Recipe for Larabar?

[april092776]

Hi,
I am working on my 16th day RAW and loving it! I have eaten a few Larabars and like the taste and convenience. I am a professor and we have just started back to school, so these are great to have in my desk in a pinch, especially when the kitchenette next to my office is usually filled with bagels, danishes, pasta salad, etc! Anyway, since there is some question about the actual RAWness of these bars, does anyone know how to make something like this at home? The ingredients usually say just dates, nuts, fruits, etc., but I am looking more for amounts of ingredients. Thanks in advance!

[JennaBoBenna]

Hi! Larabars are generally 1 part nuts and 1 part dates. You could then add small amounts(teaspoons?) of seasonings--cinnamon, lemon juice, etc.
For fruit based ones, try 1 part nuts, 1 part dates, 1 part fruit (dried cherries, apple, etc.)

Make the mix first, then slowly add in other ingredients and keep taste-testing until you get what tastes good to you :)

[puffysmom]

This got me to thinking. When i dehydrated some cherries and pineapple and they were almost done drying they were still quite sticky so if one would dehydrate a fruit like that and before it was all the way dry mix it with nuts and all the other seeds and such would it not hold it together? I think i might get a pineapple and just try it. It cannot be all that hard to do. If the fruit alone cannot do it then one might have to add Agave syrup or raw honey to help but maybe not as much. Also as was mentioned some soaked chopped up fine dates would also hold it. I think the more things one puts in the better it would taste.

[catdeveer]

dunno nuttin' about Lara Bars. tooooo costly for my world. how about?

1 cup dried apricots
1 c dried figs
1 c dried dates
1/2 c raisins or currants
1 c dried, unsweetened coconut
1/2 c almond butter
1/2 c honey

grind each fruit in a food processer separately
mix the fruit together and add the coconut

mix the almond butter and honey well. add to the fruit and coconut mixture. combine well.

shape into balls or bars and chill. do yourself and a favor and lightly oil your hands :p for bars i press the mixture into the bottom of an oiled sheet pan and cut into rectangular shapes (oil the knife!) and then chill. i've also rolled the balls before chilling in some more dried coconut. so very good.

i've made pecan butter that would work just as well with this recipe. i've also added ground flax seeds or some raw sunflower seeds. i bet any ground nut would be yummy in small (1/2 cup?) amounts. the almond really comes through with the almond butter, though!

i think this is more of a technique than a recipe and that you are only limited by your imagination. change up the fruits, use mango or papaya instead of or in addition to the figs, or whatever.

just made this yesterday and this made about 18 decent snack sized bars. better than candy!

cat

[EmJo]

"Basic Formula for Delicious Candy" from V. Boutenko's 12 Steps to Raw:

1 cup any nuts
1 cup any dried fruits
1 Tablespoon oil (to hold it together)
Spices (optional)

Roll into balls.

IMO the oil probably isn't that necessary--my Cuisinart grinds nuts and fruits really well and they stick w/o any outside assistance.

[samariah]

wow, these all sound really good. personally i love lara bars, and im sure making fresh homemade ones would be even better.

[SmilingRawDancer]

This blog has some ideas and pictures!:

http://bunnyfoot.blogspot.com/2006/02/homemade-lara-type-bars.html