Copycat Cookie Dough Lärabars

Continuing on the Lärabars trend, my sister gave me a cookie dough Lärabar and I loved it! I’m a huge sucker for cookie dough, and these bars are no exception. I knew that I wanted to recreate them because I could have eaten the whole box and I just can’t bring myself to pay $2 a bar for something that I can easily make at home. So I figured out how to recreate these, so here’s my version of these copycat cookie dough Lärabars.

This recipe only uses a few ingredients including dates, cashews, almonds, chocolate chips, and oats. You can skip the oats to make them grain free, but you’ll likely have very sticky bars. You could always use more nuts to compensate, but I think the oats contribute to the cookie dough flavor so I add them in. That said, they are vegan, gluten-free (if you use gluten-free oats), and are paleo friendly if you skip the oats. 

What you’ll love about these copycat cookie dough Lärabars?

1. Vegan. Desserts aren’t always vegan friendly or easy to make a vegan version. These are a vegan snack or dessert that are free of added sugars. 
2. 5 ingredients. Dates, cashews, almonds, chocolate chips, and oats. That’s it! You probably don’t even have to go to the store to make these.
3. Quick to make. You can throw these together in under 20 minutes. Skip the 2 hour baking ordeals, and make these no-bake bars.
4. No bake. You won’t even need to turn on the oven or stove to make these. All you need is a food processor and a small square pan or container.

How to make these cookie dough Lärabars?

1. If you use dried dates, soak them for 15-20 minutes prior to when you want to process. If you use fresh dates or ones that are pretty soft, skip this step.
2. Add dates to a food processor. Pulse until they are broken up and start to stick together.
3. Dump in the nuts. Continue to pulse until the nuts break up and start to mix into the dates.
4. Pour the chocolate chips over the top and continue to pulse to break up the chocolate chips some.
5. Finally add the oats to the processor and pulse just enough to get it to mix in. If your mixture is really sticky you may want to add more. If you don’t mind sticky, feel free to omit the oats or substitute more nuts for paleo.
6. Remove the lid, and in a small square or rectangle pan or small food storage container (I like to use this sized one for 6 bars, or a brownie size pan for 12) add the contents from the food processor.
7. Flatten it to the sides well and try to make it even across.
8. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow the bars to harden. 
9. Remove from the fridge, cut into however many bars you want to make. To remove you’ll likely need to use a knife and wedge around the sides and peel it off the bottom of the pan.
10. Store the remaining bars in the fridge for up to one week in an air tight container. They should also freeze fine up to 2 months in an air tight container.

Related posts

Sweet Potato Muffins
Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Bombs
Copycat Samoa Cookies

Let me know if you made these and what you thought of them in the comments below? How did they compare to the original bars?

-Cassie