Homemade Larabars

proper-binge:

This quarter, I had the bright idea to do a yoga class from 8:30-9:30 before doing back to back two-hour classes from 10 AM-2 PM. I also ride my back to and from school. Needless to say, I get hungry in the seven or so hours I’m either riding or in class, but I don’t really have a break in there to eat a meal. I load up on little snacks to eat throughout the day, preferably things that aren’t loud to chew so I’m not that obnoxious person eating chips during class while everyone else is trying to listen. Naturally, the perfect choice for this would be a good granola bar but then there’s that whole celiac thing. I used to not be very sensitive and I could get away with eating Clif bars, even though they have malted barley extract in them. Now? No dice. Those things really mess me up. Luckily, there are Larabars. 

I discovered Larabars a couple of months ago, and I’m telling you, these things are the bomb diggity. They are so good and they’re free of preservatives, chemicals, added sugar, gluten, and dairy products. Delicious, gluten-free, vegan granola bars. Great. Sign me up. Except, as is the case with most foods like this, they come with an absurd amount of packaging. And they’re very expensive. I don’t dig that. But because there are so few ingredients in them, it was really easy to figure out how to make my own at home. I started out just throwing some dates, dried cranberries, and almonds in my blender. That worked, but took forever, and I vowed never to make them again until we had a food processor. Along with my desire to make hummus, pesto, salsa, peanut butter, and apple chips, this convinced my mom to buy a food processor. I made another batch, this time adding walnuts. Turned out great both times, but it was really just a hodge-podge of dried fruits and nuts. This time, I decided to make some peanut butter ones.

You guys. They are like peanut butter, oatmeal cookies. Except they’re good for you. Go make these right now.

Ingredients
-Pitted medjool dates (I use 2 lbs)
-Around two cups of rolled oats
-About a cup and a half of peanuts
-About a third of a cup of peanut butter

1) Blend up the dates in a food processor until they form a paste. Remove from food processor and set aside.
2) Blend oats and peanuts in the food processor.
3) Slowly add dates bit by bit. If you add all of the paste at the same time, it will be hard on the food processor. Adding it slowly helps get it thoroughly mixed with the dry ingredients. If it starts to ball up, stop the food processor, break it into smaller pieces, and keep blending.

4) Once everything is thoroughly blended, you can do one of two things.  Number 1 (aka the easy way, which is obviously what I do) - Roll the mixture into balls and store in an airtight container. Super simple. Number 2 - Place the mixture between two pieces of wax paper and roll it out with a rolling pin. Then you can cut it into bar shapes.

Boom. Done. The quantities given above will make a LOT. I probably got about two dozen balls out of this. You can definitely make less, I just wanted to use up all of the dates I had.

Tips:
1) Don’t be afraid of buying dates that aren’t pitted! Pitting them is not even a little bit hard. You basically just squish it between your fingers and it’ll separate in half. Pull the pit out. That’s it.
2) This recipe is very easy to try variations on. In the picture, the two different colored ones are ones I made with almonds, walnuts, raisins, and dried cranberries. If you do the ones in the recipe and add cocoa powder, it tastes like Snickers bar. The next one I’m going to try is apple pie flavor.
3) Don’t try this if you don’t have a food processor. Seriously. It’s so much work and it takes forever. If you don’t have a food processor, borrow one from a friend or wait for a really kickass sale to come up. I got mine for more than 50% off at Macy’s and I use it several times a week.

Let me know what flavors you try making!

Coconut and Cocoa Bars! (Recipe Below)

fightforthebody:

All The Things in My Cupboards Bars (~140cal/bar)
It’s really exactly what it says. I got inspired to make my own granola bars after seeing so many amazing ones on Tumblr, but I wanted to avoid processed sugar and adding fats as much as possible. 

Ingredients:

1+1/3c oats
1c chopped nuts (I used almonds)
1c raisins
1/2c honey
1/3c brown sugar
3tbsp cocoa powder
6tbsp shredded unsweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix the coconut and oats together and spread out on a baking sheet. Toast them for about 10 minutes or until they just start to brown. While that’s toasting, cut up the almonds and mix together with the other ingredients. Remove the oats and coconut from the oven and mix thoroughly.

