It’s been a while since we’ve done a new Lara Bar copycat recipe around these parts – far too long, really!
With fall approaching and apples in season, I really wanted to publish a DIY apple pie energy bar for you last week. I had my apples (Granny Smith), I had pre-dried them, and, planned to get the binder ingredient, Medjool dates, at Trader Joe’s over that weekend. Only, there was a catch.
Our Trader Joe’s was out of dates.
The second catch is that after two months, I still can’t drive myself anywhere due to the after effects of the broken kneecap. (In case you’re curious, it’s a little better each day, but, it’ll be a long time before I’m my “old self” again – do yourself a favor and don’t break a kneecap.) I didn’t want to ask 2Chili to take me all around town looking for dates, so, I ordered some up with our CSA delivery, which came Thursday, and resumed plans to make this recipe for you this week.
As far the apples go, you have a couple of options. You can buy some fresh apples and dehydrate them yourself,or, buy pre-dried apples. If you can swing it, dehydrating them yourself is nice because you know you’re getting the Granny Smith varietal. But, if you don’t have a dehydrator, or time to dry apples, the store-bought pre-dried apples will do just fine.
I’ll be back ‘atcha next week with my next fall concoction, which I plan to revolve around…pumpkin! Have a great week!
DIY Apple Pie Lara Bars
Makes: 6-7 bars, depending on how big you make them
Ninja Blender Jar Suggestion:
- Ninja Pulse: 40 ounce jar with standard blade
- Ninja Professional Blender: 72 ounce jar with standard blade
- Ninja Kitchen System: 72 ounce jar with standard blade
- Ninja Mega Kitchen System: 72 ounce jar with standard blade
You can use a traditional food processor for this, but the shape of the blades in the 72 & 40 ounce jars make them conducive to really pulverizing these ingredients so they work just a bit better…
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup almonds
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- 12 fresh Medjool dates, pitted (Trader Joe’s really is the cheapest place to get these when they’re in stock – find in the fresh fruits/veggies section)
- 1/2 cup dried Granny Smith apples, packed tightly (about 2 whole apples)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup raisins
Method:
- Add almonds and walnuts to the jar of your high speed blender or food processor and process until a fine meal develops, 30-45 seconds; Use level 2 for Ninja blenders or hold down lid on Ninja Pulse
- Then, add dates, apples, and cinnamon, and process until well combined
- Finally, add raisins, and process until combined, and most likely a “blob” of dough as formed from the ingredients sticking together
- Put the mixture onto half of a piece of wax paper, fold the other half of the wax paper over the blob of mixture, and use your hands to flatten into a rectangle roughly 3/4” thick
- Refrigerate for about 30 minutes and then use a pizza cutter to cut into equal pieces
- Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container
Nutritional Information
Based on 7 bars
