Another chocolate recipe?
My goodness, you’d think this was some sort of chocolate-covered blog.
Oh wait; that’s right. It is.
The first time I tried a Larabar, I didn’t really like it. My mistake was in choosing a cherry-flavored bar. Someone should’ve shaken me and said, Hello! Of course you didn’t like it, Katie. It has no chocolate!”
When I tried a Jocalat chocolate Larabar, it was love at first bite. As a busy college student with no time to bake brownies, these bars offered a quick cure for my chocolate cravings (or a stopgap anyway. I doubt I will ever find a cure for my chocoholism… but that’s perfectly ok with me!)
Recently, I’ve been having trouble locating Jocalats. Thank goodness I know how to make my own chocolate Larabars.
Plus, they’re cheaper than store-bought and save packaging too.
Hot Fudge Brownie Larabars
Based on the recipe for Fudge Babies.
- 1 cup walnuts (120 g)
- 1 and 1/3 cups pitted dates (220 g) (I love SunMaid dates, as they’re much softer.)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3-4 tbsp cocoa powder (or even Dutch cocoa)
- optional: 1/8 plus 1/16 tsp salt (I always add it)
- optional: chocolate chips or even a piece of a chocolate bar or baking chocolate
Blend all the ingredients, using a food processor or Magic Bullet. No need to blend the dates first; I just blend everything all at once in my MB. If you use drier dates than SunMaid, you might have to add up to 1 tbsp water. Form into bars. It might help to put dough in a plastic bag and close the bag, then shape into a bar. (Feel free to experiment with different nut combinations. I often sub almonds or cashews for some of the walnuts.)
Click for more flavors: Homemade Larabar Recipes.
What are your favorite Larabar flavors?
One of my favorite homemade larabar flavors: Homemade Oatmeal Cookie Larabars.
As for the real Larabars, my favorite flavors are the plain chocolate Jocalats and the cookie dough Larabars. I love making up my own flavors and am thinking chocolate-raspberry might have to be next! Any other flavor suggestions for homemade Larabar recipes you’d like to see?
Lourdes says
So, I’m basically a blog-voyeur. I jump from blog to blog skimming for recipes and I try ones that stand out to my taste buds. Some work, some don’t; yours are usually very successful. I have 2 kids, one of which is a 7 year-old boy and is now super influenced by all the junk he sees other kids eating and its really difficult to balance out his diet without being so restrictive that the deprivation will ultimately lead to failure. I’ve recently been working on snack bars for him? I tried the cake batter bars which I thought were great, and he liked them, but not enough to really want them repeatedly and then I found this recipe. Being part of a chocoholic family, I had to try them. I took your recipe and tried my own version. I’ve never had a Lara bar before, and based on the ingredients, I think these probably have a lot of sugar, I will be calculating that later, but for now, they are AMAZING. I used walnuts, added hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds (a lil magnesium never hurt anybody), and I used black cocoa instead of regular. After I blended it all together, I threw in 3 organic oreo-version cookies and pulsed a few times for good measure and voila, oreo Lara bars! They are nothing short of spectacular! Seriously. Maybe you have that version already, lol, I haven’t checked. I wasn’t initially going to make them that way, but when I reached for the cocoa, I remembered the black cocoa and opted for the change. They seriously didn’t even need the oreos, but I figured it looked a lil more “oreo-ish” with the cookie specks. Your recipes are awesome, kudos to you!
barb f says
I just made these for a road trip we’re taking tomorrow, including a 5k run. I used pecans and these taste soooo yummy! I had to package them quickly so I wouldn’t eat them. Something to look forward to after the run. Or even an energy boost before. Made enough for both! thanks. I will definitely make these again! Nice to have much of the oil processed out.
Suzanne says
I can’t say if these taste like an actual Lara bar or not since they don’t sell them here, but I thought these were absolutely great. They really taste like fudge.
I tasted some of the “batter” while making them and added extra cocoa and some chocolate chips, thinking it wasn’t sweet enough. But then when I finished forming them into bars, they were a lot sweeter than expected. I should’ve thought about that beforehand, but oh well, lesson learned: just always trust Katie!
(Un)luckily, my sweet tooth is crazy so it isn’t TOO sweet, just sweeter than I was going for.
Hannah says
I was so ready to make this recipe,but my mom picked up chopped dates instead of pitted dates. Can I still use them? They seem too dry to get the texture of a Larabar. Should I just not attempt it and buy some pitted dates?
Sarah says
Well that sucked, made a batch to last all week and they were gone in 48 hours!
On the plus side most of my paleo or grain free cooking efforts have been met with fear caution so atleast I know this one works!
Isa says
I’m going to try this for snack right now! As far as you creating a Lara bar recipe goes…My FAVORITES are Key Lime Pie and Lem pie. I would LOVE a recipe for either of those!!! Thanks:) -Isa
Isa says
*Lemon pie in the last comment
Tracy says
Any suggestions for a replacement for the walnuts? We have peanut and tree nut allergies. 🙁
kaytee says
Whilst making these I’ve somehow managed to get cocoa powder all over my kitchen. Still worth it! These are heavenly!
Mandy says
Sooooo delicious! I’m trying really hard to give up processed sugar. I’m ok with dried fruit as long as it’s no sugar added, so this is perfect for those chocolate cravings. I could eat the whole thing by myself, it’s so good. Made it with pecans and added some unsweetened coconut flakes; it was amazing.
Janet says
How many does this recipe make?
Kristie @shechosehealth says
Have you done a chocolate chip cookie dough larabar recipe? That’s my absolute favorite flavor!
LL says
Just made these–it was so fast! I used dark cocoa powder & formed them into balls & some into cookie shapes—I just couldn’t get past what it looked like when trying to form them into logs—I mean bars. 😀 😀 😀 😀 I can’t wait to try other flavors!! I wonder if cacao powder would work?? **I just realized I added 3 tsp of vanilla extract—oops…oh well, you can’t tell!!**
Chocolate Covered Katie says
It definitely works!
Melissa says
I’ve never had a Larabar but dare I say how glad I am that I tried your recipe before buying one? I’m always on the hunt for healthier, homemade snacks for my toddler and I and this is an absolute keeper! Thank you so much for your recipe!
Kate says
These are seriously amazing. I didn’t have walnuts, so I used mostly cashews and some pecans. My toddler loves them too, and my husband said they taste like fudge (a great compliment from him)