Copycat Apple Pie Lara Bars

Hello, Princess Pinky Girl readers! My name is Nicole and I blog over at 365(ish) Days of Pinterest. For my first year of blogging, I tried a new pin every day for 365 days in a row and shared my findings with my readers. (OK, at the time, there were probably 15 of them, and most of those people were related to me.) 🙂 After several months, I realized how much fun I was having by connecting with people who love Pinterest and trying new things. When I reached day 365, I couldn’t stop! Although, I don’t post every single day anymore. That was crazy! Now I’m in my 4th year of blogging and still loving it. I’m so excited to be a new contributor here and hope to share some great ideas with you!

Recently, I discovered a snack bar called Lara Bars. Most of them are made only of fruits and nuts, making them a fantastic and healthy snack. I’m currently in a fitness challenge and one of the “rules” is no sugar for 6 days a week. So, for me, finding an easy snack that was good for me was super exciting. I decided I would try to save some money by making them at home. I used the ingredients listed on the back of the Apple Pie Lara Bars and just played around with the measurements until I got the right blend of fruits and nuts. The result is a delicious snack for a fraction of the cost!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 to 2 cups pitted dates
• 1 cup dried apples (no sugar added)
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/3 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1-2 tsp water, as needed

Instructions

Add all the ingredients to a food processor and pulse until a paste is formed. If the mixture is too wet, add more nuts. If it’s too dry, add more dates and/or a little water until it reaches the desired consistency. Once you have a chewy “paste” to work with, spread it out on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. It won’t take up the whole sheet. Refrigerate to make it easier to cut into bars. The bars are approximately 5 inches long and 1 inch wide, and you can get 8 bars out of the batch. Keep refrigerated and wrapped in wax paper to stay fresh.

Just look at that chewy, nutty goodness! As far as I can tell, each bar comes in around 200 good-for-you, energy-providing calories. No sugar crash here! You can play with different fruits to change up the flavors, too. I would suggest that you always use dates, as they act as the binding agent in the bars. Just be careful-lots of dried fruits are made with added sugar. I made my own baked apple chips to use in these. It was easy and they were another great healthy snack option!

If you like these Copycat Lara Bars, you might also like these clean eating healthy snacks!