Homemade Laräbar: Peanut Butter Cookie

//this post has been moved to the new blog! //

After reading about Laräbars on various food blogs I went and bought one about a month ago. The cringe worth $2 price tag for the little tiny bar was worth it, and I was especially excited to see ingredients list! (Or lack there of!) I tried the Peanut Butter Cookie flavor, which only has Dates, Peanuts and Salt. I had seen a few Larabar recipes on some of my favorite healthy food blogs, like Chocolate Covered Katie, and set out to make some for myself. I am going on vacation in just over a week, and have been making healthy snacks for the trip.

I kept it super simple and stuck with the original ingredients: Dates and Peanuts! My mom ordered Date Paste from our co-op, which is perfect for this because it’s already ground up. If you don’t have date paste, just use the same weight of regular dates. I did a 1:1 weight ratio of dates to peanuts, and didn’t add any salt, because: a) It didn’t taste like it needed salt, the peanuts were already a little salty, and b) I forgot to!

Homemade Laräbar: Peanut Butter Cookie 

• 11 oz Salted Peanuts
• 11 oz Date Paste

The measurements are irrelevant as long as you have a weight ratio of 1:1. Process the paste and peanuts in your food processor until they are the consistency of coarse sand. Line a shallow pan with tin foil and firmly press the dough into it. Refrigerate until firm, then cut into bars with a sharp knife. Wrap them in foil and store in the fridge or freezer.

Yield: 14 (~1.5) ounce bars with the pan I used, I had enough dough left on the edges to make #15 but that was a taste-test =)

Date Paste.

Peanuts.

Not fine enough yet…

Perfect!

Press dough into a foil-lined pan.

Smooth top and fold foil over, refrigerate until firm.

Wrap them in foil.

Creative labeling. Oh yes.

Carrot Cake Pancakes

I woke up before my alarm today, excited to start cooking. Oh my. Did I really admit that? Well, it’s true. I didn’t actually get up, but enjoyed laying in bed until at 7:30 my iPod started singing at me. I decided last night to make Carrot Cake Pancakes, and even prepped by grating carrots, and making Cinnamon Honey Butter to go with them. So before the sun came out I tumbled down the stairs, laptop in one hand, camera over the shoulder, and some miscellaneous photography equipment under my arm.

I like the way these turned out. I made sure to grate the carrot extra fine because I didn’t want them chunky with strings of undercooked carrot. They would have been ever better with some cream cheese “frosting”, but we didn’t have any.

Obviously I’m not eating low carb anymore. I’m back to regular eating…. Maybe snacked a little too much on frozen bananas today, but I missed fruit SO MUCH. With eating more comes exercising more. Low carb eating does sap your energy, but now I have no excuses! I ran a good 1.5 miles today around the block, and killed my butt with some inclined lunges. Still feelin’ it!

I have lots of recipes to share with y’all… I whipped up lots of goodies today (Keep an eye out for homemade Laräbars!) and am excited to share some new recipes.

Carrot Cake Pancakes

Adapted from Picky Cook’s Carrot Cake Pancakes

Whisk together:

• 1 1/4c. Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
• pinch of ground ginger

And in another bowl mix:

• 1/4c. Evaporated Cane Juice
• 3/4c. Keifer/Buttermilk
• 1/2c.-3/4c. Milk, to thin batter if needed
• 1 TB Expeller Pressed Canola Oil
• 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
• 2 Eggs

Gently combine your wet and dry from above until well incorporated, then fold in:

• 2c. Finley Grated Carrot
• 1 TB Orange Zest (about 1 orange)
• 1/2c. Toasted, Chopped Walnuts
• 1/4c. Raisins, soaked in hot water

Cook on an electric griddle or fry pan greased with extra virgin coconut oil, or your oil of choice. These are tastily paired with Cinnamon Honey Butter and real maple syrup!

Combine dry ingredients.

Whisk together.

Combine wet ingredients+sugar.

Soak raisins in hot water to plump them up.

Toasted walnuts=much better than raw in this recipe.

A tablespoon of orange zest gives the pancakes a distinct orange flavor. You could cut it back to a half tablespoon easily.

The batter was a little thick, so I thinned it with about ~3/4c. 2% Milk

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Special thanks to la madre for cooking the pancakes for the guys while I photographed, and for pouring maple syrup while I got shutterhappy.

Shamrock Shake, a day late.

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A day late, but just as tasty! I actually made one yesterday, but have been so overloaded with paper writing and studying didn’t take the time to post about it. I’ve honestly never had one from McDonald’s (and don’t plan on it!) but the minty cool combination is a winner. I’m on my last day of low carb eating (Yessssssssss! I get oatmeal and dates and bananas tomorrow!) so I made this with almond milk, which has a fraction of the carbohydrates that cow’s milk has. My version is 100% healthy and packed with protein, plus, no artificial colors!

Shamrock Shake

• 1/2c. Almond Milk
• 1/2c. Almond Milk, frozen (Do this. So much creamier than using ice!)
• 3-4 Ice Cubes
• 1 scoop Vanilla Ice Cream Flavor Protein Powder
• 1 TB Cottage Cheese
• 2-3 drops Mint Oil
• 1 Handful Spinach (I promise you can’t taste it!)
• 1/4 tsp Stevia, or to taste.

Put it all in the blender, and blend until creamy and frothy! A great add-in would be a little cocoa powder or some chocolate chips. Better yet, homemade chocolate, which I am going to be posting about soon =)