Whole 30 compliant homemade apricot lara bars

My friend Rhoda came to town this past weekend. Rhoda is one of my most favorite people in the whole wide world. When we were discussing what to do, she said “let’s do something from your 101 in 1001 list!,” because she’s that kind of person, you guys. We snapped this picture before she left:

Anyway, back to the story. We went through my list and decided to celebrate a random holiday.

Apricot Day.

It should be noted that Rhoda is vegan. and I am kind of in an open relationship with Whole 30. Full disclosure: Today would have been Round 2, Day 10 but I made some poor decisions. So today is back to Round 2, Day 1.

That said, we knew that any sort of pastry was out. Then we figured out the formula for homemade Lara Bars, went to the store, and got to work. You guys, it’s SO EASY.

Ingredient-wise, it’s really simple. We actually decided to add unsweetened coconut flakes, which we were so glad about!

• 1 cup pitted dates
• 1 cup dried apricots
• 1 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds

For the record, we also would have added some cinnamon and/or cashew chunks (for texture).

Mix it all up. In a food processor. Listen, you guys. FOOD PROCESSOR. If you are the kind of person (like me) who says “oh. food processor? that’s just like a blender, so I’m fine,” let me tell you: FOOD PROCESSOR. It took us SO LONG to get it mixed up AND we broke the blender in the process. That said. I need a  food processor. Oh AND it made a huge mess…

So again. Food processor. I don’t have one. I need one.

We lined a bread pan with wax paper, pressed the mixed up “dough” into it, and then put it in the fridge overnight. In the morning we poured ourselves a cup of coffee and ate a LOT of this.

We cut it into Lara Bar shapes, but then we just started tearing it off and eating chunks. Because it is seriously that good.

Happy Belated Apricot Day! Even if you didn’t get to celebrate it on January 9th, I hope you try this recipe. It’s definitely one I’ll be making again… once I get a food processor.

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