Simple, wholesome ingredients come together to form a delicious, healthy copycat version of larabars. Homemade Larabars will quickly become a staple at your house, and with eight different varieties, you will never tire of eating them!
Have you ever had a Larabar?
They are delicious!!
Larabars taste like an extremely decadent dessert, but they are typically made with just nuts and fruit–that is it!
However, they are very pricey–at least $1 a bar on sale. And with a family of 4, we could go through some serious $$ if we purchased the bars on a daily basis.
Thankfully for my wallet (and YOUR wallet), making larabars at home is extremely easy, and much more economical.
Key Ingredients
In my book, it doesn’t get much healthier than larabars, as the base is made with two wholesome ingredients: nuts and dates.
Nuts contain fiber, protein, and healthy fats. Dates are a natural source of sweetness and contain many vitamins and minerals. My son refers to dates as God’s candy. I agree–they are perfectly sweet, making these bars taste like a dessert or candy bar, while not containing any added sugars.
- Nuts: You can use any combination of varicaety of nuts you like. Almonds are the most common nut found in larabars, but any variety of nuts you like or a combination of nuts will be delicious.
- Dates: It is really important to use whole, pitted dried dates. Chopped dates have been coated in sugar or cornstarch.
How to Make Larabars at Home
The base of larabars is simple–nuts, dried fruit, and a dash of salt. My perfect ratio for Larbars is 3 parts fruit to 2 parts nuts. I add in a dash of salt to bring out the flavor and if needed, a bit of the date soaking liquid to help bring the mixture together.
The ratio may sound complicated. But do NOT be overwhelmed, I have broken the recipe down for you in detail. But basically, this means for every 1 cup of nuts, use 1 and 1/2 cups of dried fruit.
Step One: Soften the Dates
In order for the dates to process into easily into the bars, they need to be soft. Soften your dates by soaking in hot water for 10-15 minutes before making homemade larabars.
Once the dates are softened, drain off the soaking liquid, reserving the liquid to use in the bars if needed. Tip: Save what is left from the soaking liquid and use it to sweeten smoothies or oatmeal.
Step Two: Process the Ingredients
In a food processor fitted with an s-blade, process the nuts until small chunks are formed.
Add in the softened dates along with a dash of salt and pulse until a thick paste forms, adding in up to 1 tablespoon of the soaking liquid from the dates if needed to help the mixture come together. The dates and nuts should be broken down and a thick, sticky paste formed.
Step Three: Form
You can choose to press the Larabar mixture in a 7×11 pan lined with parchment paper or roll into 1-2 inch balls, for Larabar Bites.
I prefer to make Larabars into little “cookie” balls versus an actual bar. Something about making Larabar bites, make my children believe these bites are cookies. And hey, this mom is all for these healthy cookies and happy kids!
Each recipe will make 6 bars or between 24-30 “cookie” balls depending on the size you like.
8 Varieties of Homemade Larabars
Once you master the basic recipe, let your imagination run wild! The variations of larabars are endless to make. These are 8 of my favorite varieties. Prepare any of these flavors by first pulsing the nuts until they break into small chunks and then adding the remaining ingredients and pulsing together until a thick paste forms.
- Cashew Cookie: 1 cup cashews combined with 1 1/2 cups of pitted whole dates.
- Peanut Butter Cookie: 1 cup peanuts combined with 1 1/2 cup of pitted whole dates
- Oatmeal Raisin: Combine 1 cup walnuts with 1 cup raisins, 3/4 cup oatmeal, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.
- Cherry Pie: Combine 1 cup almonds with 1 cup dried unsweetened cherries, 1/2 cup dates, a dash of salt, and 1/4 tsp cinnamon.
- Dark Chocolate: Combine 1/2 cup almonds and 1/2 cup walnuts with 1 1/4 cup pitted dates, 3 tablespoons bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate, and 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Apple Pie: Combine 1/2 cup almonds and 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts with 1 cup dried apples, 1/2 cup pitted dates, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, and a dash of salt.
- Pecan Pie: Combine 1/4 cup almonds and 3/4 cup pecans with 1 1/2 cups pitted dates and a dash of salt.
- PB & J: Process 1 cup peanuts with 1/2 cup packed dried cherries, 1 cup pitted dates, and a dash of salt.
