I don’t eat packaged bars often, but when I do it’s a Larabar. Larabars have the shortest ingredient list all those wrapped-up rectangles that fall into the category of ‘energy bars’, so they are my bar of choice if I’m going to have a store-bought bar. But homemade copycat Larabars are my true bar of choice if I have 5 minutes, a food processor, and a lot of dates.
If the Banana Bread Larabar and the Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar were to have a baby, it would be these Banana Peanut Butter Copycat Larabars. And since they’re homemade I can do a little customizing to make them Feasting on Fruit style, which means no nuts + more fruit + cinnamon!
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Ingredients
- 1 cup pitted medjool dates
- 1 cup dried bananas (unsweetened and unsulfured if possible, I used these)
- 3 tbsps powdered peanut butter
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in a food processor.
- Process until it forms a ball.
- Press into a 9×4″ loaf pan lined with wax or parchment paper.
- Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
- Remove for the pan and slice into bars.
- Keep in the refrigerator.
I haven’t had a Larabar in ages! I can never manage to finish a whole one, as it is just too sweet/too much for me and then they end up somewhere in my bag and get all gross 😀 Your combination sounds delicious and making them yourself, you can control the size more easily as well. That would be a really good option for me too (but with nuts in my case, as I love all kinds of nuts)!
Haha I think I have the opposite problem: Larabars always seem too small to me 😀 My sweet tolerance is pretty darn high though! These might be a little on the sweet side for you then, since there is so much fruit, but some nuts would help tone that down! And you could even roll them into little bite-sized balls 🙂
Yeah, I was thinking about that too – bite sized balls would be perfect for me 🙂
Peanut flour is the bomb.com 😉 I have tons and always do!
Sometimes it seems strange to call things “peanut butter” when it’s actually just peanut flour (no butter) but PF just isn’t as catchy as PB 😉
Yummy! We usually only have Larabars on our trips to Disney, but this homemade version would be great for everyday snacking.
They are a great travel snack…or at home snack 😉
Hi Natalie I often look at the powdered peanut butter in stores but have no idea what to do with it so I always leave it on a shelf and here you are! And you use bananas and cinnamon, the most seductive combination for my taste buds. Nice One!
I don’t use powdered peanut butter often, but occasionally I’m in the mood for some PB flavor. I’ve tried just mixing it with water to make peanut butter, but it honestly isn’t that great. It’s much better in baking 🙂
Wait what?! powdered Peanut butter powdered?! Peanut flour?! How could I have missed something like that?! I’ve never heard of it or seen it in any store. It sounds awesome! I have to have it. Although my boyfriend is already complaining that I have “too many flours” (as if there is something like that) – he has to understand that it’s peanut flour and it’s important 😀
Lol, I’m sure he’ll understand how important peanut-related matter are 😀 It’s super easy to find around here! I don’t know where you live, but I can find the PB2 brand at most any store around here. It’s a great low-fat way to get peanut flavor without the oil.
Thank you! I’ll be roaming through the stores a bit, if I can’t find it I’ll order it from amazon.
Thank goodness for Amazon! 😉
These are just too adorable Natalie! I don’t like bananas at all but I do love peanut butter! I actually have PB 2 in my fridge but have never really used it. It sure tastes yummy though. I wish I could find some peanut flour without the sugar added though. I do love that you added cinnamon to these…cinnamon is my very favorite flavor and spice!
I didn’t realize you weren’t a banana fan? My mom’s the same way, so while I’m home over the summer I try to keep the banana use to a minimum. I guess I’m getting my banana-baking out now 🙂 haha I’ve never seen a peanut flour in stores without sugar, but this brand on Amazon is made with just roasted peanuts: http://www.amazon.com/Protein-Plus-Roasted-Natural-Peanut/dp/B0052OOYOW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429391372&sr=8-1&keywords=peanut+flour
Brandi, I buy a brand that’s called Just Great Stuff and it’s organic, non-GMO, and uses coconut sugar but the sugar amount is not even significant {like less than 1gr}. It’s the best I’ve found in stores so far.
So, I totally thought I had left you a comment here about these Larabar knockoffs, but it appears it was all in my head. Gosh I wonder how many other things just stay in my head like this?!? #scatterbrain 🙂
What I meant to say is that these look incredible and I absolutely love {LOVE!} the idea of less nuts and more fruit in these. And of course I love pb & bananas. And, I must confess that while I love Larabars and they are my absolute favorite if I had to buy a bar at the store, I’ve had a few too many experiences of buying stale ones and just can’t bring myself to buy them anymore. You can see why I love this idea! 🙂
I don’t have any dehydrated bananas on hand, only fresh and oh so ripe ones. Is there a substitute or alteration I can make? I definately have dates and powdered peanut butter on hand!
I would try using 1-2 ripe bananas, the same amount of dates, and adding in 1 cup of oats or nuts to balance out the extra moisture. Maybe start with just 1 banana and if it’s not too overly sticky than add the second. The refrigeration part will help with the stickiness a lot too. Hope that helps!