Larabars

Even though I only had about 7 hours to spend at home with my parents, my mom was gung-ho to try this recipe with me when she realized it would let her use up all the dates she had sitting in the pantry (hmmm, I'm sensing some genetic similarities here!) so we pulled out the food processor and had a go at this basic larabar recipe. Fairly simple to make but I would suggest some changes to it. Although the original recipe used raw unsalted cashews, I think toasted salted cashews would be a far better balance to the sweetness of the dates. Also I might try substituting a quarter of the dates with dried apricots, and adding in a bit of shredded coconut.

• 16 oz Seedless/Pitted whole Dates
• 1 cup whole toasted salted cashews

Pulse the cashews in the food processor until they are crushed into small pieces, but be careful not to make cashew butter! Remove the cashews and put the dates in the food processor, pulsing until they become small chunks. Pour the cashews back in and pulse some more until they are well mixed. You may need to pull it out and knead the mixture a bit (it will be stiff) to ensure that nuts/dates/etc are uniformly distributed. 

Place on a large piece of saran wrap and press into a square or rectangle about 1/2" thick. Wrap up tightly and put in the fridge for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes cut into single size servings (I did bars about 4" x 1"). Wrap individually and store in the fridge. Makes about 14 bars.

And just because it was such a beautiful drive down to the Willamette Valley...