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This easy to make chocolate homemade lara bar recipe takes just ten minutes of prep time and has no added sugar. With just 5 natural ingredients, it's the perfect healthy snack or dessert!
If you're like me, you probably love Larabars. They're such a sweet and delicious snack - and are perfect for a healthy dessert!
But, you may not love spending about $2 per bar, and you might want to customize it a little more beyond the varieties on the grocery store shelves.
That's where this recipe comes in! This homemade lara bar recipe is super easy to make, requires very few ingredients, and is lower in sugar than its grocery-store-Larabar counterparts.
Tools and Equipment You'll Need
How to Make Homemade LaraBars - Step by Step
Step 1: Add all of the ingredients into a food processor. Blend on high until the ingredients form a smooth dough.
Step 2: Press the dough into an 8×8 baking pan lined with parchment. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours to set.
Step 3: Cut into 6 equal rectangles and serve.
What Makes This LaraBar Recipe Healthy?
- Vitamins and Nutrients: Macadamia nuts are heart healthy and a good source of fiber, protein, manganese and copper. Almonds are high in fiber, protein, Vitamin E and Magnesium. And dates contain calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and zinc!
- Healthy Fats: Nuts are a great source of heart healthy fats, since most of the fat in nuts is a combination of Omega 3 fats and monounsaturated fat.
- No Added Sugar: These bars are naturally sweet thanks to the dates, and require no added sugars to make them feel like a decadent dessert.
Will Kids Enjoy This Homemade Lara Bar Recipe?
My kids thought they were eating a chocolate brownie bar when they tried this recipe. They loved the sweetness from the dates and the texture of the ground up nuts! This is a great healthier snack option for picky kids who have a sweet tooth as well!
Why is it better to make larabars at home?
Larabars are made with just nuts and fruit, but taste like dessert. Because of that, they tend to be pretty popular with kids and adults alike!
However, they can be quite pricey, especially if you're eating them on a regular basis.
So why make homemade larabars instead of buying them?- Cheaper: By buying ingredients in bulk, you can cut down the cost per bar pretty significantly compared to store bought.
- Healthier: Traditional Larabars have about 20g sugar per bar. While it's all natural sugar from the dates for the most part, that's still a lot of natural sugar to be eating on a regular basis! These bars have only about 10g natural sugar per bar, which makes them a much better option for a daily snack or dessert.
- Customizable: Since the base of lara bars are just nuts + dates, you can add almost anything to this recipe to customize it for your family's preferences!
Variations for This Homemade Lara Bar Recipe
- Cashew Cookie: Switch the macadamia nuts for cashews, use cashew or almond butter, and omit the cocoa powder.
- Dark Chocolate Brownie: Switch the macadamia nuts for almonds and add 1/2 cup walnuts and 1-2 tablespoons of 88% dark chocolate chunks (preferably from a dark chocolate bar vs. chocolate chips)
- Apple Pie: Switch the macadamia nuts for pecans, add 1/4 cup walnuts, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, and 1/2 cup dried apples. Omit the cocoa powder.
- Peanut Cookie: Switch the macadamia nuts for peanuts, and use peanut butter instead of almond butter. Omit the cocoa powder.
- Cookie Dough: Switch the macadamia nuts for peanuts or cashews, omit the cocoa powder, and add 1/8 cup mini chocolate chips.
- Pecan Pie: Switch the macadamia nuts for pecans and add 1/4 cup almonds. Omit the cocoa powder.
- PB&J: Switch the macadamia nuts for peanuts, omit the cocoa powder and add 1/8 cup dried raisins or cherries.
- Banana Bread: Switch the macadamia nuts for almonds, omit the cocoa powder, add in 1/2 cup walnuts and 1/2 cup dried bananas.
Notice a trend here? Basically you can switch the macadamia nuts for any nut of choice, add in dried fruits as needed, and omit the cocoa powder if you want something less chocolatey!
You can also add any combination of seeds to this recipe: pumpkin seeds, flaxseed, ground chia seeds or sunflower seeds would all work well.
Top tips for making This Homemade Lara Bar Recipe
- Feel free to switch the nuts and add in dried fruits according to your taste preferences: any nuts, seeds and dried fruit will work well in this recipe.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week, using parchment paper to separate the bars. These bars will not hold up well if you freeze them.
- Do not use chopped dates, since they are typically coated in sugar or cornstarch.
- Make sure to refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cutting them - but longer is even better.
Check out these other healthy dessert recipes!
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