Since I first posted the recipe for a batch of copycat “Larabars” a couple years ago, I’ve received several requests to create some of the brand’s other flavors– the most popular one being their Peanut Butter Cookie flavor.
And I’m so glad I listened to you guys, because these are some of the tastiest snack bars I’ve ever had! They taste like a peanut butter cookie, but better.
They’re better because they are naturally sweetened with only fruit and have a rich peanut butter flavor, with the perfect balance of sweet and salt. In fact, these bars require only 3 all-natural ingredients– dates, peanuts, and salt. It doesn’t get much easier than that!
Because conventionally grown peanuts are highly exposed to pesticides, it’s important to use organic peanuts in recipes like this one. Or, if you’d prefer to avoid peanuts all together, feel free to use another nut in its place. I have a feeling these bars would turn out well with a variety of nuts and seeds, so I hope you enjoy them!
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Peanut Butter Cookie Larabars (Vegan)
Makes 6 bars
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Medjool dates, pitted
1 cup dry roasted peanuts (unsalted)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Directions:
Line a standard loaf pan with parchment paper and set it aside.
Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor fitted with an “S” blade, and process until a sticky dough is formed– it should stick together when pressed between your fingers.
Transfer the dough to the lined pan, and use your hands or a spatula to press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan. Place the pan in the fridge or freezer to set until firm, about 2 hours.
Use the parchment paper to easily remove the chilled mixture and slice it into 6 bars. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for the best shelf life– they should last at least a month when chilled, though I imagine you’ll eat them all before then!
These bars make an easy snack on the go, and while they get a little softer when not chilled, I actually think their flavor gets better when they come to room temperature– like a real peanut butter cookie!
"Peanut Butter Cookie" Larabars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Medjool dates , pitted
- 1 cup dry roasted peanuts (unsalted)
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Line a standard loaf pan with parchment paper and set it aside.
- Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor fitted with an "S" blade, and process until a sticky dough is formed-- it should stick together when pressed between your fingers.
- Transfer the dough to the lined pan, and use your hands or a spatula to press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan. Place the pan in the fridge or freezer to set until firm, about 2 hours.
- Use the parchment paper to easily remove the chilled mixture and slice it into 6 bars. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for the best shelf life-- they should last at least a month when chilled, though I imagine you'll eat them all before then!
Notes
Nutrition
Per Serving: Calories: 248, Fat: 12g, Carbohydrates: 32g, Fiber: 4g, Protein:6g
Notes:
- As I mentioned above, this recipe is easily adaptable to use any nuts or seeds you like. Just taste the mixture as you go!
- If you don’t have dates easily available, I also used raisins to make bars like this with great success– though it will change the resulting flavor, depending on the dried fruit you use.
As always, please leave a comment below if you make any substitutions with success!
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Reader Feedback: Do you have a favorite Larabar flavor?
Thanks a lot for recipes:-)
What is your thought on peanuts? I mean I like them but little afraid to eat them ….
Thanks
Personally I think peanuts have gotten a bad reputation. It’s sad how more and more kid’s have a peanut allergy and can never have peanut butter or peanuts. I love the flavor of peanut butter and these larabars are right up my ally. Looking forward to these. 🙂
Its because there’s peanut oil in childhood vaccines and they have increased the amount of shots kids get 10 fold. Lots of scientific research on this lately…
It’s a little more complex than that. People are developing allergies later in life as well and we actually don’t definitively know why.
Can you use peanut butter instead? Also you can make this a lot easier by using date paste, you can find it in Middle eastern grocery shops and probably Indian and Pakistani shops too. Not as fresh, but faster.
So you want to use peanut butter and a paste?
I mean, I suppose you’d get the same flavor, but that would not hold as a bar.
I made the recipe with peanut butter and it turned out perfect. The main reason I used peanut butter, is previously when I made date + peanuts bars I found that it ended up just being made up of tiny peanut pieces in date paste which wasn’t the same texture as a lara bars and didn’t give the same peanut butter flavor profile. Using peanut butter turned out perfect texture and peanut butter flavor. I weighed a cup of peanuts and then used an equivalent weight of peanut butter, about 130g. I used organic peanut butter which consisted of peanuts and salt, no sugar, so you may need to adjust the salt to taste, but I didn’t need to.
Never had a Larabar so will be anxious to try these. Already have the dates – need to get dry roasted peanuts. Question: So many dry roasted peanuts have MSG in them. Did you find some without MSG? If so, where did you get them?
Thanks again!
