Homemade Lara Bars

Lara Balls

I've been messin' around with a lot of different recipes this winter, knowing I was responsible for teaching a class at our CSA this year.
For the most part my experiments have been on fermenting, dehydrating and preserving.
But on occasion i sneak in something I want to try just for the fun of it!

My friend Lydia posted about these recently, and since they were on my "bucket list" of recipes I wanted to try, I thought her recipe would be the perfect springboard for what I wanted to do.
And after seeing the price of these in the stores (somewhere near $2 each), I knew I could do better.
Basically all a LaraBar consists of is dried fruit and nuts.
Now comes the fun part!
I used what I had on hand and stuck with the ratios I had read about:

1/4 cup organic, dried figs
1/4 cup dried blueberries
1/8 teas. cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1 teas. vanilla (optional...I did not use)
1/3 cup nuts

In a food processor place all of the dried fruit and seasonings, pulsing till a paste is formed.
Remove fruit from processor, but do not clean processor.
Put nuts in processor, pulsing till very finely chopped, but stopping short of nut butter!
Add your fruit paste to nuts and pulse a few times to combine.
Roll into balls or shape into bars....your choice.
Wrap in plastic wrap or cover tightly.

Now for the experimentation;
next time I am going to use some of my fermented apricots as the fruit and possibly macadamia nuts.
Or how about dried pineapple with walnuts?
Mini chocolate chips, dates, and cashews?
Cherries, cranberries, pecans?
Really...the possibilities are endless!

Be sure to let me know if you give these a try!

In His grace,
Cindy