Coconut Lara Bars

I was just recently introduced to Lara bars and while I loved the taste, I did not love the price. After looking at the back of the box and discovering that they were comprised of 3 simple ingredients, it seemed like a no brainer to make my own. There are tons of recipes for home made Lara bars out there but these coconut ones are my favorite. Once again though I have made my own modifications. If I'm going to mix anything in a food processor, you better believe I'm going to throw at least one vegetable in there. This time I went with carrots since it seemed like the best fit for coconut. Or maybe I just like that they both start with C.

This is actually a double recipe compared to most that I found when I googled Lara bar recipes, so if you want to just try them first I would suggest cutting it in half.

1 C raw cashews or almonds or a mix of both
1 C unsweetened coconut
2 medium carrots grated
10-12 large dates, pitted and roughly chopped (I get mine in the produce section at Kroger)

Put the nuts in a food processor and chop until finely ground. Add the coconut and process for another minute. Repeat with the carrots and then add the dates and process until smooth. The mixture will clump together and sort of end up like a sticky dough.

Most recipes say to shape the dough into bar form on wax paper and place in the fridge, but I found that I actually like it in smaller portions (don't get me wrong I still eat several of them at once, I just like the smaller pieces for some reason) so I divide the mixture into one of my fun shaped silicone molds. I put the mold in the freezer for about an hour and then they pop right out. Store them in the fridge between wax paper in an airtight container.

This recipe will make 8 bars or 21 flowers. Every thing tastes better in a cute little flower shape!