Homemade Larabars

I've been blog slacking. Blog slacking can be attributed to two things: 1) tiredness 2) extreme hunger. Meaning, I'm so hungry by the time I make supper I eat it before I remember to snap a picture. I did this the other night with the Eggplant Parmesan. It was fantastic. And I was starving and gobbled it right up. Hence, no picture. But I'll still post the recipe.

But here is my adventures in Lara Bars. I "inconvenienced" Sarah's food processor while making these (I say "inconvenience" because it used to have a pulse option and an off option. Now it has no options - just a go speed.) And Lance tried to fix it (Sarah I don't think I told you that ...). But Lance didn't fix it. In fact he made me so nervous that he was going to break it more that I ended up shouting at him to stop. I didn't want to have to purchase a new $100 food processor for their family. Lance's comment "well ... I didn't know they cost so much. Sorry ..." Moral of the story: Lance can sometimes fix things. And sometimes he breaks things further. I had to stop him before we reached that point.

Larabars are a nice on-the-go snack. But good gracious, are they expensive! At $2/bar, they were a luxury item. Precious Sarah purchased some bulk dates for me at $5 and then I purchased some lightly salted peanuts and orange cranberries. Overall, my version is much much cheaper. And they aren't hard to make. Unless you break the food processor you borrowed :)

Larabar ingredients for PB Jelly Larabars
22 dates
1/3 cup of peanuts
1/3 cup cranberries or other dried fruit


Pulse everything, starting with the dates, in the food processor. Amounts are more or less, based on your texture preference.


From the moisture of the dates everything will start clumping together nicely.


Spread a couple of tablespoons out onto a piece of plastic wrap and mush it into a bar shape.



Then wrap tightly and store in the refrigerator for freshness.

Enjoy as a healthy, fiber-filled snack. Kids and adults will all enjoy!