Tuesday DIY: Homemade Fruit and Nut Bars, AKA: Larabars.
MAMC DIY Tuesday
It’s Tuesday! Time for another easy DIY to add to your tool belt. This week I am excited to share a snack that is great for mom or toddler! We try to eat healthy, raw foods as much as possible but when it is time to grab an on the go snack, we often resort to less healthy choices. One of our favorite snacks was a Larabar, a fruit and nut bar made from dates and nuts. They are delicious and you can throw them in the diaper bag and go, but with each box of 5 bars costing about $5-$6, it was a little too pricey. Once I stumbled upon an instruction from www.stayfitmom.com on how to make your own Larabars and discovered how easy it was, I was ecstatic! It has now become our favorite snack and every time I give one to my daughter she acts like I just gave her a candy bar!
To make these awesome bars, you will need:
- 2 cups nut of choice (our favorite is cashews)
- 2 1/2 cups pitted dates
- about 2 tsp of flavoring of choice: vanilla extract, cinnamon, sea salt, lemon/lime zest, shredded coconut, exc. use your imagination!
- blender or food processor
Start by placing all of the ingredients into a blender/food processor and begin blending. After about 1-3 minutes (depending on the power of the machine) the mixture should begin to clump together. Dump the mixture onto a sheet of parchment paper and place another sheet on top. Roll out to about 1/4 inch sheet and then cut into bars. Place into individual snack size ziplock bags and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
That’s it! It is really that easy! The price per bar depends on the type of nuts used but will definitely be a lot less than the store bought. Our favorite mixture is a Key Lime Pie bar with 1 cup cashews, 1 cup dates, sea salt, zest of 1 lime, 1 tbsp. lime juice and 2/3 cup shredded coconut. Experiment and make your own flavors!
Happy DIY Tuesday!
Tips:
- If you don’t want to spend the time shaping bars, you can just roll into balls for quick power snacks!
- If the mixture does not want to clump together, try adding warm water a tablespoon at a time.
- Try using cookie cutters to make fun shapes for the little ones!
Credit site: http://www.stayfitmom.com/homemade-larabars/
