Almond Butter Blueberry Jam Bars
May 1, 2012 | Posted by eryn under Cooking, Frugal Living, Natural Living, Organic, Paleo |
Our son devours Larabars. I love them because they have very simple ingredients (9 ingredients at most) and they are all simple, natural ingredients (nuts, dates, etc.).
With such simple ingredients, though, that also means that it is easy to make your own, so that’s just what we decided to do recently. Making our own bars saves us money (usually), but it also allows us to create our own bars that fit our food preferences.
This recipe is based on a recipe from DAMY Health, but it uses almonds and blueberries instead of peanuts and cranberries. We don’t eat peanuts, so almonds are my go-to substitute. And I chose blueberries just because I love the combo of almond butter and blueberries.
Of course, since blueberries are ranked as one of the foods with the most pesticides on the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” list, I recommend using organic blueberries for this recipe.
Also, I used homemade almond butter in this recipe. If you haven’t tried making almond butter yourself yet, you’ll find that recipe here.
I like to cut these bars into smaller, snack-size pieces that are good portions for my son, but you can also make them into full-size bars, roll them into balls or use cookie cutters to cut them into different shapes.
- ½ cup blueberries
- ½ cup pitted whole dates
- 1 cup raw almonds
- 2 tbsp. almond butter
- 2 pinches of salt
- Chop nuts in food processor until coarsely chopped.
- Empty the nuts into a medium bowl and set aside.
- Blend blueberries and dates in food processor until they become a thick paste (it needn’t be perfectly smooth, but you shouldn’t have any large pieces of dates or blueberries remaining).
- Add the date and blueberry mixture, along with the remaining ingredients, to the bowl with the almonds and stir until well-combined.
- Scoop the mixture onto a plate or other flat surface.
- Cover the mixture with aluminum foil or wax paper and use a spoon or your hands to smooth it out to your desired thickness.
- Remove the foil or wax paper and refrigerate the mixture for at least 20 minutes.
- When hardened, use a knife to cut bars to desired size.
This recipe is linked to Beauty and Bedlam, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Allergy-Free Wednesdays and The Greenbacks Gal.
Yum! These look like a very wholesome bar! Thanks for sharing it with us on Allergy Free Wednesdays!
You’re welcome! They’re tasty, too. Even I like them, and I am not a huge fan of Larabars.
Thank you for the link love! Have a great week
Amy Layne