"Tarabars"- The Recipes

I love the Larabars for post workout! So many nutrients and very little ingredients. They're made with real foods and no allergens (except in the chocolate chip flavors). They're vegan-friendly and an easy mid-afternoon snack for those sweet cravings (or am I the only one that gets those?). Sounds perfect doesn't it? It would be if they weren't $1.59+ per bar! I eat one a day following my crazy Cathe workouts and I workout 7 days a week right now. That adds up to a whopping $11.13 every week or $578.76 a year, pre-tax! I had to find a way to make these myself so I started searching the net for copycat recipes.

My fave flavors only contain 3-5 ingredients each and can be purchased at any grocery store. Dates, cashews, peanuts, semi-sweet chocolate chips, vanilla, cinnamon, and dried cherries.

For my recipes that make 4 bars here's the money breakdown:

Purchased at HyVee (I plan to begin buying these items in bulk somewhere to cheapen it even more):

$1 for 4oz of dates
$1.67 for 1/3 c. raw cashews
$0.09 for 1 Tbsp semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
*The amount of vanilla and cinnamon in this is so little that I really think it isn't worth counting.*

That comes out to about $0.69 per bar. HUGE savings of $6.30 per week, $327.60 per year! This is totally worth the 5 minutes it takes to make a batch.

On to the recipes and pictures!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

4oz, or about 18 whole, pitted dates
1/3 c. raw cashews
1 Tbsp semi-sweet mini chocolate chips or more if you're a self-diagnosed chocoholic
dash cinnamon
few drops of vanilla

Rough chop the dates. This makes it easier for your food processor but I have been successful with leaving them whole as well.
Side note: I tried using my Magic Bullet and it failed miserably, even if I rough chopped the dates first.

Add the cashews to the minced dates. I like to really finely chop these because I don't want a large piece of nut in a bite. I like a smoother texture to my bars but you could leave these chunkier if you like that crunch.
Add the cinnamon and vanilla.

Add the chocolate chips. Don't go too crazy with the food processor here. Just pulse it enough to mix the chocolate chips in. I really like mini chocolate chips for this.

Dump the finished mixture on a sheet of plastic wrap and mold with the wrap to your desired shape. This just helps keep your hand from getting sticky. If you're a plastic free home, feel free to use parchment or even your hands. You could roll these into balls or into one flat bar like I've done.

Put in the fridge to set for a bit. If you've done one large bar, cut them into 4 smaller bars and wrap/store individually for easy grab 'n go. (I'd already eaten a bar from this batch...)

I store mine in the fridge since there are no preservatives and I like them to have that chill when I eat them as well as a stiffer consistency vs. soft, room temperature.

Variations I've tried with success so far:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

Replace the cashews with 1/3 c. peanuts (salted or unsalted based on your own personal preference; I like unsalted)

Peanut Butter and Jelly
These are a really pretty auburn sort of color with the added cherries.

2oz or about 9 whole dates
2oz or about 1/4 c. dried cherries
1/3 c. peanuts (again, salted or unsalted is your call)

The process is the same. Rough chop the dates and then mince in the food processor (with cherries for that recipe). Add nuts. Shape, chill, cut.

These recipes are tweeked to my personal tastes and texture preferences. Play with it and find what you like best. You can't go wrong really, especially if you stick to small batches.

I'll post more recipes as I try new ones. I'd like to do a Cinnamon Apple, Blueberry Muffin, and Banana Nut Bread but we'll see if I can figure it out since they aren't flavors offered by Larabars. They do have an Apple Pie but I think I can do better. ;-)

ENJOY and happy "cooking"!