As I search for clean eating snacks that have protein and a little sweetness to them, I have reached for a Lara bar often. I decided to try to make my own. Here we go.

The recipe I used was:

3 cups raw cashews

1 cup dates (unpitted)

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

1/8 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie spice

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Put cashews in food processor and pulse until fine

Soak the dates in hot water (I think the soaking got better results), drain and add to cashew mixture. Pulse. Add coconut and spices, pulse.

Take the mixture and spread it in a square 8×8 pan – you can either line it or spray with non-stick oil. I sprayed it and it was fine. Refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Cut into bars and store. Total prep time was about 10 minutes.

They are super yummy. Looking at suggestions from others, I think I could have mixed it up with almonds and walnuts. I could have also added a pinch of salt, but that is for another time though.

You can look here to find the nutrition facts for the Cashew Cookie Lara Bar, which is what mine was just with some different things added. The coconut would add some calories and fat, but I did not add a lot.

My daughter now grabs one instead of the prepackaged granola bars and I cut them small so they are portioned, otherwise, they are really so good you can go a little crazy on them. I know they don’t look like totally like a Lara bar, I could have ground up the nuts better, I think and my daughter did at first complain about the texture but the taste is just soooo good.

Do you have a raw recipe you swear by? Have you made your own bars and can suggest improvements?