Make at home larabars – Dried Fruit and Nut Bars – No added sugar, gluten free, preservative free, vegan and raw! Dessert doesn’t get healthier than this.
This post is for my co-worker Emily’s virtual baby shower! She’s a fellow food blogger soon to be mom to a little baby boy so what better way to celebrate than by throwing a virtual baby shower. When I was browsing through some food blogs and first read about larabars I knew these dried fruit and nut bars was what I would make.
These dried fruit and nut bars are the perfect combination of sweet and healthy, packed full of nutrients – exactly what a soon to be mom needs (she’s at 34 weeks already)! No added sugar, gluten free, preservative free, vegan and raw this just screams health and wellness to me.
On top of being a powerhouse of vitamins and minerals they’re also delicious! It’s a win win situation for your taste buds and your body.
The combination of flavors and ingredients is endless so by no means do you have to follow this dried fruit and nut bars recipe, just play around with the raw fruit and nut bar flavors. I just came up with these ingredients on a whim and patiently waited for the food processor to break up and mix everything together so I could finally get a taste of the finished product. Spectacular – sweet and nutty with a depth of flavors and fresh zing from the lemon zest.
Now for some nutrition facts:
Raw almonds are a good source of vitamin E, manganese, magnesium, copper, riboflavin, and phosphorus.
Raw walnuts are a good source of omega-3 essential fatty acids, manganese, copper, antioxidant flavonoids, calcium, chromium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc.
Figs are a good source of fiber, copper, calcium, potassium, magnesium, manganese, antioxidant flavonoids, and vitamins K and B6.
Dates area a goodsource of fiber, tannins, vitamin A, antioxidant flavonoids, iron, potassium, calcium, manganese, copper, and magnesium, and contain vitamins A, C, E, K, B6, Thiamin, Niacin and Riboflavin.
Apricots are a good source of potassium, magnesium, vitamin A and C, beta-carotene, iron, and silicon.
Goji berries are a good source of carotenoids, iron, potassium, zinc, fiber, antioxidants, and vitamin B, C and E.
Have I convinced you yet of the health benefits of these bars? You really must try them!
I am not too familiar with the raw food movement but I love the idea of being able to prepare meals and snacks with strictly raw food and am happy to say I have a raw vegan collard wrap recipe that is delicious as well. Collard wraps are a delicious lunch option to pair with these dried fruit and nut bars.
Home made Larabars also known as dried fruit and nut bars- raw, gluten free, vegan snack!
- 1/2 cup raw almonds organic
- 1/2 cup raw walnuts organic
- 1/2 cup dried figs 5 turkish figs (organic)
- 1/2 cup dried dates 10 delget dates (organic)
- 1/2 cup dried apricot 14 apricot pieces (organic)
- 2 tablespoons goji berries 0rganic
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon warm water
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Add nuts, figs, dates and goji berries to food processor. Process until a sticky mix forms .
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Add lemon zest, coconut oil, apricots and water and process - make sure mix remains a bit clumpy.
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Using your hands form mix into smalls balls, or bars. Larabars will keep in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer for up to 1 month.
Heidi @ Food Doodles says
Wow, I love the color of these! Mine usually don’t turn out so pretty. I think it must be the goji berries – pretty and delicious 😀
Vicky says
Thanks! I definitely think it’s the addition of the apricots (which give off the light orangish color) and the goji berries that add the redish tint!
Robyn says
Holy WOWza…these are very good!! I’ve had and liked larabars in the past,,,but these are better then any I have bought(of course) or even made…thx
Vicky says
Thanks! I’ve never tried the larabars themselves but I guess I should try at least one so I can have something to compare mine to!
Mandy says
I’m allergic to coconut, do you think I could use grapeseed oil instead?? And I keep my nuts and dried fruits in the freezer, I suppose i can just pull them out and drop them in, or should I allow them to get room temperature first?
Vicky says
I think it would be better to allow the nuts/fruits to get to room temperature just to make sure the moisture on them doesn’t make the mix more liquidy after being processed. To substitute coconut oil, palm, canola or grapeseed oil should be fine. You might even be fine by omitting it completely. The challenge in substituting the coconut oil is that it is fairly firm at room temperature (not liquidy like the other oils) so it’s hard to say how the other oil will affect the texture and consistency. I would just add a tiny bit at a time while the food processor is running to make sure that the consistency is not affected too much. Also you could probably just use water instead of the oil altogether and just add it slowly until the mix starts to stick together in the food processor. Hope that helps!
Mandy says
Thank you!! I think i am going to omit the oil completely (the room temp thing is a good point) and just use water and see how they turn out. I am going to make them this weekend, so I will let you know how they turn out!
Vicky says
Great! Please let me know how they come out. If you want some more ideas for flavor combinations check out this post: http://rawified.blogspot.com/2012/05/raw-larabars.html – I haven’t tried making any of those ones yet but hope to sometime soon!
tod germanica says
Be aware the Larabar firm donated to defeat the recent GMO labeling proposal in CA. I don’t buy them anymore.
Vicky says
Thanks for pointing that out Tod. I have never bought larabars before, just based this recipe off of one of their bars that I had read about online, but will definitely not be purchasing them in the future!
Mandy says
Wow, your food picture looks great. I love it. And I will try this recipe definitely.
Vicky says
Thanks so much!
April Marie says
Awesome! This recipe makes enough to feed a small army. Feel free to half or even quarter it for a more manageable amount, but you might not want to—they live up to their name. They are way addictive, and they store well, so you might want to make a giant batch and munch on them. Need more nuts and dried fruit? No worries… click this: https://gourmetnutsanddriedfruit.com/
Vicky says
These bars are my favorite!
Sandra says
It looks so tasty and delicious. I cannot wait to try this one.. And recommend it to my friends. Great Job.
Vicky says
Thanks! Enjoy!
John B says
Quick Question:… How will these hold without refrigeration? I’m looking at using them as a snack on an overnight back country trip. Top of a backpack for 24 hours…. shouldn’t be a problem right?
Vicky says
I think these would be fine on a back country trip! As long as it’s not too hot I don’t imagine anything happening to the bars or balls. If you want to keep them firmer longer, feel free to freeze them overnight before the trip!
Amy says
This looks so rich and delicious!