This past week or so I have been feeling a little lazy after internship and work or school, and have not been keeping up with meals for the blog.  However, this weekend I was excited to make some home-made paleo bars (very similar to Larabars, which are more money than I want to spend!)

So, I searched for a few recipes and after I realized how easy they are I made up my own! I am sure these are not “new” recipes, however they are to me.

Now for these bars, you need a few key ingredients: dates, some kind of dried fruits, and nuts of your preference (no peanuts, if you wanna keep these paleo) Then the optional ingredients, such as: chocolate chips, unsweetened coconut, lime/lemon, etc.  Basically, anything you want! :) Also, just because these are healthy ingredients does not mean they are not loaded with sugars from the dried fruits. I checked the labels at the grocery store and bought the brands that had the lowest sugars.  I recommend these as a treat after a long hike, workout, or just a sweet treat after a long day; just all in moderation!

Here are a few I have made so far:

1) Mixed Berry/Cherry 

 1/2 C. Dates

1/2 C. Dried Cherries/berries mix

3/4-1 C. Mixed Nuts (Cashews, Pecans, Almonds, Hazelnuts)

2) Coconut Key Lime

Zest and Juice from 1 Lime

1 C. Dates

1/2 C. Unsweetened Shredded Coconut

1 C. Almonds

3) Cranberry

1/2 C. Dried Cranberries

1/2 C. Dates

1 C. Mixed Nuts

4) Cherry/Coconut

1/2 C. Dates

1/2 C. Dried Cherries

3/4-1 C. Almonds

1/2 C. Unsweetened Shredded Coconut

This is just a few examples, the options are limitless!

Directions: 

1. Throw all your ingredients in a food processor (add ingredients you want to stay whole or chunky last- ie. Chocolate Chips)

2. Blend until mixture starts to stick together. Add a little water to help that process along if it needs it. 

3. Place mixture in a glass container, on top of wax paper.  Spread out and flatten to thickness you prefer! You can leave them in that dish (make sure you cover) or cut them up and have them in bags to grab-n-go.

That is it! Enjoy :)

I would make a few flavors at a time, so I kept the ingredients at the above amounts and filled a 13×9 with all three, but you could just double or triple one flavor to fill a 13×9 dish.