Homemade Larabars!

[BrianC]

I love Larabars but at $1.29 a piece, it's a little expensive. Since there are so few ingredients, I figured it couldn't be too hard to make them myself. I used:

~10 oz soaked dates
~5 oz soaked raisins
~1c almonds
~1/2c cashews
~tbsp cinnamon

I put the dates and raisins in the food processor w/ the cinnamon until they were fairly smooth. Took them out and put the nuts in, ran it for about 10 seconds just to coarsely chop them. In a large bowl I folded the nuts into the wet mix. Spread it out on a teflex sheet and put it in at 105 degrees for about 6 hours. They weren't done at that time so I flipped them over and left them overnight. Total was about 16 hours - I know this is long so maybe next time I won't soak so long.

They came out pretty tasty and I got about 14 for 42 cents each.

[Veganforlife]

Thanks for sharing. I too think the store-bought Lara bars are way too expensive. I wonder if you have to soak anything at all?:confused:

[ItsSimplyAmazing]

I discovered lara bars as my first raw bar when I started 2wks ago ... ya they are good Im vvvvvvery curious about all the flavors though since I can only find apple pie and banana near me - and of the 2 I prefer the apple
I agree the price is a lot .. I dont have a food process ( YET ! ) its on order ;) so Ill buy them until I do -- plus I havent found dates yet either argh!!! Hitting another few stores tonight to see if I can score some and see what I can make :)

maybe someone will have favorite flavor recipe combos ??

[RowanC]

I've never seen a larabar.

How thick do you spread this mixture to dehydrate it?
Thanks.

[RawFoodieMom]

I didn't like larabars when I tried them, and I tried 3 or 4 different ones. I was disappointed. I'm not exactly sure what I didn't like, they just didn't taste that good to me.

But... I do like the idea of snack bars to carry around and have for emergencies or a quick snack, and school lunches, etc...

I found this page for Larabars: http://www.deliciousorganics.com/Products/larabars.htm

It lists all the ingredients in all the bars AND a pic of what they look like. With ingredients SO simple, and pics to compare our own versions to, should be really easy. I'm going to try some of the versions and see. Maybe fresher ones will taste better to me, and I can taste-test and tweak till I find a combination that tastes great.

[RawFoodieMom]

~10 oz soaked dates
~5 oz soaked raisins
~1c almonds
~1/2c cashews
~tbsp cinnamon


Forgot to mention, your combination sounds really great, BrianC, I'm going to try yours too! :)

[Ama]

Brian... any idea appx how many dates/raisins. I usually measure in a measuring cup... I have no idea how much 10oz or 5oz would be: 1/4 C or 1/2 C??? Anyone??

RawFoodieMom... thanks for that link.

[beanmonkee]

I just got a box of Lara bars at Costco for $17. There are 18 bars. That's cheaper than individually, and it's a box of apple pie, pecan pie, and cherry pie.

Before that, I had been getting Think organic bars. They are raw also, and you can buy them off their website in bulk. They had a buy 6 boxes, get 2 free special, so I ended up with 8 boxes. They lasted me a year, and I gave two boxes to my sister for Christmas...but I was a college student, and they're great backpack food.

But yes, I think making lara bars couldn't be too difficult...I'm looking forward to the recipe!

I made bars the other day by altering RP's brownie recipe and the orange goji berry white chocolate recipe. I think it was something like this:
1 cup walnuts
1 cup dates, soaked
1/2 orange
1/2 cup goji berries, ground
agave to taste

mix in food processor, and dehydrate until you like the texture. Not my best creation, but not bad either.

[ItsSimplyAmazing]

I finally went ahead and joined Cosco tonight - man I spent a lot there lol

I found the larabars and grabbed 2 boxes so Ill be set for a month and then by that time my food processor will have arrived and I hopefully will find dates at a store around me lol OR do you all use the dates in a box and soak them that way?? and have come up with my own recipe collection to try

Please forgive me I have grown up on a SAD diet, lived a SAD diet life and Im one that tends to just stick to what I know - Ive boughten the dates in a box many times and tossed them into muffin mixes in the past -- I have a box of dates in my cupbard right now .. is that what you use? Doubting because its not fresh though lol

How do you all store your homemade larabars? wrap them in anything?

I bought 3 of the apothicary jars from target and have 1 crammed full of larabars, 1 with trailmix and 1 with a big bag of raw almonds from cosco just for storage since I have a big bag opened in the fridge so will rotate that out when ready

tia!

