Homemade Blueberry Muffin Lärabar Balls

April 4, 2016

Homemade Blueberry Muffin Lärabar Balls


A great many people rightfully find the “make your energy bars at home” trend both unnecessary and incomprehensible.
Why spending (read this as wasting) time making like 100 bars when you can just buy the one you want in a easy-to-carry single-serving package?
I totally get it.
But I believe that there’s a time and place for everything and for me that time and place (currently trying to save a few bucks) is right now.

Fruit and Nuts


Among all energy bars Lärabars have to be my fave, they are one of those things that I love to snack on.
Each bar has between 2 and 9 ingredients, all of which are whole organic foods like fruits and nuts, on top of that they actually taste pretty good (except the lemon flavor — I had it once and it really grossed me out.)
They are tasty and healthy, but they are expensive. Unless they're either on sale, if I have a coupon (never happened) or if I buy them in bulk (again, never happened).
Recipes for homemade Lärabars have been crowding the internet for some time now but I hadn’t gotten around to making them until yesterday, when it finally dawned on me that (1) I always buy the same Lärabar (2) I could save enough money to buy a Tesla Model S (okay probably not, but I could still save a lot!)

Homemade Blueberry Muffin Lärabar Balls


The cool thing about making Lärabar at home is that they’re super easy to make. Easier than any other granola/cereal/protein bar. There’s no melting, no cooking, no baking, no waiting, no nothing.
You put everything in the food processor (or blender) pulse a couple of times and voilà homemade Lärabars.
Seriously, that easy.
As you will notice the ingredients list is remarkably short but somehow their sum is greater than their parts.
I decided to shape these bars  into balls because it’s easier. But do as you like, I won't judge you.

Homemade Blueberry Muffin Lärabar Balls


These Homemade Blueberry Muffin Lärabars Bars are soft and chewy as real Lärabars are.
Remember that these are energy bars meaning that they are nutritious, substantial, and they stick with you. Eating a wad of nuts and dates isn’t like putting a handful of blueberries in your mouth!

Homemade Blueberry Muffin Lärabar Balls                                                                               Print this recipe!
Adapted, just a little, from EatingBirdFood

Ingredients
Makes about 22 balls
1 cup cashews
1 cup almonds
1 cup Medjool dates (about 12), roughly chopped
1 cup dried blueberries
Seeds from 1 vanilla pod (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Pinch of fine grain salt

Directions

Place cashews and almonds in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until chopped into small pieces. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Place chopped dates in the food processor and pulse until a thick paste forms. If the dates are too dry add some water, 1 teaspoon at a time.
Add in chopped nuts, dried blueberries, vanilla seeds, lemon juice, and salt.
Pulse until everything is combined. You might need to stop the food processor a couple of times and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Scoop one tablespoon of mixture and using your hands, form into balls.
The balls should last for a couple weeks at room temperature, but store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer for prolonged shelf life.

Nutrition facts

One ball yields 135 calories, 6 grams of fat, 19 grams of carbs, and 3 grams of protein.

30 comments:

  1. Oooh another way to use dried blueberries! Thanks :)
    How did you know owning a Tesla is a major life goal of mine??? They are incredibly popular out here and I like to visit the store whenever I go to the mall ;)

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  2. I love larabars so much, but they're really expensive! I love the blueberry muffin flavor- these balls are the perfect treat :)

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  3. Thanks for helping us save for our Tesla's! I actually have all of the ingredients minus the blueberries so I know what I'll be doing tomorrow!

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  4. I mourned the day Larabar discontinued their ginger snap bar!
    This sounds yummy. I might also try it with other dried fruits for those long bike rides.

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    1. I loved the ginger snap flavor too, it might be worth trying recreating it. Don't you think?

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  5. So - what do you say to calling these Larabar balls simply Laraballs - just so much more fun don't ya think? :)
    Mike - loving the sound of these! Seriously awesmazing and big time budget-friendly, my friend! BTW Happy Monday!

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  6. Blueberries are my fave! Thanks for creating this recipe...great snack idea! :)

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  7. Lara bars (and KIND bars) are my fave, because of the minimal ingredients!! Great recipe, Mike :)

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    1. I like KIND bars too but some are way too sweet for me. I'm definitely more of a Larabar guy!

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  8. These little bites sound wonderful!! Love the dried blueberries in there!

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    1. I'm such a big fan of dried blueberries, if only they were cheaper...

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  9. These bites are perfection! as much as I love larabars, they are too expensive and can easily be made a home!

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  10. Hi Mike, love that these are sweetened with dates. Making these......

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    1. LOVE how simple this is! And really easy to cut in half--I have a mini food processor so it probably can't handle the full batch.

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  11. Don't forget all the wasteful packaging those bars use. I'd much rather put a few of these in a mason jar & go. I'm definitely going to be making a batch of these.

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  12. I must live in a cave as I have not heard of these Lärabars that you speak of. I make things like this all the time, heck you can freeze them or halve the recipe, right? Makes sense to me.
    BTW, just for kicks, drove a Tesla last month. It’s insane to drive at 85mph down the highway hands free AND change lanes. I was amazed, but freaked at the same time.
    Love that you rolled these into balls as opposed to making bars!
    Catching this 2 days late, but we seem to be on the same wavelength in posting, too. :)

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  13. I actually haven't made any bars for a while so thanks for reminding. The great thing about homemade stuff that you know what you've put to make it. The only one thing is the kitchen processor should be really powerful or you may screw it while making these things (Never happened to me thpugh):)

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  14. I made these yesterday and they are super yummy! Ate a few after teaching 2 barbell classes today and they totally hit the spot. Thanks!!

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    1. That's awesome, I'm so glad you liked 'em that much!

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  15. Made these today and they are even better than I hoped. I mixed up the nuts based on what I had in the house (walnuts and mixed nuts) and they still came out great. Tesla, here I come! Thanks!

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  16. I am so thrilled to have found your site. My family and I changed our eating habits two weeks ago to vegan and I am loving all the recipes you have posted here. Thanks for doing this and can't wait to try your recipes out.

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  17. These little bites sound wonderful!!
    ( https://www.thetaylorsauce.com/french-riviera-part-two/ )

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  18. I substituted craisins (the apple juice sweetened ones) for blueberries and they were a hit

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