed container for 4-5 days.
More healthy Starbucks copycat recipes to try:
Healthy Starbucks Blueberry Muffins
Healthy Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars
Healthy Starbucks Iced Lemon Loaf
Healthy Starbucks Pumpkin Loaf
I hope you enjoy, and tag me if you make these Healthy Starbucks Lime Frosted Coconut Bars on Instagram (@lizmoody)— I can’t wait to see!
Print
Healthy Starbucks Lime Frosted Coconut Bars
Ingredients
For the bars:
- 1/2 cup unsalted creamy almond or cashew butter
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon molasses (optional)
- 1 egg or flax egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut, plus more for topping
- 3/4 white chocolate chips, divided
For the frosting:
- 8 oz dairy free cream cheese
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- zest of 2 key limes, 2 small limes OR 1 large lime
- juice of 1 small lime, 1 key lime OR 1/2 a large lime
- Drop of liquid chlorella or organic green food coloring (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line an 8×8″ baking pan with parchment paper.
- Add 1/2 cup white chocolate chips and the rolled oats to a food processor and pulse a few times. Add the shredded coconut and pulse a few more times until it looks like pebbly dirt. If you don’t have a food processor or blender, just finely chop those ingredients and set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together the almond butter, maple syrup, molasses, egg, vanilla, almond flour, salt, and baking powder until smooth. Then, mix in the oat, coconut, and white chocolate mixture. It’ll be thick!
- Plop the batter into the pan and press down until it’s evenly flat and spreads to the edges of the pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to brown, then remove it from the oven and let it cool in the pan.
- Beat together the cream cheese and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Then, beat in the lime zest and lime juice. You can also add a drop of organic green food coloring or chlorella for a stronger green color.
- Remove the bar from pan, then spread the frosting on top. Melt the remaining 1/4 cup white chocolate in 15 second intervals in the microwave and drizzle it on top of the bars. Sprinkle more shredded coconut on top and refrigerate for about an hour until it’s set. Cut into squares and enjoy!
Notes
Store them in the fridge in a tightly sealed container for 4-5 days.
