Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabar Lookalikes {Paleo}
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 8 bars
Ingredients
  • 1.5 cups raw unsalted cashews
  • 1.5 cups pitted dates (loosely placed in cup, not packed)
  • .75 tsp sea salt
  • .75 cup chocolate chips (I use Equal Exchange bittersweet chips – they are made in a factory that does not process peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat or soy)
  • If needed: up to 1 TBS water
Instructions
  1. Place the cashews, pitted dates, and salt in a food processor.
  2. Mix until the cashews are reduced to small grains – almost like sand. The mix should be moist enough that it holds together when squeezed into small balls; if not, start the processor back up and a dribble in a half teaspoon of water at a time, testing in between each bit for texture. Don’t add too much, or it will become too gooey to make into bars.
  3. Remove the mix from the food processor and place in a large bowl.
  4. Mix in the chocolate chips by hand. If they try to escape to the bottom of the bowl, keep mixing, and once about half are mixed in, press firmly down on the whole mix, turn it upside down, and repeat, until the chips are mixed in.
  5. Line a 8x8-inch baking dish with parchment paper with handles that stick out, so you can pull the entire mix out when it’s ready to cut.
  6. Cut a second piece of parchment paper to the size of the baking dish.
  7. Place the mix in the tin, spread it out a bit, and use the extra piece to press the mix out evenly with your hands. Make sure the mix ends up very compacted and even, so the bars are firm.
  8. Cover the tin and place it in the refrigerator for about an hour.
  9. Remove from the fridge, pull the batch out of the tin with the parchment paper handles, and cut into 8 equal pieces with a long knife.
  10. Alternate cutting method: If you don’t want to to cut the firmer, fridged mix, do this: Before putting the mix into the fridge, pull it out of the baking dish with the parchment paper handles. Set it on a cutting board, and cut the pieces with a long knife. Lift the mix back into the dish, cover, tamp it down, and place in the fridge.
  11. To store, wrap each piece in foil, parchment paper or saran wrap, and store in the fridge in an airtight container. Or, cut layers of parchment the size of the bottom of an airtight container, and stack the bars with some space between, in layers between the paper.
  12. Store in the freezer in an airtight container for longer shelf-life.
Recipe by Backcountry Paleo at https://www.backcountrypaleo.com/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-larabar-lookalikes-paleo/