DIY Lara Bars – How to Make Raw Fruit and Nut Bars

DIY Lara Bars – How to Make Raw Fruit and Nut Bars

DIY Lara Bars fit into raw food,  gluten-free, paleo, and diabetic diet plans.  There’s no added sugar or sweetening.  Learn how to make these at home using this ingredient chart. 

We’re on day 17 of the 30 days of scratch cooking challenge.  One of the problems that come up over and over again, when you commit to not eat packaged food and to get processed food and fast food out of your diet, is the problem of what to eat when you are out.

Over and over again the folks in the challenge mention that they are successful in cooking from scratch at home, BUT, they stopped at Micky D’s when they went to town.  Or they didn’t know what to take with them when they went grocery shopping and they stayed in town longer than they planned.

Lara Bars are healthy raw fruit and nut bars that can be used as a meal replacement or an energizing snack.  While they are pretty expensive to buy – one 48 gram bar is $3 here in Canada– they are super easy to make with healthy raw ingredients at home.  Make a batch, wrap them individually in parchment paper or plastic wrap and keep them in the freezer. You can grab a couple on the way to the car and solve the what-can-I-eat problem, as you are on your way out.

DIY Lara Bars are raw fruit and nut snacks. They are gluten-free, paleo, and have no added sugar.  And just like the original Lara Bars, this homemade recipe is gluten-free, non-GMO, kosher, vegan, soy-free, and dairy-free. When you make your own you can add extras like omega-3 rich flax or chia seeds, and your nutritional green powder for extra nutritive punch.  As in all scratch cooking, homemade is better.

 

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Raw fruit and nut snacks: DIY Lara Bar (Makes 32 – 1 ounce bars)

2 cups of chopped dates

2 cups of raw cashews, sunflower seeds, or almonds

1 cup of coconut flakes + (1 cup of coconut flakes for coconut milk – *see below)

*1/2 cup freshly made coconut cream, plus 1 cup coconut pulp leftover from process (Note: You will have coconut milk remaining after you have made this recipe). (optional)

¼ cup flax, freshly ground

¼ cup virgin coconut oil, melted

½ cup organic raisins

½ cup dried cranberries

 

Method:

Line an 8-inch x 11-inch straight-sided pan with a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap, so that the paper hangs over the long edges. Set aside.

Fit a food processor with a metal blade. Add the cashews or other nuts or seeds, ground flaxseed, to the processor and pulse until they are uniformly finely chopped (think fresh bread crumb texture.) Add the coconut flakes and pulse again until finely chopped and uniform with the nuts.

Pour the coconut/nut mixture into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Add half of the dates to the food processor and process until a paste forms and clumps together in the work bowl. Open the food processor and add in half of the coconut cream and pulp leftover from processing, 2 tablespoons of virgin coconut oil, and half of the nut/coconut mixture. Replace the lid and process until evenly combined. Scrape into the prepared pan.

Repeat with the remaining dates, nut/coconut mixture, 2 tablespoons of virgin coconut oil, and coconut milk/coconut pulp.

When all of the ingredients have been processed, add raisins and cranberries to the processed mixture in the bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon or hands.

Wet your hands and use them to press the mixture as evenly over the bottom of the pan as possible. Fold the excess parchment over the bars to cover them.  Roll your rolling pin over the top to smooth the surface, if desired.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before moving onto the slicing.

Use the excess parchment paper as a sling to transfer the now-firm bars from the pan to a large cutting board. Cut into squares and store in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container.  An unrefrigerated bar will be good for 48 hours, covered, at room temperature.  Extend the shelf life at room temperature by drying the bars in your dehydrator for a few hours, until dry to the touch.

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*How to make coconut milk

1 ½ cups almost boiling water

1 cup organic unsweetened coconut flakes

Pour very hot water over coconut flakes and allow to sit for 15 minutes.  Pour this into a food processor or blender.  Blend on high for 3 to 5  minutes or process in the food processor until coconut flakes are very finely chopped – like graham cracker crumbs.  Pour contents of blender (or processor work bowl) into a fine sieve and allow coconut milk to drip out into a jar.  Press the pulp with the back of a spoon to extract most of the coconut milk and coconut oil.  You will use all the pulp plus ½ cup of coconut cream/milk in the above recipe.  An extra ½ to ¾ cup of coconut milk can be used for something else.

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Chocolate Peanut butter bars – raw fruit and nut like Lara Bars

If you have a food processor and don’t need the extra moisture that the coconut milk adds:

2 cups chopped dates

2 cups raw cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds,

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

¼ cup flaxseed, freshly ground

1 cup coconut flakes

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

¼ cup peanut butter

 

Line an 8-inch x 11-inch straight-sided pan with a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap, so that the paper hangs over the long edges. Set aside.