It might seem like there’s not enough honey, but don’t worry, if you mix it well enough it’ll get nice and dense!

Press into a parchment-paper lined baking sheet and bake for about 12-15 minutes. Allow to fully cool, then cut into pieces.

Makes 20 bars.

The recipe definitely needs some tweaking. You definitely don’t need the brown sugar unless you have a real sweet-tooth, and my next batch I’m going to add in an egg so that it’ll hold together a little better. 

The best thing about these bars is that you can add almost anything! Don’t be afraid to experiment with other grains, quinoa, cereal, other fruit, nuts, molasses and other liquid-form sugars, so on and so forth! 

HOMEMADE LARA BARS - PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP

Makes an 8x8 pan (about 10 bars)

1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup almonds
3/4 cup quick oats 
1 cup pitted dates
1/4 cup peanut butter (I used creamy)
2-3 T water 

1/3 cup chocolate chips 
1/4 cup quick oats (not a typo)

Line an 8x8 pan with tinfoil, leaving some extra on both sides so you can use them like handles to pull the bars out later. 

In a food processor, grind the nuts and 3/4 cup oats until they are in fine crumbs. Add the dates and process until you have what looks like coarse wet sand. Add the peanut butter and blend some more. I’ve found you cannot overblend these - the tinier the crumbs, the better your bars will hold together. Add the water, about 1/2 a tablespoon at a time until the mixture is just slightly damp (I usually use all 3 T). 

With a spatula stir in the chocolate chips and the remaining oats until evenlydistributed.

Pour the mixture into your pan and press them firmly and evenly into all corners. Pack it in as tightly as possible. Oh, really? You think that was as tightly as you can pack it? No, do a little more. I promise you won’t regret it.

Refrigerate for at least an hour. Remove foil and bars from pan and slice into bars or squares. Store in the fridge or freezer.   

(Source: canopi.me)

living-on-the-road:

Well, I WAS looking forward to a nice 4-day weekend, exploring, but Southern Ontario is getting icy rain tonight, so it’s postponing our trip until tomorrow.

Of course, I didn’t learn this until I spent the last 2 days preparing food for the trip.  I made some awesome breakfast bars, although they need freezer time & have to be made in the oven, they’re a good idea to make in advance & take with you

Breakfast Fruit and Oatmeal Bars 

 Serves 14

1/3 cup    slivered almonds 
1/2 cup    butter, softened  
1/2 cup    brown sugar  
2 Tbs    orange juice  
1 Tbs    orange zest  
1 tsp    vanilla  
2   large eggs  
3/4 cup    applesauce  
1/2 cup    quinoa flour  
1/2 cup    whole wheat flour  
1 tsp    baking powder  
1 tsp    baking soda  
1/4 tsp    salt  
2 1/2 cups    oats  
1 cup    flaked coconut  
1/3 cup    diced dried apricots  
1/2 cup    dried cranberries    

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spread the almonds evenly on a baking sheet and toast on the center oven rack for about 10 to 15 minutes, until fragrant and lightly toasted.
2 In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the orange juice, orange zest, vanilla and eggs. Blend well and then stir in the applesauce.
3 In a separate, medium bowl, combine the quinoa and whole wheat flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add this mixture to the applesauce and mix well. Stir in the almonds, oats, coconut, apricots and cranberries. Ensure the mixture is well blended, using a large wooden spoon or your hands. Chill the mixture in the freezer for 30 minutes.
4 With lightly greased hands, form the dough into 2x4” bars or balls and place on a large baking sheet. If you have an ice cream scoop handy, use it to scoop rounds of dough onto the baking sheet, pressing each one down with a fork to flatten it slightly.
5 Bake on the center oven rack for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges are slightly golden brown. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a rack to cool completely. Store them in a tightly sealed container.