Hi there everyone!
I have a new recipe for you today! If you follow me on Instagram or have read this blog post, you know that I love finding real food products to keep on hand. Larabars are one of my favorite "granola" bars because of the 100% real ingredients. That being said, you pay for the high quality. Sure its great when I find a box on sale at Target, but they aren't necessarily cheap. Since the bars are made of real food ingredients I decided I would give it a whirl and make my own.
Of course I had to make my favorite flavor, Snickerdoodle, because it is a limited edition holiday flavor and I can only find it 2 months out of the year. It was a success! With this recipe I save money and enjoy my favorite flavor all year long. (PS you can find other copy cat recipes for other flavors on Pinterest ). Be sure to see my notes at the bottom of the recipe.
Ingredients
- 200 g raw whole almonds (about 1-1/4 c)*
- 150 g raw whole cashews (about 1 c)*
- 8 oz pitted dates (about 1-3/4 c)*
- 1 tsp cinnamon, divided
- 1 tsp vanilla, divided
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. While it preheats cut dates into halves if they are not already halved. Put in a bowl and cover with water. Let dates soak about 20 minutes.
2. While the dates soak and the oven preheats measure the almonds and cashews. Toss them with the salt in a bowl. Spread on a baking sheet lined with foil and roast for ~15 minutes.
3. Let the nuts cool for 5-10 minutes and drain the dates. Get your food processor** set up.
4. Work in two batches. Place half of the nuts in the processor and pulse until nuts are very finely chopped. It is okay if there are some larger pieces, that is what makes the bars have good texture.
5. Put in 1/2 tsp of the cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of vanilla and pulse again. Then, add half of the dates and pulse. You will need to stop and use a spatula to scrape down the sides several times. It is done when the mixture sticks together. Then put into a large bowl and repeat with the remaining ingredients.
not quite done here
see how it sticks together?
6. When both batches are done, mix together with a spatula to help create a uniform mixture. Place wax paper in an 8x8 baking dish. Use a spatula and another piece of wax paper to spread the mixture evenly into the pan. Use the spatula to smooth out the top. Refrigerate for ~ 1 hr before cutting with a sharp knife.
7. Feel free to keep in the fridge and cut throughout the week as you need it or cut all at once and freeze some. It can really make as many as you want depending on the size bar you are looking for. Generally, cutting in half one way and then making longer skinny strips works. It should make ~16 bars. I wrap mine in wax paper and then plastic wrap to freeze and in wax paper with foil or in a baggie to take as a snack. It can get sticky when it comes to room temp or gets warm and this keeps it off my fingers and prevents the bars from getting stuck to the baggie.
YUM!!!!
Enjoy! And please let me know if you try them!!
NOTES:
*I buy my nuts and dates in bulk from Costco. This saves lots of money and I can make a lot of batches before I need to restock.
**I like to use my smaller food processor for this recipe. I find that the bars are more uniform and more easily mixed together when I work in smaller batches because it helps all of the ingredients incorporate together.
