I got up this morning after a nice 9 hours of sleep! It felt so good to get a full nights rest after a week of sustaining off of 6-7 hours. I awoke and knew I had to try out the Larabar Experiment asap!
After browsing through many Larabar attempts online, I stumbled across this magnificient blog: Wellsphere where the author had successfully attempted to re-create various combos of the well-know Larabar.
I thought, this is it!
However, not being someone who likes to follow recipes, I decided my first attempt would be my own, but following the same proportions as used in the Wellsphere recipe.
Her proportions tend to include:
- 1/4 cup dates
- 1/4 cup dried fruit
- 1/3 cup nuts
This varies slightly depending on what flavour you chose.
I immediately went on the Larabar website and decided that my first attempt would be the Coconut Cream Pie.
My take on Coconut Cream Pie Larabars….
Homemade Coconut Cream Pie Larabars
1/4 cup chopped dates (roughly chopped whole dates, not pre -chopped)
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
1/3 cup whole cashews and almonds (mixed)
½ teaspoon Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
1. Set out two pieces of plastic wrap for shaping and wrapping the bars. Do this first; you’ll have sticky fingers when you need it.
2. Roughly chop 1/4 cup dates
3. Measure 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut. Place dates and coconut in food processor for a couple minutes. Remove mixture and set aside in a small bowl.
4. Add the nuts to the processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the nuts, along with coconut oil, to the bowl with the date paste. Use your fingers to knead the nuts into the paste.
5. Form into a ball and divide into 2 halves.
6. Place each half onto a square of saran warp. Squish and form until it creates your desired shape.
And for Volume eaters…
7. Refrigerate!
Camilla from Wellsphere says, “LARA BARS use a multi-layer package that keeps out UV light and oxygen, which, in turn, maintains freshness without the use of preservatives. I use plain old plastic wrap and my refrigerator, then pop one in my bag when I’m ready to go.”
Interesting!
Makes 2 bars @ approx. 280 kcals each.
My taste test?
It was a good first attempt! I have never had the Coconut Cream Pie Larabar though so I am not sure if this tastes even somewhat similar to it. It wasn’t as sweet as I would prefer though, so you could always try using sweetened coconut.
This combo of dates and coconut was quite dry, so I would suggest adding the coconut oil to the date/coconut mixture right from the get go. The oil will help develop this into a paste.
I rate this first attempt a 3.5/5 stars.
I am very encouraged now to try and make a bunch of different combos & save some money!
In fact, as soon as I finished this recipe, I created attempt #2…
But I am going to make you wait in anticipation for this next ‘doughy‘ and ‘chocolatey‘ recipe (and better tasting in my opinion!) until after my workout. I am running a bit behind this morning!
For my pre-workout snack I had a serving of my attempt #2…and it was delicious. :D
See you soon…! :D
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I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure–which is:
Try to please everybody.
~Herbert Bayard Swope
Great job! You’re braver than I am. They look delish, and I can’t wait to see the next attempt!
AMAAAAAAAAAAAZING!!!!!!!!!!!! You rock :-)
Nice work! For selfish purposes, can you try the PB Cookie version next? Pretty please…
oooo I am so trying this thanks for the recipe!!!!
interesting!! I may have to try that!
wowww i so wanna try :D great job with it !!! nom nom nom i might just go eat a coconut lara bar now since i can’t make one right now
how awesome! love it :)
Great recipe, being an Indian I grew up eating date /coconut /fig balls(we mostly roll them into balls rather than bars) and for the doughy consistency I have a suggestion. We use sun dried coconut pieces and process them (you can find them in a indian store near by)in food procesor the grated coconut we get in stores is dry and chewy the indian sun dried coconut is creamy, sweet and oil rich.
You can try drying the coconut yourself too. Shell a coconut and rub it with a little salt to avoid fungus and dry it in shade and sun alternatively.
A big success for us! We also added a touch of cocoa & maple syrup so it’s a bit sweeter for the kids – maybe not next time. Delicious! Thanks for posting.