Sunday, March 4, 2012

Fruit bars/balls (aka larabars)

This is one of my favorite healthy snacks and my boys love them too. They are really easy to make if you have a food processor and the combinations are endless. I think the best website for different variations is the Enlightened Cooking blog.  

For the more traditional larabar style (shown above) you'll need to start with some dates. My first batch I used the Costco size dehydrated dates. Unfortunately those won't stick together unless you add something super sticky (like a lot of peanut butter). I got smarter though and got whole dates (seedless would have been easier, but they still worked!)

I simply use a 50/50 combination of fruit to nuts. I don't even really measure, just throw in my fruit and nuts at the same time and mix them all up until they're tiny.

Date bars (aka Larabars)

50% fruit, I used whole dates, golden raisins and unsweetened coconut
50% nuts, I used walnuts

Put desired fruits and nuts into food processor and blend to fine pieces that stick together. Line an 8x8 baking dish with plastic wrap or parchment paper and pour mixture in. Press mixture firmly into bottom of pan and refrigerate or freeze 1 hour. Slice into bars and serve. I like to store mine in the refrigerator because it helps to retain the shape.


Apricot balls

50% fruit, I used dehydrated apricots, golden raisins and unsweetened coconut
50% nuts, I used walnuts
Put desired fruits and nuts into food processor and blend to fine pieces that stick together. Dried fruit will not stick together well unless you add something like peanut butter or honey which changes the flavor, instead I roll into balls and refrigerate until ready to serve. Print Friendly and PDF
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