Whole30 Compliant Larabars
A lot of people ask if Larbars are whole30 approved or paleo. The answer is not a simple yes or no.
In order to be whole30 complaint and paleo, larabars need to not have any added sugars and contain no legumes or grains.
Watch for the following:
- Be sure that you use dried fruit that has no added sugar.
- Do not add oats in Paleo or Whole30 Larabars, as I do in my Oatmeal Raisin Larabar Variety.
- And only walnuts or almonds as your choice for nuts. Peanuts are a legume and not allowed on whole30 or paleo diets. Cashews are highly debated. Some people say they are paleo, some say they are whole30 approved, and others say they are not either. Cashews are not a nut or a legume, but actually a seed–so it can be tricky to tell where they fall. To stay safe, I suggest just using a combination of almonds and/or walnuts for whole30 approved larabars.
- For any recipe that calls for peanuts, substitute them for almonds, walnuts, or cashews and your homemade bar will be whole30 approved.
- My recipe for Pecan Pie Larabars, Apple Pie Larabars, and Cherry Pie Larabars, and the base recipe are all whole30 compliant.
More DIY Snacks
Homemade Larabars
Ingredients
- 1 cup nuts any combination
- 1 1/2 cups dates or a combination of dates and another variety of dried fruit
- dash of salt
Instructions
- Place dates into a small heat-safe bowl. Pour hot water over the dates and allow to soak for 10-15 minutes to soften the dates.
- Once the dates have soaked, drain the liquid off the dates, reserving the liquid to use if needed.
- Fit a food processor with an s-blade. Nuts in the food processor and pulse until the nuts break down into small pieces.
- Add in the dates and dash of salt, and pulse the mixture together until the dates have broken down and a thick paste forms, scraping the sides down if needed. Add in 1 to 2 tablespoons of the soaking liquid if needed to help bring the mixture together.
- To shape larabars press mixture into a 7×11 pan lined with parchment paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes before slicing int0 6 bars.
- Alternatively, you can shape the mixture into 1-2 inch balls for a bite-size treat.
Equipment Needed
Notes
- Do not use chopped dates, as they are coated in sugar and/or cornstarch.
- Store homemade larabars in refrigerator for up to 7 days, or in the pantry for 2-3 days. Store in a container lined with wax or parchment paper, adding wax or parchment paper in between layers of bars.
- I do not recommend freezing larabars, as the texture will greatly change when defrosted.
- Larabar Flavor Options:
- Cashew Cookie: 1 cup cashews combined with 1 1/2 cups of pitted whole dates.
- Peanut Butter Cookie: 1 cup peanuts combined with 1 1/2 cup of pitted whole dates
- Oatmeal Raisin: Combine 1 cup walnuts with 1 cup raisins, 3/4 cup oatmeal, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.
- Cherry Pie: Combine 1 cup almonds with 1 cup dried unsweetened cherries, 1/2 cup dates, a dash of salt, and 1/4 tsp cinnamon.
- Dark Chocolate: Combine 1/2 cup almonds and 1/2 cup walnuts with 1 1/4 cup pitted dates, 3 tablespoons bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate, and 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Apple Pie: Combine 1/2 cup almonds and 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts with 1 cup dried apples, 1/2 cup pitted dates, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, and a dash of salt.
- Pecan Pie: Combine 1/4 cup almonds and 3/4 cup pecans with 1 1/2 cups pitted dates and a dash of salt.
- PB & J: Process 1 cup peanuts with 1/2 cup packed dried cherries, 1 cup pitted dates, and a dash of salt.
My hubby and I are addicted to larabars! Love how the recipe is so easy, tasty and versatile! Thanks for giving us so many yummy options!
So glad you all enjoyed!
This recipe couldn’t get any easier. They are so much cheaper to make them at home too. Thanks for sharing!
I am so glad you enjoy these Ashley–and I agree, what a money saver!
Hello Newbie here. One of things that I didn’t care about of Lara bar’s was the dates and the other ingredients in them. I like strawberries, blueberries, apples, almonds, and cashews. What can I substitute for the dates? I am looking at saving money and making things I enjoy at home.
Hi Rhonda. Unfortunately, dates are what hold the larabars together. You can try prunes or raisins, but the texture will not be the same.
Hi Kristen!
