I am a gigantic fan of Larabars- the mainly nut, date and fruit bars that come in addictive flavors like apple pie and carrot cake.  Lately, though, the Larabar flavor selection has worn thin on me, so I decided to switch things up with juicy Turkish apricots and pecans!  These are so easy to make- and so much instant gratification- that I had to share my apricot cookie Larabar invention!

I got the inspiration for this from Lauri Boone’s book, Powerful Plant-Based Superfoods(I love that book!) and riffed off of that.  The spices make ’em extra special, and feel free to sub in your own!

Homemade Apricot Cookie “Larabars”

• 1 cup raw pecan pieces
• 1 cup (pretty tightly-packed) very soft dried Turkish apricots.  Try to find a bag that has succulent apricots, as very hard and dehydrated ones will not create as luscious of a bar!
• 1 cup (about 10 large) medjool dates, also on the soft and succulent side
• Optional: 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger (more cookie-like) or 1/2 teaspoon dried lemon or orange zest (more tart and fresh) …or BOTH!

I used a mini-chopper for this, as I don’t have a food processor and I thought my Vitamix would pulverize things too much.  You can use it— though you will need to pulse the ingredients and be careful not to overblend.

In a high speed blender, food processor or chopper:  pulse the apricots until crumbly.  This happens rather fast.  I then add the dates, and things turn to a sticky ball quite quickly.  Add in the nuts and any spices/flavorings you choose and pulse again, being careful not to overblend.

If you process the nuts too much, everything will be VERY sticky and not “bar-like”.  Pulse the mix until it is sticky-crumbly and things look well chopped up.

If it is not holding together well, add another date and two more apricots and see if it will stick.  This goes from “just right” to “too sticky” quite quickly, so adjust gradually.

Lay one sheet of wax paper (or parchment paper) on a flat surface.  Collect the crumbly “dough” into a ball and flatten it a bit into an oval.  Lay another sheet of wax paper on top and roll it  with a pin (or use a coffee can or a big bottle, whatever does the job!) out until it is about 1/3 ” thick (about as thick as a Larabar) and then peel back the top sheet.

Cut the edges so you have a rectangle, then cut into bars and wrap each with a bit of wax paper so they can store in the refrigerator and serve easily.

If the rolling and cutting is not for you, you can roll them into nuggets and toss in some chopped pecans and serve that way, too.

Once you get the hang of it, you can make larabars with just about any nuts you want, with any fruit you choose, and even chocolate chips stirred in at the end, superfood berries… sky is the limit!  Enjoy!  xoxo Dana

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