Let’s talk snacks. Specifically, traveling, hiking, I’m starving in the car snacks.
I have this horrible tendency to get hungry at inopportune moments. Like, the second we get in the car. Or right before a 20-mile bike ride. Or on the long way home from a hike. And rather than grab a snack full of refined sugar and lots of ingredients I don’t understand, I’ve gotten hooked on Larabars to ease my hunger pangs. Specifically, the cashew cookie variety. What I love, love, love about this bar is that it only has 2 ingredients: cashews and dates.
And while I could easily keep buying those little bars, I thought it might be a bit more economical to make my own, since they can be expensive, depending on the store. And sure enough, they are crazy easy to make. Like, I feel ridiculous even calling this a recipe. There are only 2 ingredients (3, if you count the tablespoon of water), and there’s no cooking involved. Easy, peasy. And these bars could be easily adjusted to fit your tastes: different nuts, additional dried fruit, spices, etc. The snack world is your oyster, my friends. Go wild.
- 1½ cups pitted dates (about 15 dates)
- 1½ cups raw, unsalted cashews
- 1 tablespoon water
- Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with wax paper or foil, leaving a little overhang on the sides to lift the bars out easily.
- Combine the dates and cashews in a food processor. Pulse, scraping down the sides as necessary, until finely ground and sticky. Add a tablespoon of water to help things stick together, if necessary.
- Remove dough from the food processor and press into the lined baking dish. Press down to flatten the dough and pack it all together.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then lift the wax paper out of the pan and cut the dough into 8 bars. Wrap the individual bars in wax paper or saran wrap and store in the refrigerator or freezer.
-Ally
Ivy says
I just made this and it looks amazing. It’s in the fridge right now. I can barely wait for the 30 minutes for it to set for me to have one. Thanks for the recipe.