Dates, walnuts and bacon get chopped and blended with nut butter, oats and dried cherries for these no bake Savory Walnut Breakfast Bars. We often take these on hikes with the dogs for easy snacking or whenever hunger hits.
Line a 9x9" baking dish with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang.
Cook bacon until rendered and crisp. Break into pieces, set aside. Remove the pits from the dates and discard. Soak the dates for 5 minutes with enough hot water to just cover, set aside.
Place the walnuts and bacon in a food processor and pulse for two minutes to start breaking down the nuts to a meal like consistency. Add the drained dates, water and kosher salt and pulse again for a minute or two until it comes together.
In a large bowl mix the oats, grain cereals, nuts, cherries and walnut date mixture. Set aside.
In a microwave safe bowl, add the almond butter, peanut butter, honey, and kosher salt. Heat mixture on HIGH power for 1 minute, remove and stir. Return to microwave and heat on HIGH power 1 minute longer. Remove from microwave, pour in vanilla and whisk mixture to thoroughly incorporate.
Pour nut butter mixture over oat/cereal mixture and toss well to evenly coat. This will be thick. Spread mixture into 9x9" baking dish for tall or 13x9" for thinner bars and firmly press with a spatula into an even layer making sure to spread to all edges.
Cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator 1 hour minimum. Lift bars from dish using paper overhang and cut into squares/bars. Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated.