Copycat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabars

Copycat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabars

When you’re a food blogger, you end up having some pretty weird “snacks”. Leftover cheesecake in the afternoon? Sure. Chocolate granola for lunch and dinner some times. Anything goes.

That’s all great and delicious but there are times when I wish I ate a little bit healthier. Of course, the answer’s simple; if you want to eat healthy you need to buy and make healthy meals and snacks. So to start I made one of my favorites: peanut butter chocolate chip larabars.

Copycat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabars Serving

Most pre-portioned snacks at the grocery store are overpriced; they’re even pricier if you get them from kiosks or snack stands. By making your own, you control the costs and quality of the ingredients. Larabars have pretty clean and simple ingredients as is, but by buying dates and using other ingredients I already had I was able to bring the cost down.

You could make your own and use almonds instead of peanuts to adapt these for someone with a peanut allergy.

Copycat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabars

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 6 bars):

  • 8oz pitted dates
  • 1/2 cup peanuts
  • 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup chocolate chips

Method:

  1. Combine the dates and peanuts in a food processor and blend on high until the ingredients start to form a paste.
  2. Add in the peanut butter and salt and continue blending until a dough begins to form.
  3. Lastly, add in the chocolate chips and pulse a few times.
  4. Line a loaf or baking pan with plastic wrap.
  5. Drop the dough on top of the plastic wrap and press the dough into a square or rectangle about 3/4-inch thick.
  6. Cut into bars or squares. Wrap individually and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Copycate Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabar Cut

I left mine in squares. You could make bars or balls or really any shape you could think of with these.

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30 Responses to Copycat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabars
  1. sally @ sallys baking addiction
    August 13, 2012 | 10:49 am

    I’ve never had a peanut butter/chocolate larabar before but something tells me I would LOVE it! And they get $$ at $2 a pop, so I really should make my own sometime. Love the simplicity of them.

  2. Hannah
    August 13, 2012 | 2:27 pm

    Replace “snacks” with “dinners”, and that’s more me. Entire pan of raw brownies for dinner? Oh yes.

    This is the kind of recipe that makes me miss my kitchen! Funnily enough, since arriving in the States I’ve only bought Luna and Cliff bars, not Lara Bars, because I don’t know how to recreate the former 😛

  3. Sharon @ Granola Meets Grits
    August 13, 2012 | 2:38 pm

    Ooh, I would love to see more copycat Larabar recipes! They are my favorite packaged yet not-very-processed convenience food and sweet treat!

  4. Kaitlin
    August 13, 2012 | 10:55 pm

    i am so addicted to the pb chocolate chip flavor. i find wrappers of them all over the place.

    i’m thinking christmas tree shaped ones. what else are cookie cutters for?

  5. Kelsey
    August 14, 2012 | 12:07 am

    Do you know about how many dates you used? I have some on hand but I’m not sure exactly how many ounces I’ve got. Thanks! I love Larabars so I will have to try this!

    • Wannabe Chef
      August 17, 2012 | 2:26 pm

      It came to about 2 cups loosely packed.

  6. The Candid RD (Gina)
    August 14, 2012 | 6:52 am

    They even LOOK like LArabars!! Definitely trying this one at home.

  7. Jennifer @ Peanut Butter and Peppers
    August 14, 2012 | 7:40 am

    Love the recipe! Looks delish! I love making this kind of stuff rather then buying it. Homemade always tastes better. Can’t wait to try your recipe!

  8. luv what you do
    August 14, 2012 | 10:41 pm

    These bars look incredible! I have never had a Larabar but I would much rather make my own with this recipe than buy one!

  9. Playful and Hungry
    August 25, 2012 | 6:30 am

    Yummy, those look really good! I’ve never had a larabar. I’ve done copycat versions though! =D

  10. Catie
    September 2, 2012 | 8:00 am

    I made these using almonds & almond butter in place of the peanut products, and while delicious, they were way too crumbly. We ate some for snacks, but had to use a spoon to do so – I could not send these in my sons lunchbox as I had hoped. Do you think the almond butter was the issue? Any suggestions on how to make them work?

    • Wannabe Chef
      September 2, 2012 | 8:52 am

      Hmmm, the only thing I could think is maybe the dates were on the drier side? If they are blending into more of a crumble than a dough, I would add water by the teaspoon until it becomes wet enough to stick to itself and hold shape.

  11. […] extra nutritional boost to a MOMables lunch if you have an older child or an athlete. Thanks to the Wannabe Chef you can make these at […]

  12. phoebe
    September 8, 2012 | 5:40 pm

    love this site… just found out about it via a gal who came to a potluck I just started. we vote favorite recipes (sweet & savory) then share the links. This recipe won the best sweets. the gal who brought them made them into balls and dipped in chocolate. killer!!! so, i’m sending folks over to your page to find the recipe, hope that okay.

    • Wannabe Chef
      September 9, 2012 | 7:34 pm

      I’m so glad to hear that!

  13. Toni
    September 20, 2012 | 10:40 pm

    These look yummy,unfortunately my family is not a fan of dates or any dried fruit. What could I use instead of dates? Thank you

    • Wannabe Chef
      September 20, 2012 | 10:46 pm

      Unfortunately I think you’d need some sort of dried fruit in order for these to work and stay together. Prunes and raisins would have a different flavor than the dates.

  14. […] I decided to mix things up recently and using The Wannabe Chef’s Copycat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabars as a starting point I made peanut butter chocolate chip bites. I mixed dates, almonds, powdered […]

  15. […] Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabars Adapted from The WannaBe Chef […]

  16. alicia
    November 29, 2012 | 4:54 pm

    do you use salted or unsalted peanuts?

    • Wannabe Chef
      November 29, 2012 | 4:57 pm

      I would use unsalted. if you have salted and want to use those, omit the added salt in the recipe

  17. amy
    February 6, 2013 | 2:42 pm

    Just made these & cannot believe how much they taste like the actual bar!! I even think they taste better since they are fresher. My daughter loved making these with me. Super excited to have found this recipe. Thank you for sharing!

  18. HilaryT
    February 19, 2013 | 6:35 pm

    I had a PB chocolate chip Larabar for the first time yesterday and it was soo good I wanted more, but did not want to pay $$ for them, so I did a quick search and found your recipe and made them today. IMO these taste exactly like the real thing. Very good. Thank you!

  19. Leslie
    February 23, 2013 | 5:29 pm

    I made these today and can’t stop eating them! Did you happen to do any calorie analysis on this recipe?

    • Wannabe Chef
      February 23, 2013 | 5:34 pm

      I have not but I imagine it’s very similar to the ones Larabar has for their product

  20. […] I decided to mix things up recently and using The Wannabe Chef’s Copycat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabars as a starting point I made peanut butter chocolate chip bites. I mixed dates, almonds, powdered […]

  21. Tanya
    June 26, 2013 | 10:20 pm

    Thank you for posting this recipe! I loved this particular Larabar and was buying boxes of them until I found out that the company had been bought out by General Mills, who was one of the big corporations spending millions to campaign against California’s GMO labelling bill. These taste better and now General Mills won’t get another dime of my money!

  22. Janis
    July 2, 2013 | 9:51 am

    Tried these this morning. EASY and delicious! Thanks!!! The savings is amazing!!!!! Needed that right about now! 🙂
    Janis

  23. indubitably
    August 14, 2013 | 9:16 pm

    I make these all the time and love them! I also replace the peanuts/peanut butter with almonds/almond butter and they are yummy too. I have just started replacing the nuts with unsweetened coconut flakes and the nut butter with coconut oil and have to say, I love them even more than the nut ones!! Thanks for the recipe!! 🙂

  24. Heidi
    April 18, 2014 | 9:17 pm

    We just made these and my children were eating the mixture with a spoon faster than I could roll them into balls. 🙂 Thank you for the delicious recipe!