If you sensed a tinge of jealousy in the title, you would be correct.
Top Mary Kay sales directors and National Sales directors are currently in Maui on the company trip. And I'm jelly. How could you not be!!?? I follow these fabulous women on instagram, so I'm oozing over their pictures.
But hey, I'm making lemonade out of lemons and we've got Homemade Coconut Cream Pie Larabars!
Larabars are delicious and nutritious. What more could you want in a snack?? The brand name bars were good, but the ones I made are fricking out of this world. Oh my goodness I could probably eat the whole batch.
I wanted to make these because I saw a tutorial for some of the fruit ones over at
One Good Thing By Jillee. I like sweet, creamy and rich. So Coconut Cream Pie was calling my name. Another huge factor was price. You would have to pull a second mortgage to afford one of these everyday. At a $1.39 per bar at my local grocery store, that was not doing it for me. I already keep coconut oil, shredded coconut and almonds in my cabinets. So cashews and pitted dates were the "investment". I did break down the price total (including the things that were already owned).
ACTUAL COST RECIPE COST
Almonds 36oz $13.99 Almonds 8oz $3.11
Cashews 34oz $13.99 Cashews 8oz $3.29
Coconut Oil 30oz $7.99~ (don't remember!) Coconut oil 2 tbsp $0.27
Coconut 8oz $2.50 *Coconut 2 dry cups $1.85
*I literally do not understand how this happened. I measured 2 cups, the bag says 8oz, there is still coconut left in the bag. Let's just say I got lucky with extra in my bag.
Dates 16oz $5 Dates 12oz $3.75
TOTAL $43.47 TOTAL $12.27
Now obviously if you do not own any of these ingredients, this is super pricey. To cut down on costs you could buy just the amount you need. We use a lot of these things so buying them in bulk makes the most sense for us. I will add links to Amazon to try to save you a few dollars.
OK, now past that super long explanation and on to the good stuff >>>>>
INGREDIENTS
This recipe does call for a high powered blender or food processor. I love my
BlendTec.
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don't be a dummy and buy salted cashews that you'll then have to rinse. already made that mistake for you. |
1. First add your nuts to the blender jar/food processor jar. Grind these to a very fine meal. You may have to stop a few times and use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the jar.
2. Now I added all the rest of the ingredients after this. I suggest you add the ingredients in stages. My blender was overheating and I had to stop and go back a few times. Blend until you have a crumbly mixture, resembling apple pie crumb topping or wet sand - you pick.
3. To the real fun! Lay out plastic wrap and pour out the contents of your blender. Top it with another layer of plastic wrap.
4. Roll your bars to your desired thickness with a rolling pin, or flat with your hands. I did them about 1/4 inch thick so they weren't such a high calorie snack. Then I broke off pieces from the edge that were making the shape very irregular and filled in the space to make it close to rectangular.
5. Move the mixture on the plastic wrap to a cookie sheet and refrigerate for at least an hour.
6. After refrigeration, remove both layers of plastic wrap. You can cut them on the cookie tray now.
7. Cut whatever size bars you'd like.
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tell me that doesn't look like Virginia. I dare you. |
8. Then place individual bars inside wrapper of your choosing. I cut squares of Press N Seal and wrapped the bars individually. Put some in your fridge and put the rest in the freezer so you don't eat every single one in the same day. That would be shameful.
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22 beautifully, individually wrapped bars of culinary perfection
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*HEY! You see me down here?? If you click on a link and purchase something I may earn a few dollas'. Thanks, youdabest!