Chocolate apricot bars… so good!
I am constantly trying to find ways of making copycat recipes of some of my favorite snacks. We discovered Larabars years ago, I like that they are all natural and Gluten free, both my daughter and I really like them, but they’re a little pricey. I used to buy them at Costco (box of 18), they would generally last about a week and half around here, but I wanted to find a way of of making them healthier, and making them a little less expensive for us.
One of the main ingredients a lot of the different bars use are dates, so I figured I would start with those. To this I would add in a few of our favourite, all natural ingredients.
As chocolate is one of mine and my daughter’s favorite things, it had to be one of the ingredients that I used. This along with a combination of almond butter and coconut would be my base.
In my version of the Larabar, you can actually forgo using the dates in them. Just use more of the apricots, and add a little bit more nut butter to them ( this way you get to control the sugar a bit in your chocolate apricot bars).
Chocolate apricot bars
1 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup dates [pitted] also soaked overnight in enough water to cover
1/3 cup flax
1/2 cup almond butter [or other nut butter]
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
2/3 cup cocoa
1 tbsp coconut butter
Place a sheet of parchment paper in an 8 x 8 dish – set aside.
Place the apricots into the bowl of food processor and pulse until quite small [ coarse meal like]. Add in the coconut and the coconut oil and pulse again until mixed well. Add in flax, dates and nut butter pulse again until mixed add in cocoa. Pulse until the mixture is combined and balling up – stop to scrape down sides and continue until it is well combined and thick.
Scrape mixture into the 8×8 dish, press into dish and flattening to fit the dish. Place in refrigerator and let sit for 30 min. Take out and cut into bars. Makes approx 12 Chocolate apricot bars depending on dish and thickness of bars.
These chocolate apricot bars are very similar to Lara bars, but I find these richer, and I control what I put in them. 🙂 win/win.
I have not tried the Lara Bars but these sound like a great healthy snack to make for lunches so I am going to give them a try, thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for this Lara bars are so expensive
They are – that is why it is nice to have an alternative! 🙂
Oh these looks so amazing! I find Lara bars delicious, but definitely on the expensive side for a treat. Thanks for sharing!