[Morn]

Wow thanks for posting this. I pay $1.59 at Good Foods for them and it kills me. But I do like to keep them in my purse for emergencies. I have often thought the same thing. It can't be to hard to make them myself. I have a costco membership and at $17.00 a box I will be buying a box there if my costco has them.

[BrianC]

i used the oz measurements b/c thats how the package was described. 8oz to a cup, so about 1 1/4 c dates, and a little more than 1/2 c raisins. keep in mind these are rough measurements, and you can balance it however you want for taste. i think next time i wont soak them for long b/c they took a long time in the dehydrator and still came out wet. but they are good. make sure you don't process the nuts too long, they're great in small chunks.

as for the dates - i used organic pitted dates from whole foods, and they were fresh not dried. dried wouldn't work so well because you need a thick moist base for the bar.

thanks for all the complements, and especially the recipe page rawmom - i will post as i try more combinations.

[RawFoodieMom]

bumping...

Has anyone had success making tasty Lara-type bars lately and can you share the details?? :)

I bought Goji Berries for the first time and want to make something with those... Should I soak them first? If the bars are going to be dehydrated, the berries look pretty dry already, so I guess they should be soaked, right??

Deb

[michigan roman]

for me on this topic i dont like wasting time preparing and dont see dehydrating as really raw / ultimate .

so i just take all these type ingredients and make trail mixes that i carry in plastic jars like peanuts are sold in then 'drink' the mix out of the jars for conveinience . i cut up the dates into little bits to make them go farther .
and how some bars call for fruits like oranges - apple etc maybe one could soak say dates , raisins or maybe raw oat groats in the juices of the fruits to impart their taste into them , then strain/dry and add to mix . and add spices like cinnamon , agave , vanilla etc to the soaking water .

now that im thinking about it and have never tryed soaking these things yet im beleiving the soaked / spiced oats would be the key ingredient . plus with the oats soaked say 30 hours theyd be soft/sticky and you could add other ingredients then press the mix into a sided dish and it might turn into a solid 'cake' that you could cut inti bars . just have to experiment with like a syrupy water based mixture with say alot of raisins as its foundation which would bind the mix together .

[domestic goddess]

I just made some larabars. My recipe went something like this:

2c. dates (pre soak) soaked for 6 hrs or so
1c soaked cranberries
1c soaked cashews
1/2c soaked sunflower seeds

I ground the nuts up first, then added the dates (drain first, but save the date 'water' its a great sweetener!) and enough date water to get everything to mix. I spread the mixture about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thich on the sheet, cut them into bars and dehydrated about 18hrs. Moist and chewy...YUM!:D

[RawFoodieMom]

hey goddess, those sound really good... thanks for sharing!! :)

Deb

[Tropigal]

I want to try & make these since i put bars in my hubbys lunch daily....$$$!
I am going to try these with NO soaking....since Lara bars are not dehydrated.
I will see what i come up with & post a recipe. I have been "planning" to make these for a couple months :rolleyes:

BTW,the new cliff bars....the raw ones....Pomegranite flavor is really good!!

[whitelotus]

I actually just made a larabar today and it was soooooooo good! When I went to Wild Oats, I saw a larabar that had cashews and dates in it so I made it and it turned out to taste really rich and kind of sweet. I soaked the cashews (a couple of hours) and the dates (about 30 minutes) and put them in the food processor - a couple minutes later it was done and in the freezer. Such a yummy little treat and it really does save you a lot of money!

[ivorylodge]

i couldn't believe i found some at a truck stop in texas in the middle of nowhere.

the world has EVOLVED!

[laurabfig]

i couldn't believe i found some at a truck stop in texas in the middle of nowhere.

the world has EVOLVED!

WOW! I am amazed. I thought you could only get junk at truck stops. I have hope for our nation now!!! :D

On a more serious note, I usually make "brownies" that give me the same fix that larabars do:
1 c. dates
1 c. walnut/almond mix
a little cocoa powder
a little agave
sometimes some shredded coconut OR a little peppermint extract (YUM!)

The only think I don't like about this mixture is that it is too gooey usually. my kids don't care they will eat it anyway, but for on-the-go eating, i need to probably add more nuts to make it easier to eat in the car while I'm out and about at work during the day.

i've enjoyed seeing all the recipes and want to try some of them!

[Solace]

Hay, I live in Canada and Lara bars are more than $2.00 each. A !