Oh my goodness!
Anyone else out there ADORE Lara bars but can only buy them as a special treat because they cost $1.50 for a tiny bar?
I was one of those people till I decided (right after I just bought a cherry pie Lara bar) that I would try to make this at home.
About 10 min later (maybe even less) I had an AMAZING cherry pie bar that tasted EXACTLY like the one I just ate!
IT.... WAS..... SO.....SIMPLE!! (ok, sorry with all the caps….I am just really excited.)
For those of us who are Lara bar fans you know the ingredients are simple
The specific fruit, nuts, and dates.
Here is what I did.
* I put 1/2 c almonds in a food processor – chopped them up good.
* I then dumped them in my kitchen aid mixer
* Next I added 1 c unsweetened moist but dried Bing cherries and 1 c dates into the food processor and chopped that up until it formed a ball.
* I then dumped that into the kitchen aid and mixed it all together. (you may have to had kneed just a little)I put it between two pieces of saran wrap and rolled it out to about 1/2 “ thick and cut them into bars! The batch above made 6 bars the same size as the ones at the store.
And get this – my picky four your old LOVED them, as in she went shouting to ALL the other members in the household to come “get some candy!” After she yelled to the others she asked me if there were any sugar bugs in it, I told her no, which in turn made her even MORE excited and she shouted, “Come and get some of God’s candy! It doesn’t even have sugar bugs!” (We call natural sweet food God’s candy in our house)
Also, this is a super easy and fast No crust - French Apple Pie recipe that uses bisquick (did you know they came out with a healthier version of Bisquick? Look for the one that says "heart healthy" on the box) and a nut strudel topping.
SOOO GOOD!!
Don't miss out on Selina's home decor tips and inspirations - Sign up to receive her once a week post :-)
I'm a fellow Lara Bars lover too so thanks for posting this, I'll have to give it a try!
ReplyDeleteoooh i LOVE lara bars. i need to source a good deal on dried cherries- they are my favorite!
ReplyDeleteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! do you realise how excited this has made me?! we have similar bars in the UK and I never would have thought to make them myself! this looks super delish.
ReplyDeletebookmarked and in the recipe book methinks!!!
*gets a bit giddy*
thank you!!
Jenni xx
Great recipe, and they seem to be well enjoyed. lol
ReplyDeleteSounds delicious and easy!
ReplyDeleteAmazon sometimes has a really good deal on dried cherries. I think we picked up 4 lbs for $17. You could make a lot of bars for that! Thanks for the recipe!
ReplyDeleteWe love Larabars, too. But we definitely don't want to fork over the money for them.
ReplyDeleteYour bars look delicious!
We've made them at home with great success. The peanut butter and jelly ones are super cheap since you just use peanuts, raisins, and a little salt.
Awesome! I love those but rarely buy due to the cost, also the best buy I find on them at Costco is a variety pack and I only want the cherry ones. Love 'God's candy'!
ReplyDeleteIs that a Franciscan Tahiti plate? Love that pattern. And the bar ain't bad looking either!
ReplyDeleteReply@Jen:
ReplyDeleteWell yes! I looked at my plate again and it is a Franciscan Tahiti plate! It still had the price tag of .25 cents where I bought it from.....looks like it's worth about 15 bucks on eBay! I'm going to keep looking for more of those - I do love the fun old world pottery/Tuscan design. I love the internet, how something can be posted (like a fruit bar) and someone recognizes the plate! Thanks for commenting Jen!
Do you know how long they would keep? I love the cherry pie lara bar!
ReplyDeleteI have never eaten a LaraBar, so I can't use that as a comparison. I hardly buy prepackaged bars or energy bars for that matter, but I like healthy snacks. I made these tonight and added vanilla bean paste (it's one of my favorite flavors so I add it everywhere I can.) They are absolutely delicious! I am glad you posted this recipe because I would never have thought of copying an energy bar. These are seriously delicious and I'm a permanent fan. :) Thanks for posting this recipe!
ReplyDeleteI've been making these for my family and they love them. Thanks for the recipe!
ReplyDeletepinning! I'm going to try this recipe!
ReplyDeleteyour recipe sounded very good. I consider myself an avid baker and this sounded easy enough. but I have to tell you, it was not. I put the dried cherries in my new kitchenaid 7 cup food processor and it seemed quite a while to cut them into small pieces. it did fine with the nuts but when I went to cut the dates,the food processor was cutting it into med, to small chunks but was dancing around the counter it was working so hard. took them out and chopped some more with a knife to get them in smaller pieces. by no means could I form a ball with these ingredients. I just have a mound of small pieces that fall apart when I press them together. any advice would be appreciated
ReplyDeleteHi Diane,
DeleteWere the cherries really dry, or moist?
If they were really hard and dry, maybe motioning them up a little would work better. (soaking them in water first) Mine were pretty moist.
Honestly, I am not an avid baker :-) and it somehow worked really well and easily in my Hamilton food processor. (not a great quality processor) I don't believe my food processor is as big as yours either (not sure if that makes a difference or not)
I wonder what would happen if you tried doing the dates and cherries in a high quality blender??? Or maybe if they had more moisture that would solve the problem.
I hope that helped a little - maybe play around with the moisture thing….I really wish I could help more!!!
I hope you give it another shot - they are so delicious!
Diane replied in email:
Delete"In thinking about it, i was trying to avoid gumming up the blades so I put the cherries and dates on the fridge.But " gumming up' is what it needed to do!"