Cherry Peanut Butter Walnut Lara Bars. So delicious and easy. The kids can help you make them.

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When our family decided to cut out highly processed foods, I searched high and low for snacks I could feed my family and feel good about. While fruit and veggies became common snacks in our house, I also wanted to provide other tasty, yet nourishing real food snacks.

I found Lara Bars and was very happy that many of the bars only contained a couple of ingredients, peanuts and dates and occasionally other nuts or dried fruits. I bought them often, but at over a dollar a bar, buying multiple Lara Bars adds up fast.

The other issue was my husband. He really didn’t care for how dry Lara Bars tend to be. And finally, as I started to learn more about the companies that produce our food, I became concerned about the maker of Lara Bars, General Mills, and their heavy use of Genetically Modified Ingredients in their products.

Now, we make our own Lara Bars. I roll mine into “balls” since my three-year-old loves to help make them (and eat them in the process).  These Lara bars are super easy. I love the taste of the dried fruit mixed with the sweet dates. All you need in order to make these bars is about 5 minutes of time and a food processor.

Cherry Peanut Butter Walnut Lara Bars. So delicious and easy. The kids can help you make them.
Cherry Peanut Butter Walnut Lara Bars. So delicious and easy. The kids can help you make them.
Cranberry-Peanutbutter-walnut-lara-bars-
5 from 2 votes

Cherry-Nut Lara Bars

These Lara bars are super easy. I love the taste of the dried fruit mixed with the sweet dates. 
Kristin Marr
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 12 balls
Calories 1745 kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 cup medjool dates pits removed
  • 1 cup dried cherries
  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 2 TB peanut butter peanuts and salt should be the only ingredients

Instructions

  • Place the walnuts in the food processor (like this) and pulse until finely chopped. Place the chopped nuts in a bowl to the side.
  • Place the dates, cherries, and peanut butter in the food processor and blend to a paste. Add the chopped nuts back into the food processor and pulse until combined.
  • The mixture will appear crumbly. Form into balls or press down on parchment paper and cut with a pizza cutter or knife into bars.Store in a sealed container.

Nutrition

Calories: 1745kcalCarbohydrates: 220gProtein: 37gFat: 92gSaturated Fat: 10gSodium: 170mgPotassium: 1746mgFiber: 31gSugar: 166gVitamin A: 4520IUVitamin C: 1.5mgCalcium: 332mgIron: 7.3mg
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!
Cherry Peanut Butter Walnut Lara Bars. So delicious and easy. The kids can help you make them.
Cherry Peanut Butter Walnut Lara Bars. So delicious and easy. The kids can help you make them.

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22 Comments

  1. I realize that regular dates are drier, but if they were soaked in a bit of warm water 1st do you think they would work? Medjool dates are harder to find & so much more expensive!

  2. For the Lara bars could you substitute the nuts for almonds or pecans?? And maybe the peanut butter for pumpkin or squash or even another type of nut butter?

  3. 5 stars
    Made these with dried blueberries (since that is what I had) and “crunchy” walnuts and they are awesome, even better the second day.
    I might be so bold as to say they should be called better’n’lara bars. Oh! Made the brownie bites too, also better the second day. Yom Nommy.

  4. Do you have a substitute for the nuts? I would love to make these but we have a peanut allergy in the house. Thanks!

  5. YUMMMM!!! I just made these with my 5 year old. I added chia seeds, chocolate chips (dark, organic) and used Sunbutter cause its what we had, and a tbsp of coconut oil…. And oh my goodness I am trying to not eat the whole batch myself. Thank you for a wonderful recipe and a very useful and beautiful site!

  6. Do you have any idea if these are diabetes 2 friendly? Mum just was diagnosed and I’m trying to find some natural treats she can enjoy on occasion.

    1. Hi Lula, I’m not sure if they are safe for diabetics. Some dried fruit can contain sugar, so you’d want to make sure dried cherries without the sugar added were used. My big questions is the dates. Dates are sweet and often used as a sweetener. As long as the dates are safe for her to eat, I can’t think of anything else in this recipe that would be an issue.

    1. A couple weeks stored in an air tight container on the counter. Although we generally eat ours pretty quickly… They are just so good!