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
Ingredients
- 30 pitted Medjool dates
- 1.5 cups raw cashews, divided
- 1/8 teaspoon coarse salt
Instructions
- First, line an 8×8-inch pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Place 1 cup of the cashews into a high speed food processor and pulse on high until the cashews are ground up into crumbs.
- Then, add the pitted medjool dates to the food processor and blend for 3 to 4 minutes on high until the dates become pureed and your dough is formed. You may need to stop the food processor a couple of times to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a spatula.
- Add the last 1/2 cup of cashews and the salt to the food processor and pulse until the cashews are broken up into small pieces. After everything is blended up the dough should look and feel like cookie dough.*
- Next, make a big ball out of the dough and place the dough ball into the lined 8×8-inch pan.
- Press the ball down into the pan with your hands or a spatula until the dough is evenly spread on the bottom of the pan.
- Place the pan in the freezer to set for 20-30 minutes to set.
- Remove from the freezer and remove the bars from the pan by lifting two ends of the parchment paper up and place the bars on a cutting board.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the bars into 10 bars.
- Enjoy bars and place the remaining bars into an airtight container and place them in the freezer.
Tips & Notes
*If the dough is too wet, add another 1/4 cup of cashews to the food processor and blend. If the dough is too dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time until it reaches a malleable consistency.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 10 Calories: 223 Sugar: 48 Sodium: 17 Fat: 2 Carbohydrates: 55 Fiber: 5 Protein: 2Similar recipes:
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?
Larabars are my fav! I have one almost every day 🙂
AWWW YEAH!
I love me some Larabars!! This one and blueberry are tied as my favorites.
I haven’t tried the Bloob one?!?!
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!
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 😀
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.
SAME WITH BLAKE!! o0o Apple Pie…I haven’t tried that one!
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!
Can’t go wrong with the peanut butter cookie flavor!
My favorite Larabar is the Pumpkin Pie! But my favorite cashew bar comes from Kit’s Organic! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!
Never heard of Kit’s!
Larabars are my jam and I love the simplicity of these. YUMMMM.
2 ingredients. Boom chicka, yeah.
Bookmarking and making these! I love Lara Bars, but love the idea of making my own even more.
Yay! You’ll have to let me know how it goes 😀
I love Larabars!! My favorite flavors are chocolate chip cookie dough or key lime pie! Will definitely be trying out these bars.
o0o that’s a good one too! SO MANY DELICIOUS FLAVORS.
These sound delicious and so easy to make too!
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.
I used a mini kitchen aid for this. Target/Amazon…$40.
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!
It feel like I’ve been out of school for over 10. #cashewcookie4life
watch our lara… Lee bars are on the horizon!
😛 #oneday
This one time, I ate a whole box of those mini lara bars.
It was awesome.
LOL. #beentheredonethat
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 🙂
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!
OMG!!! Congrats lady! that is huge. #makemamaproud
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!
Props to anyone who goes back to school for higher ed. That shiz cray!
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!
😀 IDK how anyone goes to grad school. I was so ready to be done with school after undergrad!
I really like how so many of your recipes have very few ingredients. Simple and wholesome 🙂
😀 Thanks Whitney!
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:)
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 🙂
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.
The recipe calls for choc chips but doesn’t say what to do with them????
Hi there! The chocolate chips are optional. I just updated the recipe (see step #2)!
Great. Thank you. I thought I was missing something’s missing walking to the kitchen right now to make them
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.
Can you make a recipe for the retired Cocoa mole?!
Oh em geeeeee I never even tried that flavor!
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.
I just made these. They are delicious. But, as per Vanessa, I think I paid well over $0.99 per bar to make them. Recipe is spot on.
★★★★
Are you using dried dates for this recipe?
Yes!
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!
YAY! Glad you love these 🙂 Thanks for the link back, Kara!
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…
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/
How many carbs do the cashew date bars have?
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.
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.
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.
These are my absolute favorite larabars! I’m definitely going to have to try making these.
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.
So glad you loved it! The best thing I ever did was buy a Ninja. The food processor attachment ROCKS.
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!
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.
Nope. You’d have to buy them wholesale to make them cheaper. I love the recipe, but the blog post is misleading and sells you on a cost savings that does not exist. It’s great if you want to know exactly what is in your snack, and for that, it may be worth the premium price. It’s just not a budget saver.
Would you consider doing an update where you show the calculations of whether it is actually more cost-effective to make these?
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.
★★
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…
The dates tend to freeze the processor blade because of their chewiness. That burns out the motor. You have to pulse and watch carefully. Katie wasn’t being rude; she was just telling her very real story. Chill out, Blue.
How long do they last in the fridge?
How long do they last in the frig? How long do they last in the freezer? Can they be stored in the pantry?
I would say 2 weeks in the fridge, 3 months in the freezer, and a week in the pantry!
Ok 🙂 Thank you!
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!
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 🙂
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…
So simple and soo good! Can even add cinnamon or cocoa powder if you’ want to switch it up.
★★★★★
Am I doing something wrong. the dates just form a ball and dont mix with the cashews…
It is likely that your food processor is not strong enough!
After the ball forms,, open the processor and use your hands to break it up into little pieces (it will be sticky). Then add the cashews and pulse. I found I had to add a few drops of water to get it to ball up again, as it was more of a sandy mixture when I added the cashews.
Do you find that you save money on this recipe over buying them? (Amazon subscribe & save is the best deal I’ve found.)
Thanks!!
Have you ever tries adding protein powder to these?
I have not, but I totally think you could! I wouldn’t go any more than 1/4 cup!
The container of dates calls for you to wash them prior to use. Do I still do that before putting them in the food processor? Any tips?
Hey Cheryl! I’ve never washed my dates, but you’re more than welcome to do so!
Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Lee, thanks for the recipe! I have multiple food allergies and found Larabar’s Cashew Cookie is one of the few bars I can eat (with no dairy, soy, peanuts, almonds, pistachios, oats, or corn…ugh!). So I wanted to try and make them myself. My only question is regarding using raw cashews without soaking to reduce their phytic acid. I make my own cashew milk and have always been told to soak them. Any thoughts?
I haven’t tried this recipe using soaked cashews and I am hesitant to tell you to do that because it will create so much more moisture!
So easy and tastes just like a Larabar. My wallet and daughter thank you for this recipe!
★★★★★