I’ve been enjoying reading your recipes and am also following you on Instagram. I wanted to make these but I wanted to know which type of dates to use; Medjool and Deglet Noor. I’m anxious to order the dates and give this a try!
So happy to have a fan John! I use Medjool dates. I hope you enjoy!
OK. Newbie alert! I tried to make the basic recipe. I soaked the dates and put them in the food processor with the nuts. Everything glopped together and the blade spun beneath it all. My food processor is apparently smaller than yours, based on the picture, so I took half out with the same result. Should I have done more to drain the dates? Should I just add more nuts to get the consistency drier? It’s late here, so I put everything in the fridge and will try again tomorrow. I assume I should nuke it a little to get it to room temperature before I start. Thanks for your help!
Hi John. I would let your mixture come to room temperature–don’t microwave as that could potentially harden your dates. I would then put 1 tablespoon water in your food processor and break up the mixture and place into your food processor as well. Then pulse until the mixture begins to come together, opening the food processor to scrape down the sides as needed. I hope that helps.
I’m excited to try this recipe, but I don’t have a food processor. Would a Vitamix blender work the same? Other suggestions?
Hi Jen! So yes you can use your Vitamix, with a few modifications. First, if you have a larger Vitamix you will need to double the recipe to get the mixture to combine. Secondly, make sure your dates are soaked and pitted and that you place those in blender first. To Make Larabars: mix together at highest speed, while using the tamper tool to scrape down sides, just until a paste is formed (20-30 seconds) Turn machine off, scrape down sides and give one more quick pulse if needed. If you let the mixture go to long, the bars will become super sticky. And just a word of caution for those reading this comment–making larabars in a blender is only an option in blenders like Vitamix or Blendtec 🙂
Hi there!
I’m excited to try this recipe. Can you tell me roughly how big each 184 calorie serving is, please?
Hi Brittney! This makes 8 bars–or 24 balls. So each serving would be 1/8 of the recipe–one bar or 3 balls 🙂 Enjoy!
Mine are very soft, how would i get them to firm up?
Hi Sean, Larabars are pretty soft in general, but especially soft after processing as dates have been warmed up. Place in fridge for a few hours and you will be good to go 🙂 Enjoy!
The pecan are my favorite so far. Do you have any recommendations for coatings to make these less sticky to pickup?
I love pecan as well. I wrap each bar in wax/parchment paper which helps. I don’t think there is any whole food coating that would keep these bars less sticky unless you rolled them in nuts or chia seeds.
Larabars can be so pricey when I do W30. I love this recipe! It saves so much money to just make my own.
Absolutely! Homemade is so much cheaper and just as tasty.
I love how easy and versatile these are! The mix-in possibilities are endless!
They are truly my all time favorite snacks!
I love your recipe Kristin! We are big fans of Larabars, any flavor, any time! Making them into bite sized balls of deliciousness is a great idea. Can’t wait to try some of your variations!
Thanks Tricia! I love your coconut cream recipe as well
This will be our first year at a school that is nut free. Do you think that sun flower seeds and sun butter would work in place of the usual nuts and peanut butter?
Hey Robyn,
Sun butter works great in baked recipes in place of nut butter (It is great in my PJ Oatmeal muffins or Gluten Free Granola Bars). As far as using sun butter and sunflower seeds for lara bars, I am not sure. It is worth trying. If you do, please let me know how it turns out. If I purchase sunflower seeds soon, I will try myself.
I tried the Larabars and it worked with equal substitutions! Yea!! I hope that helps you (just be sure to use unsalted sunflower seeds!!!)
Hi, just tried the cashew cookie recipe and tastes great, but it’s so super sticky that it’s not retaining its bar shape and not as convenient a snack as I was hoping. Could the reason be that I used fresh dates instead of dried?
Hi Mareenez, dried and fresh dates are completely different and fresh dates would GREATLY change the consistency of these bars. It would be like using grapes in place of raisins–that extra moisture that is evaporated when fruits are dried change the consistency and sweetness. I am sorry about your mistake.
Ok, makes sense. And I made it worse by soaking them, too. I’ll try again.
Yay! Perfect timing! I had a box of Larabars in hand today, did the math, and didn’t want to spend $1/bar, so I told myself I’d wait for your recipe. Thank you! Can’t wait to try these. Gotta go buy some pitted dates and nuts. Thank you so much!
So happy to help!!