Well, I stand corrected. All this time readers have been telling me I should make my own Larabars at home, and I proudly stood my ground saying I already make too many things from scratch so I would continue to buy them from the store. But that was until I figured out homemade LARABARS taste SO good compared to the packaged ones! On a recent blog post I shared that extra good food is worth the extra effort to me so it should be no surprise that I will have to start making these on a regular basis now!
Plus, since Larabars are such a simple snack, using only a few whole ingredients, that means they are simple to make at home as well. All you need are Medjool Dates, which can be found in the produce section if your store carries them, and some nuts, peanut butter, seeds and/or granola. And thanks to the seed version those who are nut-free can enjoy these bars now, too. They are the perfect “on-the-go” snack, and my girls were so excited when they saw me putting together the pictured platter…it was like torture for them waiting for me to finish taking pictures! My daughters seriously love these things.
Cashew Cookie Larabar
Ingredients
- 1 cup Medjool dates (pitted)
- 1 cup cashews (raw)
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Combine dates, cashews, peanut butter and water in a food processor and puree until mixture starts to stick together. Add a little more water if necessary to help mixture come together.
- Pick up date mixture and using your hands work to squeeze it together into one big clump. Mash it down on a cutting board or sheet of wax paper to form into one even rectangle shape using the sides of your hands (or a knife) to make the edges straight.
- Slice into 12 even squares. For best results store in the fridge, although bars can be kept at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Granola Larabar
Ingredients
- 1 cup granola (homemade (see below for link to recipe))
- ½ cup Medjool dates (pitted)
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Combine , dates and water in a food processor and puree until mixture starts to stick together. Add a little more water if necessary to help mixture come together.
- Pick up date mixture and using your hands work to squeeze it together into one big clump. Mash it down on a cutting board or sheet of wax paper to form into one even rectangle shape using the sides of your hands (or a knife) to make the edges straight.
- Slice into 8 even squares. For best results store in the fridge, although bars can be kept at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Peanut Butter Larabar
Ingredients
- 1 cup Medjool dates (pitted)
- ½ cup peanut butter
Instructions
- Combine dates and peanut butter in a food processor and puree until mixture starts to stick together. Add a little more water if necessary to help mixture come together.
- Pick up date mixture and using your hands work to squeeze it together into one big clump. Mash it down on a cutting board or sheet of wax paper to form into one even rectangle shape using the sides of your hands (or a knife) to make the edges straight.
- Slice into 8 even squares. For best results store in the fridge, although bars can be kept at room temperature.
How big is a bar? The clump I made will make maybe 4 that would be the size of a store bought larabar.
It should make 12 small squares. – Nicole
We just made the Cashew Cookie Larabars and they were delicious. So easy to make. We will definitely be making these again.
Hello
What temperature do you bake at after the food processor? Did I miss something in the post?
Thanks
Hi. These are no-bake.
I can’t believe how easy and fast this was to make. My kids are SUPER picky, and they loved these homemade Lara bars. Even my husband requested me to make this again. I still can’t believe my kids ate nuts AND dates. I will definitely be using this recipe on repeat.
Thanks for sharing!
Any ideas for the coconut chocolate chip lara bar?
Thank you!
We’ve not tried making that one but it sounds delicious!
Have you ever made the peanut butter version with almond butter, cashew butter, or sunflower butter? The consistency is a little different in these butters, so I was just curious. Considering trying sunflower butter to make them nut-free and school-friendly.
Hi. I’ve used almond butter.
What kind of peanut butter do you suggest?
Hi. Any organic peanut butter with peanuts as its only ingredient.
Can you make this in a regular blender?
Hi. We’ve not attempted to make these using a blender.
Can I do this in a vitamix? I don’t have a food processor :(.
I’ve never attempted a thick dough in a vitamix.
How long do these stay fresh outside the fridge? I like larabars because they are an easy thing I can keep in my purse for myself and my kid.
I’ve kept them up to a week. I often freeze them.
Love these recipes. I love the Coconut Cream pie larabars so I experimented and made my own. Using the base recipe I used Raw Cashews, Raw Almonds, unsweetened coconut flakes, dash of cinnamon, splash of water in food processor. They taste even better than the store bought. They are best cold!!
Strange, The Ingredients on the Larabar’s for Cashew Cookie bar does not contain peanut butter as your recipe does.
I made the peanut butter one and it was like mush? What did I do wrong?
Hi Kathryn. I’ve had a similar experience when my peanut butter consistency was a bit runny.
You can also do dates and nuts only. Don’t need to use peanut butter or water. Pistachios and tart dried cherries w dates, hazelnut and dates, cashews and dates… The list goes on and on. You should process the nuts first, then add a few dates at a time until it forms balls.. So delicious!
So THATS what I did wrong! I never added water so mine was like little crumbles haha
FYI – Costco has amazing dates in their produce section. My kids love homemade larabars too. Sometimes I add grated fresh ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, lime zest & fresh lime juice, dried apricots, or cocoa powder. It’s fun to play w/ different ingredients!
