Homemade Larabars

Am I the only one who finds the granola bar section of the grocery store just a little out of control?

Cliff Bars.  Power Bars. Luna Bars.  Nature Valley Bars. Nutrigrain Bars. Special K Bars. Quaker Chewy Granola Bars. Kashi Go Lean Bars. Cascadian Farm Granola Bars.  Kashi TLC Chewy Granola Bars.  Atkins Advantage Bars. 18 Rabbit Granola Bars. Kudos Granola Bars. Health Valley Granola Bars. Purefit Nutrition Bars.

Chocolate Chip.  Honey Nut Apple.  S'mores.  White Chocolate Macadamia Nut. Chocolate Fudge Brownie.  Ginger Cookie.  Vanilla Crunch.  Oatmeal Raisin.  Apple Pie.  Strawberry Yogurt.  Crunchy Peanut Butter.  Carrot Cake. Mint Chocolate. Key Lime Pie. Oats n' Honey. Cranberry Maple Nut. Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter. Cranberry Orange. Honey Almond. Chocolate Hazelnut. Sweat and Salty Nuts. Apple Crisp. Chocolate Coffee.

For an indecisive person like myself, I find the process of selecting a granola bar impossible.  If I manage to pick a brand, I can't decide on a flavor.  After going back and forth between Strawberry Yogurt and Super Fudgy Chocolate Brownie with Peanut Butter, I usually lose interest and buy a candy bar instead.

Despite this, I've managed to discover Larabars.  In a world of overly processed foods containing a plethora of chemical ingredients, I love the simplicity of Larabars.  The base of Larabars is chopped dates, and they're jazzed up with healthy items such as nuts and spices to create the different flavors.  Larabar's cashew cookie bar, for example, contains just dates and cashews!

Not only are Larabars void of unpronounceable chemical ingredients, but they taste delicious.  While eating a cashew cookie bar a few days ago, I realized these bars should be simple to make myself.  After some reading, I came up with a few different recipes, all of which taste great!

Cherry Pie Bars:

1/2 lb dates

1/2 cup almonds or cashews

1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Remove the pits from the dates and weigh out 8 oz.  If you don't have a food scale, they're usually sold in 1 lb quantities, so just use half the container. Chop the dates until there they're of a paste consistency.

2. Chop the nuts and cherries into medium-small sized pieces.

3. Combine the dates, cinnamon, cherries and nuts and mix until all four ingredients are distributed evenly.

 

4. Form the mixture into a rectangle and divide into bars.   Wrap the bars in plastic and store in the fridge.

 

Here are a few more combinations I've also enjoyed:

Cashew Cookie:

1/2 lb dates

1/2 cup cashews

Cinnamon Craisin Cookie:

1/2 lb dates

1/2 cup cashews

1/2 cup craisins

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough:
1/2 lb. dates
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Pinch of salt

Get creative and enjoy!