Copy Cat Lara Bars

School has driven me to this thing I shamefully call the granola bar, fruit leather, and vitamin water diet.  How it works is I eat a smoothie for breakfast, and throw a variety of granola bars and fruit snacks in my bag for my lunch and dinner the rest of the day.  This habit is problematic for a few reasons... namely I get hungry and cranky, my groceries get expensive, and let's face it granola bars and dried fruit don't quite complete the food pyramid (whatever the current pyramid is filled up with).  Half of my grocery bill is typically made up of Luna bars, Cliff bars, Lara Bars, etc (Have you eaten the caramel nut brownie Luna bars?? oh my goodness they are divine.  And yes I know they aren't actually that healthy...)  Now, I realize I can't quite duplicate Luna's caramel nut brownie bar with ease, but I can copy Lara Bars with only a few simple ingredients.  And since I can... I did :)

Ginger Snap Lara Bars

• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• Scant 1/2 cup raw pecans
• 3/4 cup medjool dates
• 1 Tbs minced fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Chocolate Coconut Chew Lara Bars

• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• 3/4 cups dates (I used Medjool)
• 2 Tbs pure cocoa
• 1/4 cup dried flaked coconut (unsweetened)
• 1/2 cup pine nuts or soaked walnuts
• 1 Tbs coconut oil

For either recipe: In a food processor, pulse nuts until a coarse meal is formed.  Add dates and other ingredients.  Process until a paste is formed.  Press into a wax paper lined loaf pan.  Refrigerate a couple hours until firm, cut into individual bars (or roll into bite-sized balls) and wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Each recipe yields 6-8 bars