What brand dates do you use?
Hi there. Here is one: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/04/30/recipes-using-medjool-dates/.
My kids don’t have peanut allergies, but they go to a nut free daycare. I could use “Wow! Butter” in place of peanut butter, right?
Sure. :)
Hi! Around here I’ve only ever found dried medjool dates, is that what those are or fresh? I’m assuming by the package they’re dried but not sure. Thank you!
Those are the right ones. ;)
I have a friend who is actually allergic to dates but she’d love to try something like this! Any alternatives to that?
Hi. Here is Lisa’s nut free version: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/07/01/recipe-homemade-larabars-4-ways-including-nut-free/.
I would play with prunes first, or maybe even dried figs. Medjool dates are pretty special, but you should be able to get a similar result with similar textured dried fruit. You might find a bit of maple syrup and a drop of good vanilla extract will mimic the flavor notes of the dates. Just my 2 cents~!
How do you clean your food processor or blender afterwards? Doesn’t it get really sticky?
Hi there. It depends on which you own. You should follow your manufacturers directions for cleaning. I hand wash mine with very warm water being careful to disassemble and clean each.
I love your website it has been a huge help to my family and helped to change our lives. We eat a ton of food made with the recipes found here. We also play around with plenty of the recipes. I have a bar I have been making that my family finds irresistible. 1 serving raisins, 1 serving walnuts, 1 heaping tsp cocoa powder, dash of salt and splash of vanilla extract. I process it until it all gets the consistency of little peas and then press it together. We have had them for breakfasts desserts and hiking snacks. Thanks again for promoting a healthy lifestyle.
The person who invented the recipe and owns the Larabar company is named Lara. :-)
Why do you call them LARABARs? It just doesn’t seem right.
HELP!! I am 44 and a fairly accomplished cook, but I did something really wrong with these delicious larabars. I am asking for tips/advice!
I love to cook in bulk, so I made the cashew cookie larabar tonight in my food processor. Quadrupling the recipe=1/4 cup of water. After attempting to blend for a while, I ended up, in 2 more steps, adding another 1/2 cup water. This may be the problem?
I was tempted to use a paper towel to oil the wax paper, but I did not. I spread it out thinner than what I see now in your picture. I also cut mine in the shape of a dry granola bar. I see why you cut yours in squares.
The dough is too delicious to let it go to waste, so even if we have to eat it by the spoonful, we will ;)
I tried freezing it for 20 minutes, but even so, they are just a hot mess trying to get them off the wax paper. NOT pretty.
For my second attempt, I am planning on trying the following:
1. Make only a double batch, and don’t use as much water.
2. Spread more thickly and cut in squares
3. Possibly use some coconut oil on the wax paper to make removal easier.
Any other thoughts/comments/advice is very welcome!
Oh, sorry. Not sure what might have gone wrong! If it makes you feel better, my kids were eating a whole wheat flax seed brownie recipe yesterday with a spoon because we could not get the center cooked. ;)
Can you freeze these?
Hello Dionne. You can.
Does it have to be that specific kind of date?
I buy my dates from the bulk section of Winco Foods. They do not specify that they are Medjool dates, and may be a little smaller. But I have made many different recipes with them and they turn out just fine.
Odd question, but how do you measure a cup of dates?! A measuring cup seems so inexact with the size and shape of dates.
Hi Jamie. It’s an approximate measurement. :) Just use a cup as your gauge.
While these were simple to make and tasted great, we found they were more expensive to make homemade than the actual Lara bars. The medjool dates were almost $9 and a small bag of raw cashews were $5! Now granted, I’ll be able to make another batch but just one more and it only yielded 8 small, thin-ish bars.
Love the recipe for the cashew cookie bar. Not a huge fan of dates per se, but put into a bar like this was very good. It was all I could do to not eat the whole batch. We have a small food processor attachment to our blender and not a full size, so we had to tweak the recipe a bit proportion-wise. Couple of tweaks we incorporated…pureed the dates first then added the cashews and blended together. Came together nicely. Since we use all natural peanut butter we drizzled it in rather measured it out ahead of time. it tends to be a lot runnier than standard Skippy. We also added rolled oats which required adjusting the water and PB amounts. My daughter insists that we add craisins and chocolate chips next time…hey who am I to say no to some dark chocolate. Thanks for the recipe! I plan to continue using it and tweaking it ;)
What do Medjool dates look like?
Hi. Check them out: http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-medjool-dates.htm. ;)
Just made these with my son and neighbor’s boy. They were SO easy and both boys LOVED getting to help. We just used my small chopper and pulsed it several times. Took less than 20 minutes and easy clean-up. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
These are great recipes! What food processor would you recommend? I have an old 7-cup cuisinart, and it is having a hard time blending – I have to go in and move it around myself…
Does anyone have the nutritional values? Thank you!
Hi Wendy. We don’t provide nutrition info. This post helps explain why: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/01/04/healthy-eating-defined/. There are several websites that will help you with those kind of details, like My Fitness Pal.