My friends introduced me to Lara. Well, to her bars at least. While I was getting stomach aches between classes from my Cliff bars (a personal issue, not trying to defame Cliff bars here), I never could have imagined a health bar with only natural ingredients (a personal preference, this is NOT a Lara Bar advertisement). But they are real! They exist! And WOW are they expensive! So, here’s a quick and easy way to made THE most delicious on-the-go bars that taste IDENTICAL to the bars you’ve come to know and love with…..HALF THE CALORIES! Sorry I’m yelling so much. This is just really exciting. These bars weigh in at about 105 calories if you stick to making about 15 bars out of this recipe. And calories saved are money saved. Who doesn’t love that? Rich, skinny people probably. But really, these taste fantastic. And I don’t know if it would work, but this would make a delicious bottom to a lemony cheesecake.
Just a warning: when you blitz these guys in your food processor, it WILL sound like a machine gun and you WILL think that the blade on your processor will fly off and cut your throat. Just stand back and count to 10. It’s worth it.
Makes about 14-15 bars
What you need:
1 pound or about 25 dates; pitted
3/4 c chocolate chips
3 heaping tblsp natural crunchy peanut butter
How to do it:
Put the dates into the food processor and pulse until they are totally chopped up. Add the peanut butter & the chocolate. Pulse to oblivion.
Turn the mixture onto parchment paper and spend some time folding the parchment over the mixture, flattening it out and rolling the mixture flat into a fairly thick square (you can do this to your desired size).
Place in the fridge for about 2 hours. Slice into the size you want and store in the fridge between sheets of wax paper! They won’t last long (because you’ll eat them, that is). Enjoy!
my jerusalem kitchen 
I eat a Lara Bar every day and when I had a Lauren Bar, she put them to shame. So glad to have the recipe, thanks Lauren!
What a doll. You are welcome!
YUM these look amazing!!! I loooove Lara bars so I will have to try! Still loving the blog, lady!
Thank you! Let me know if you make them. They’re DELICIOUS.
These sound awesome! I’ve made homemade energy bars before and they’re great. I’ll have to give these a go!
They’re dangerously good. Especially cold.
I am SO going to make these! I absolutely love the 3 ingredients and can only imagine how wonderful they would be pressed together. Great idea!
I was very inspired by your post and I would love to be able to do this — but perusing food processors on amazon has made it seem like a very heavy duty food processor would be required for such a task. Can I ask what kind you use? Or if you could recommend something that wouldn’t be 100 dollars or more?
Hi Shaina! Thanks for writing. If you have a blender that you trust, that might work. Alternately, I use a Kitchen Aid food processor that I bought off Craigslist for $25. Maybe you can find one? Mine isn’t especially heavy-duty, although it’s certainly heavy! I suppose another alternative would be to buy date molasses and shaved chocolate pieces and then just try to combine them by hand with the peanut butter, but I’ve never tried that. You’ll have to let me know!
making these with almond butter. I already have date paste made in the fridge so I will be mixing with my hands ; ). It’ll be a good stress reliever!
yum! maybe i should make challah bread this week to de-stress, too. all the kneading must be good for the soul =) thanks for checking out my blog!