It’s funny – I had essentially no sweets cravings during pregnancy.  (But don’t even ask how many bags of frozen green beans I consumed or how many times I suggested some sort of beef dish for dinner)  But, unfortunately, my sweet tooth came back and I am trying to tame the beast.  I was trying to satisfy my sweet tooth with a piece of fruit after lunch but that really wasn’t cutting it.

After my friend, Megan, posted about her homemade Lärabars I thought they could be the perfect solution.  Lärabars are so yummy and have a very simple list of ingredients:  Dates, nuts, mix-ins, spices.  So last weekend I finally tried out a couple of variations.  These bars can last for about a month in the fridge so I made a couple of types so that Matt could take them for lunch too.

Apple Pie Homemade Lärabar

(adapted from this recipe at Rawified)

Ingredients:

• ½ cup almonds
• ½ cup walnuts
• 1 cup dates, pitted
• ½ cup dried apple rings, diced
• ½ cup raisins
• 3 tbsp cinnamon

Directions:

• Combine the nuts and dates in a food processor.  Process for about 2 minutes, or until the ingredients start to form a sticky “dough.”
• Add the cinnamon to the dough and combine for another 30 seconds or until you can see the cinnamon throughout the dough.
• Add the dried apples and raisins and pulse until combined, making sure not to overprocess or liquefy the dough.
• Get six pieces of plastic cling wrap ready
• Divide and shape the dough into six equal sized bars, and wrap in cling wrap.  Store wrapped bars in an airtight container.

I love anything cinnamon so I knew that this would be a hit with me.  Matt likes chocolate so I made a chocolate chip version too.  Same basic directions as above but with these ingredients:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Lärabar Ingredients:

• ½ cup almonds
• ½ cup walnuts
• 1 cup dates, pitted
• ¾ cup chocolate chips

And because I had coconut on hand, I made these two as well:

Choco-Coco Lärabar Ingredients:

• 1 cup mixed almonds and walnuts
• 1 cup dates
• 2 Tbsp cacao powder
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Key Lime Pie Lärabar Ingredients:

• 1 cup almonds
• 1 cup dates
• Juice of 3 Key Limes
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

The verdict?  Matt loved the cookie dough bars and is working his way through the six.  I decided he liked those so well I wouldn’t try them and would leave all for him.  I love the apple pie bars and really liked the choco-coco.  I’m just so-so about the key lime pie.  Despite a good amount of lime juice, the almond flavor was overwhelming.

Do you have a favorite Lärabar flavor?  I’m looking for flavors to try out after this stash is gone.