With just 3 simple ingredients you can make these Copycat Cashew Cookie Lärabars that are grain-free, refined-sugar free, vegan, and paleo-friendly.
I still can’t believe I’ve been out of college for almost 3 years (in May!). I just had my recurring nightmare last week (the one where I missed graduating by 1 credit and didn’t know it until graduation day). I wake up sweating every time. College is one of those experiences I wouldn’t trade for anything. Why? Because it’s an experience that helped me get to where I am today. It’s a time in my life where I explored who I was as a person and even tried new things…like BLOGGING! Fact: FFF started out as CFF (College Foodie Finds) and was later changed to FFF because reality hit me that “one day” I may not be in college anymore but still running the blog.
Best damn decision I ever made.
In college, Lärabars were my saving grace. They’re made with whole foods, just a few ingredients, and SUPER delicious… especially my favorite flavor- cashew cookie. The only downfall is that they are $.99 per bar.
Time to play a little game of copycat.
I don’t know about you, but my 2 favorite Lärabar flavors are Cashew Cookie and Peanut Butter Cookie. Go figure, right? I like them because they have the least amount of ingredients and taste like a legit cookie.
This recipe is so simple you will have your snack made and ready to eat in less than 5! You pretty much put everything in a food processor and whirl until the nuts are broken up and the dates are pulverized. Roll the dough into a ball, roll it out with a rolling pin, slice, and eat. HAZZAH.
Copycat Cashew Cookie Larabar
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: ~10
Ingredients
- 30 pitted Medjool dates
- 1.5 cups raw cashews
- pinch of salt
- optional: homemade dairy-free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Place 30 pitted Medjool dates in a small food processor. Process until dates form a paste.
- Next, add in raw cashews and pulse until the cashews are coarsely chopped and mixed in with your dates. You may need to stop and scrape the sides a few times. At this point, you are able to pulse in optional chocolate chips. Just make sure you don’t over mix and crush the chocolate!
- Form a ball with your dough, then using a rolling pin, roll out dough so that it’s about 1.5 inches thick. Slice into bars with a knife.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 10
- Calories: 223
- Sugar: 48
- Sodium: 17
- Fat: 2
- Carbohydrates: 55
- Fiber: 5
- Protein: 2
What I usually do with homemade Lärabars is store them in the freezer. I actually do this with most of the treats I make like my Grain-Free Protein Peanut Butter Cookies and Brownie Cookie Dough Swirl Protein Balls since they last longer this way.
Plus I actually think they taste good frozen. Is that weird?
What’s your favorite Lärabar flavor?
Matt says
Larabars are my fav! I have one almost every day 🙂
Lee Hersh says
AWWW YEAH!
Brittany @ Delights and Delectables says
I love me some Larabars!! This one and blueberry are tied as my favorites.
Lee Hersh says
I haven’t tried the Bloob one?!?!
Pip {Cherries & Chisme} says
We don’t have larabars in the UK but we do have nakd bars and I think they’re pretty much the same thing. Like you say, great in emergencies but the price sure does add up!
Of those my favourite flavours are Bakewell tart (basically cherries and almond, not sure if you guys have it?) and chocolate orange. Seriously good!
You’ve reminded me I need to get my act together and make my own again!
Lee Hersh says
We don’t have anything similar to that flavor but it sounds awesome! I just picked up some tart cherries, too!!!! I could totally reinvent it in my kitchen 😀
Kate @KateMovingForward says
Wow! These look awesome and we love larabars! I had to convince my husband to try them (he thought they were “gross, healthy bars”) and once I did he has been obsessed. My favorite bars are the apple pie bars.
Lee Hersh says
SAME WITH BLAKE!! o0o Apple Pie…I haven’t tried that one!
Les @ The Balanced Berry says
Yum! I love Cashew Cookie Larabars…they really feed into my cashew obsession 😉
If I had to pick a favorite, I think it would be either Peanut Butter Cookie, or Coconut Cream Pie!
Lee Hersh says
Can’t go wrong with the peanut butter cookie flavor!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
My favorite Larabar is the Pumpkin Pie! But my favorite cashew bar comes from Kit’s Organic! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!
Lee Hersh says
Never heard of Kit’s!
Erin @ The Almond Eater says
Larabars are my jam and I love the simplicity of these. YUMMMM.
Lee Hersh says
2 ingredients. Boom chicka, yeah.
Cookin Canuck says
Bookmarking and making these! I love Lara Bars, but love the idea of making my own even more.