Im gonna make these but instead of peanut I will use cashews, bcuz they are my fav lara bar.
Tnx meghan!
Hi Megan! I loved this recipe! I added a bit of oats as I just love the flavour it gives them. My resulting bars were probably a mix between this recipe and the honey-peanut butter-oats bars you have. Thanks for posting so many good recipes 🙂
Victoria
How much oats do you use? Thx I’m considering making these into balls & rolling in Cocoa powder…
I had some difficulty getting the bars to stick. They were too dry- added a splash of water and that fixed it !
Hey Megan,
I have made several of your recipes, countless times. Your recipes are simply spectacular! I can’t wait to try this one- I love Larabars but it will be nice to make my own 🙂
Tonight we are making your citrus fennel salad and teriyaki quinoa, doubled for guests and the family! It all smells so great!
Thank you for your wonderful recipes,
Cheers,
Nisha
Maybe someone else can answer this question. I would love to make these but I don’t have a food processor. I have used my Vitamin to make sticky balls in the past and that burnt up the engine. Has anyone tried these in a Vitamin with good results? I’m sort of nervous to try it but these look so good!
Hi Annette,
Whenever I make date balls/bars I soak the dates in water before blending for about 10 mins. This should help soften them for blending!
That was suppose to be Vitamix. Auto-correct 🙂
I love anything peanut related so these are going into my weekly meal planner!
I just made these and threw in Hemp and Chia seed and a few vegan chocolate chips! Yummy! I love this, thank you!
These are delish! I just made a batch using mixed roasted nuts… And I added about a tablespoon of chia seeds. I’m going to cut them more bite sized and eat them during my upcoming labor 🙂 I think they’ll be great little energy boosters!
I would just like to tell you thanks for the adaptation notes at the end of your recipes. So many times, I have read through the ingredients list and thought, “That sounds really yummy, but I guess I won’t get to try this today because I don’t have x ingredient on hand…” Lo and behold, you address it almost every time in the notes at the end of the recipe! And this time was no different – no dates, no problem! Off to grab my raisins from the pantry and get started!
I looooove this recipe and you’re right, it’s very adaptable for extra ingredients! I love to add powdered peanut butter and various seeds!
Love this recipe however when I made it the peanuts and dates were too dry and wouldn’t stick together. Still tastes relish but not really servable other than using a spoon! Please share what I can do to moisten them up and get them to stick together. Thanks so much!
It sounds like your dates weren’t sticky to begin with. If you start with drier dates, try soaking them in water for 10-15 minutes to help soften them up, then drain and use them in the recipe!
Any suggestions on how I can salvage the batch since my dates were not sticky enough to begin with??? Thanks!
These look so yummy. I used to love lara bars, but I cannot find them where I live now… But solution found! I’ll just make them myself 😉
I love this recipe. I make these all the time and fight my family for them. I add a little bit of cocoa powder to give them a chocolate taste..yum!
Thanks for the great recipe!
When you measure out the dates, do you pack them down into the measuring cup or are they loosely packed?
I guess I can adjust to taste, but was curious about your method of measuring the dates.
Also, my peanuts were in quite small pieces using this method. Maybe next time I’ll do some nuts first to the size I see in the commercial Larabars and then reserve those to add in at the end. I love the little chunks of peanuts in the commercial Larabars.
Great question! Did you ever get a reply?
How many dates would you say you used? Thanks!
Hi Megan! I’ve never owned a food processor. Do you recommend a certain one, or can you recommend what size to buy?
I’ve owned the same KitchenAid food processor for nearly 15 years, so I definitely recommend that kind! I don’t think they make the old model I own anymore, but this one looks similar: http://amzn.to/1OkYvmR (I think the 11 or 13 cup models would be the most versatile– I believe mine is 13 cups.)
I just purchased a Brevail food processor and it’s the BOMB!
Great ideas! I recently made 2 similar batches:
1. Citrus: using dates, lemon & orange scented prunes, chia & flax boiled in a touch of lime juice to soften fruit & jell the chia & flax. Then used cashews & pistachios to thicken, shaped into balls & rolled in oats.
2. chocolate Orange: dates, orange prunes & orange craisens softened in orange juice. Pulsed mixed nuts & cocoa powder and added fruit til thick. No sugar needed, fruit sweetened cocoa enough 🙂
Work crew loved them both !
Yum! I’ve been obsessed with the peanut butter chocolate chip larabar for ages now and finally decided to make megan’s copycat recipe (adding dark chocolate chips)! So glad I did – they’re even better than the real thing and all my test testers agree!