Fit a food processor with a metal blade. Add the cashews or other nuts or seeds, sesame seeds, and flax seeds to the processor and pulse until they are uniformly finely chopped (think fresh bread crumb texture.) Add the coconut flakes and pulse again until finely chopped and uniform with the nuts.

Pour the coconut/nut mixture into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Add half of the dates to the food processor and process until a paste forms and clumps together in the work bowl. Open the food processor and add in half of the nut/coconut mixture, 1 tbsp. cocoa, and half the peanut butter mixture. Replace the lid and process until evenly combined. Scrape into the prepared pan.

Repeat with the remaining dates, nut/coconut mixture, cocoa, and peanut butter.

When all of the ingredients have been processed, wet your hands and use them to press the mixture as evenly over the bottom of the pan as possible. Fold the excess parchment over the bars to cover them.  Roll your rolling pin over the top to smooth the surface, if desired.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before slicing.

Use the excess parchment paper as a sling to transfer the now-firm bars from the pan to a large cutting board. Cut into squares and store in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container.  An unrefrigerated bar will be good for 48 hours, covered, at room temperature.

The methodology is explained so you can create your own recipes

Lara Bars are incredibly expensive raw fruit and nut energy bars. Here they are $3 for a 48-gram bar.  They are made without GMO ingredients and grains.  They are real food, without cheap fillers.

The basis for Lara Bars is the date mash that is sweet and sticky and holds the other ingredients together.  You need a food processor to get the dates mashed fine enough to have the sticking power needed to hold the nuts and fruit together.  Some recipes recommend using whole dates that have had the seeds removed as these are usually stickier than crushed dates.  But the smaller pieces of dates work just as well and are usually cheaper to buy in bulk.

The second ingredient in Lara Bars is nuts and seeds.  If you have a nut allergy, sunflower or pumpkin seeds can be substituted for the nuts in the recipe.  The flaxseed adds Omega 3 nutrition.  The coconut is a powerhouse of health and energy.

Make your own DIY Lara Bars using this chart

When creating your own Lara Bar recipe here’s a helpful chart to get your ideas flowing.

Makes 32 – 1 ounce Lara Bars

Create your own DIY Lara Bars from scratch

2 cups – Sticky dried fruit	2 cups nuts or seeds	¼ c. Omega 3 seeds	¼ c. Sticky nut butter or	¼ c. Optional extras
date pieces	Raw cashews	Flaxseed, ground	peanut butter	2 tbsp. cocoa
Dried figs	Raw almonds	Chia seed, ground	coconut oil	raisins
Dried prunes	Raw sunflower seeds	Hemp hearts	2 tbsp. tahini (sesame paste)	cranberries, dried
Whole pitted dates	Raw pumpkin seeds	Antioxidant Greens powder	Coconut cream concentrate	2 tbsp. sesame seeds
Dried apricots	Raw pecans		almond butter	Dried apple pieces
	Raw hazelnuts		cashew butter	Dried strawberries
	Raw walnuts		Melted dark chocolate	Dried cherries, or other dried fruit
	Raw peanuts, skinned		Nutella	chocolate chips
			Hazelnut butter	½ cup coconut flakes
				½ tsp. cinnamon, vanilla powder, nutmeg, or turmeric
				¼  tsp. cayenne pepper

 

How to use the chart to make DIY Lara Bars using what you have on hand:

To use the chart – take one ingredient from each column based on your family preferences and what you have on hand.  Feel free to combine items within the same column based on what you have on hand, to make the volume that the recipe calls for.  Process ½ of your ingredients, at a time, in a food processor, beginning with the dry nuts or seeds and then moving to the stickier fruit.  If you are using a blender like a Vitamix you may need to add some liquid such as coconut milk (see the recipe above for how to make coconut milk from coconut flakes), a bit at a time to allow you to purée the dried fruit successfully.  Don’t add too much liquid or the bars will be too soft to cut.  If your bars end up with too much liquid, add more coconut flakes and let them sit for at least 30 minutes before continuing with the recipe.

After processing nuts, seeds, and fruit, mix by hand while adding omega 3 seeds, nut-butters, and optional extras.  It should be hard to stir with a spoon.  Mix well using your hands, a large wooden spoon, or the dough paddle of your mixer.

Pat into prepared 8 x 11 rectangular pan.  Smooth top with an oiled rolling pin.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.  But into 32 – 1 ounce bars.  A serving size is 1 ounce.

Raw fruit and nut bars will keep refrigerated for weeks, in the freezer for months, and at room temperature for 48 hours.  Great for hiking and for taking with you when you are going to be out for the day so that you can avoid the fast-food temptation.  You can use it as a meal replacement or snack.  Kids like them, too.  Fits into raw food,  gluten-free, paleo, and diabetic diet plans.  No added sugar or sweetening.