Lee Hersh says
Yay! You’ll have to let me know how it goes 😀
Dana | fresh simple five says
I love Larabars!! My favorite flavors are chocolate chip cookie dough or key lime pie! Will definitely be trying out these bars.
Lee Hersh says
o0o that’s a good one too! SO MANY DELICIOUS FLAVORS.
Megan @ Skinny Fitalicious says
These sound delicious and so easy to make too!
Rachael @ Love Yourself Green says
I WANT!
Hey, what kind of food processor do you use? I keep blowing up the motor on my expensive food pro’s and blenders! This GF cooking is tough on the machinery. Lol.
Lee Hersh says
I used a mini kitchen aid for this. Target/Amazon…$40.
Danae @ Recipe Runner says
Only 3 years out of college! Aww man I wish I was still that young! How did you know cashew cookie is my favorite flavor Larabar? I’m so excited to give these a try!
Lee Hersh says
It feel like I’ve been out of school for over 10. #cashewcookie4life
lindsay says
watch our lara… Lee bars are on the horizon!
Lee Hersh says
😛 #oneday
Arman @ thebigmansworld says
This one time, I ate a whole box of those mini lara bars.
It was awesome.
Lee Hersh says
LOL. #beentheredonethat
Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves says
Ooo! I’ve never tried Larabars, but I’m pretty sure cashew cookie and peanut butter cookie would be two of my favorites as well 🙂
Leigha @ The Yooper Girl says
YEEESSSS. LOVE larabars! In fact, I just got an email that I’m a 2015 ambassador and I am JACKED. I haven’t tried the cashew cookie flavor yet but I so need to! Maybe I’ll make these since I finally bought a bag of dates!!! I feel like a new world has opened up!
Lee Hersh says
OMG!!! Congrats lady! that is huge. #makemamaproud
Amanda @ Cookie Named Desire says
Oh my gosh, you just made me realize it’s been nearly five years since I’ve graduated college!! I can’t believe time has gone by that quickly. I’ve been wanting to get my masters degree and then my PhD, so I guess I better get started on that!! I adore Lara bars and the cashew cookie is one of my favorites, too! I’ll have to try out your recipe very soon!
Lee Hersh says
Props to anyone who goes back to school for higher ed. That shiz cray!
Amy @ Amy's Healthy Baking says
I’m right there with ya — I’ll have been out of college for 3 years in June! Well, okay, I did go to grad school for a couple quarters, but… If we’re celebrating undergrad graduations, then I’m in the same boat. 😉 Love how easy these copycat larabars are! Pinned!
Lee Hersh says
😀 IDK how anyone goes to grad school. I was so ready to be done with school after undergrad!
Whitney says
I really like how so many of your recipes have very few ingredients. Simple and wholesome 🙂
Lee Hersh says
😀 Thanks Whitney!
Laura says
Larabars are the best snacks for long hikes and trail runs. I have done a copy cat of the chocolate ones, but might have to try the cashew ones next. Good job and thanks for sharing:)
Anne says
Hey Lee,
I tried these bars at home today and they tasted great, but I had problems with the dates sticking to my “rolling pin” (wine bottle)do wood rolling pins actually stick less than a glass bottle?
Thanks!
-Anne 🙂
Lee Hersh says
Hey lady! I used a wood rolling pin and had no issues. I should add in the directions that you can put the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper and roll it that way. It should prevent stickage all together. Also- love that you used a wine bottle. Just love.
Susan shaw says
The recipe calls for choc chips but doesn’t say what to do with them????
Lee Hersh says
Hi there! The chocolate chips are optional. I just updated the recipe (see step #2)!
Susan shaw says
Great. Thank you. I thought I was missing something’s missing walking to the kitchen right now to make them
Stephanie says
Mine weren’t sticky at all. After pulsing the dates they were somewhat balling up together but when I put the cashews in and pulsed it the final product is like breadcrumbs, not sticky dough. I only had Sayer Dates not Medjool Dates, but idk if that would make a difference.
Lindsay says
Can you make a recipe for the retired Cocoa mole?!
Lee Hersh says
Oh em geeeeee I never even tried that flavor!
Vanessa says
What is the price difference between the homemade larabars and the store-bought? A lb. of fresh medjool dates is usually around $6 and it looks like I would need at least two of those to make this recipe. Not including the cashews, it seems like it might be more expensive, depending on the number of bars this recipe makes (~10). In your experience, which is a better value? Does Whole Foods sell cheaper dates or cheaper cashews? I’d love to try this recipe, I just am not sure whether it is a better value yet.
Janice says
Are you using dried dates for this recipe?
Lee Hersh says
Yes!
