Larabars are one thing that can bring Paleo dieters and raw vegans together. Impossible you say! Well, strangely enough this is one delicious product that has the power to do the inconceivable. Raw vegans appreciate the fact there are no animal products and the ingredients are uncooked. Paleo adherents clamor for Larabars because they are grain, legume, dairy and sugar free. In my Paleo journey Larabars have become almost indispensable for a quick snack on the road or after a workout. I usually pair them with some beef jerky for protein – something frowned upon by our raw vegan friends. Sorry guys.
The problem with Larabars for some of us, wonderful as they are, is the price. While I appreciate that high quality ingredients do come at a premium it can get pretty expensive. The cheapest I have found Larabars is $1 per bar on sale at a local grocery store. The regular price is $1.89 at this particular store and I have seen higher prices elsewhere. Having pronounced the Coconut Cream Pie Larabar my absolute favorite I set out to create a recipe that matches up as closely as possible but costs much less. In this post I will provide the recipe as well as a cost calculation based on the ingredients that I used.
The recipe makes 4 Homemade Coconut Cream Pie Larabars.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw almonds (or mix of almonds and cashews)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened organic coconut flakes
- 6 large dates – pitted and roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin coconut oil
Place raw almonds in food processor and pulse until they are roughly chopped, continue to process for another minute or two until finely chopped. Add in the coconut flakes, pulse and then process until fine. Add the dates and continue processing for about 1 minute and finish by adding the 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil and process until the mixture clumps together (1-2 minutes).
Use plastic wrap to form the mix into bars – this recipe makes 4.
I purchased the raw almonds and dates at Costco and the Coconut Flakes and Oil at Whole Foods. The cost calculations below are based on the price I paid at Costco and the internet price for the Coconut Flakes and Coconut Oil. Not everyone has access to Whole Foods and frankly, as much as I love it, Whole Foods is nicknamed “Whole Paycheck” for a reason. So ordering the coconut items online makes sense financially and in terms of convenience. It can be pretty hard to find the Extra Virgin and UNSWEETENED (that’s key) Coconut Flakes and Oil at the regular grocery store. Believe me, I’ve tried. These products also keep very well. I put the flakes in the refrigerator and the oil is fine at room temperature for a very long time.
- 3 lbs bag raw almonds at Costco $11.65 – 9 cups of almonds per bag
- 2 lbs dates at Costco $9.23 – approximately 45 dates
- 7 oz bag Unsweetened Extra Virgin Coconut Flakes
- 15 oz container Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
This works out to approximately $0.67 per Coconut Cream Pie Bar which is significantly less than you would find at a store. The bars do not really need refrigeration but you can certainly freeze them if you choose to make a larger quantity to have on hand. In future posts I will go into detail about why coconut is our friend and the saturated fat found in coconut is actually good for us, not bad. For now, just trust me that this recipe is delicious and nutritious. To keep insulin levels in check you should pair the bars with some protein when you can and don’t scarf them like they are dessert – even though they taste like it.
I LOVE this particular flavor of Larabar (I often buy whole boxes of this flavor) and thought to make it myself since the ingredients are so simple and easy to obtain.
And I keep a constant stock of Medjool dates in my pantry (and use nuts a lot to make my own butters and stuff). I use Medjool dates for so much, especially in sweetening smoothies and adding extra nutrition.
So I was stoked to come across your blog entry and see someone making a home version of this bar and showing the process step by step. I’d like to do this, and plan to. I hope they come out as good as the brand’s. I guess it is all about proportion of ingredients.
How did you figure out your proportions to mimic the taste of the brand’s bar? Did yours come out tasting exactly the same or similar?
I might add some vanilla in mine, too, when I make them. Later on, after doing the basic recipe.
Thanks for sharing this! Love the photos!
Allyson, it was a bit of trial and error to get the recipe to a place that mimicked the original pretty closely. I only used almonds while I believe the original also uses cashews so it is not identical in that sense. The moisture content can vary quite a bit depending on how much coconut oil you use. And the texture changes depending on how long you process the nuts and coconut in the food processor. I suggest you follow the recipe and then tweak those couple of things based on your preference. I love this flavor too and vanilla would probably make a nice addition as long as it didn’t change the moisture too much. Good luck! The next one I want to make is the “Chocolate chip cookie dough” version.
I make them with no coconut oil at all and they turn out fine. I do use cashews and maybe that helps and I use lots of coconut.
That’s interesting. I think cashews tend to have more moisture. I just bought some to try making a version of the chocolate chip cookie dough Larabar. We’ll see if it works without coconut oil.
why would we want to add less fat to this? This is paleo right? Keep the oil
Next thing to try to make is pemmican
It’s not a matter of avoiding the calories from fat it’s just that it might not be necessary to add it if the nuts are more moist and gives an end product that’s too wet.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made my own larabars today and wow!!! I never knew dates could taste good!! I modified it a bit, did a mixture between this one and the chocolate chip one! I’m in love!! 🙂
That’s great Sue. It’s so much cheaper too. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Oh my goodness I just got so excited! Thanks so much for this recipe, I’m obsessed with Larabars and this is my absolute favorite flavor!!
And your blog is wonderful. I just discovered it but can’t wait to read more. You look great and have a peaceful outlook on your life because of your relationship with the Lord :))
I too really like this flavor of lara bar, but the car count is way too high for me. Too many dates I think.
Any suggestions for something to replace some or all of the dates that would still bind the bar together?
Just made these! SO good! Unfortunately I only had sweetened coconut flakes in the cupboard, but look forward to trying them with the unsweetened kind. I couldn’t believe how easy and tasty! Thank you.
Glad you liked them Elspeth. Thanks for the feedback.
This was delicious! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe 🙂
I just made these and added a couple drops of Mexican vanilla, delicious!
I tried these last night and could not get them to really stay together. Was sort of grainy. I molded and froze them which helped a little. Can dried dates be the culprit? Any ideas to make them stay together or even be a bit sticky and chewy? Would be great to eat on the bike or running.
Hi Paul,
The key is to use dates that are still moist. If I keep the Medjool dates too long they get dried out. But you can sort of rehabilitate them by soaking in warm water for a while then draining them. So, yes, your problem is probably using dates that are not moist enough. Better luck next time!
Lea
This would be such an awesome recipe for my sunday treat, but is there any kinda of seed i could use as a sub for the almonds? I’m allergic to nuts & that’s no fun when your paleo 🙁
You could try using sunflower seeds.
These are wonderful thank you! Do you know off hand the nutritional facts? Or at least total carbs? Thank you!
No. I haven’t made the time to look into the carb counts but I’m betting you could find a calculator online that might help you with that.
Best, Lea
These are so delicious! I shaped them into little bite-sized balls. Next time I’ll be tripling or quadrupling the recipe to make a bunch at a time to have for the week. My fiancé can’t stop raving about them. YUMMY! Awesome recipe!
Cool. Thanks! And they are so much cheaper than buying them.
I tried the recipe with walnuts instead of almonds, since almonds to tend to be more pricey. It turned out equally delicious! There was a slightly different flavor from the walnuts, almost like maple, which complimented the coconut very well! I highly recommend it.