Kara says
I just wanted to say these are FANTASTIC! They’ve become a daily staple in my house. Thank you so much for posting this wonderful recipe and beautiful pictures. I hope you don’t mind, I’ve posted a link to your page and this recipe in my Whole30-Week 1 blog post on my site. Appreciate everything you do!
Lee Hersh says
YAY! Glad you love these 🙂 Thanks for the link back, Kara!
Emily says
These are awesome!! I cut them with a circle cookie cutter and gave them to my kids as “cookies”. Do you have any others we can do this way? Healthy lara bar type recipes we can preent as cookies? I have the pickiest kids. Not looking for chocolate though…
Lee Hersh says
That is AWESOME and such a great idea. Any of my ball recipes can pretty much be made into bars. Check one of these —> https://fitfoodiefinds.com/2015/10/12-energy-ball-recipes/
Jenny says
How many carbs do the cashew date bars have?
Jean says
Help! How do I get rid of the annoying wholenewmom sidebard that’s covering 1/4 of my page? I can’t even see to type this wholw mwaaFW SO there’s probably mistakes. I hate these pop-ups.
Jeannette says
Try going on Pinterest. That is where I found this recipe. I did not see the sideboard you mentioned. If you still need the recipe because that didn’t work,here it is: (in my own words):
In your food processor, combine 30 medjool dates until they form a paste. Add in a pinch of salt and 1 1/2 cups raw cashews until cashews are chopped. {This info was not added, but you can add in some dairy free chocolate chips, by hand.} Roll out with the rolling pin and slice. {it doesn’t say where or how to store them.} Good luck. I think these will be good.
Camille says
I just made these and I would definitely say you need to at least DOUBLE the recipe to make 10 bars in the size shown. I counted out the dates and everything.
They are pretty good though.
Fiona @ Get Fit Fiona says
These are my absolute favorite larabars! I’m definitely going to have to try making these.
Susan says
These are so delicious. Myprocessor had a hard time with the dates but overall this was really easy. Will def do this again and pass this link on to friends.
Lee Hersh says
So glad you loved it! The best thing I ever did was buy a Ninja. The food processor attachment ROCKS.
Taylor says
Hi! Love this idea. Would this work in my Ninja? I don’t own a food processor. Also, do you know how much per bar your version is? I LOVE my daily cashew cookie but is the cost per bar cheaper this way? Thanks!
Lee Hersh says
Hey Lady! I have not done any calculations of the cost on these guys. If you buy in bulk (both the dates and cashews), I bet for sure you could get the bars under $1.
Dominique Douglass says
Would you consider doing an update where you show the calculations of whether it is actually more cost-effective to make these?
Katie says
Bish you broke my food processor. Any savings from making it myself are totally cancelled out by the wear and tear on my kitchen equipment.
★★
Blue says
Um. Cashews are like the softest nuts on Earth, along with… dates?
Sounds like you had a bish-azz food processor, “Rude-y.”
Some people…
Sasha says
How long do they last in the fridge?
Autumn Guerrero says
How long do they last in the frig? How long do they last in the freezer? Can they be stored in the pantry?
Lee Hersh says
I would say 2 weeks in the fridge, 3 months in the freezer, and a week in the pantry!
Autumn Guerrero says
Ok 🙂 Thank you!
Ashley says
Funny I just stumbled upon these. I tried to make this version a few weeks ago because I’ve been into making my own lara bars recently. I soaked my cashews to make them easier to blend but I think that backfired because they were too moist! Wouldn’t really form into bars after refrigerating. Still delicious though. I’ll try em again without the soaking the next time I can afford to buy more cashews…
Love your blog btw. Keep up the great work!
Lee Hersh says
I’m so sorry it didn’t work out for you! Yes, soaking your cashew probably made the batter too wet! Bummed they are so dang expensive. Try Trader Joe’s! Cheapest I’ve found 🙂
Ashley says
Ah, no biggie – this is how we learn things right? I actually find cashews the cheapest at Aldi (which TJ’s owns)…TJ’s might be comparable though, I haven’t checked their prices lately. But hey I just splurged for some more today! Time to make more Lara Bars…
Cara says
So simple and soo good! Can even add cinnamon or cocoa powder if you’ want to switch it up.
★★★★★
Anna Lillie says
Am I doing something wrong. the dates just form a ball and dont mix with the cashews…
Lee Hersh says
It is likely that your food processor is not strong enough!
Christopher says
Do you find that you save money on this recipe over buying them? (Amazon subscribe & save is the best deal I’ve found.)
Thanks!!