*Recipe updated since original post from January 2019.
These were supposed to be bars, but sometimes things don’t go as planned. So you improvise!
I followed The Big Man’s World’s Homemade Carrot Cake Larabars and only made one substitution the first time. Then I made them again recently and changed the nuts as well. My recipe is featured below.
When looking at the original recipe, I could not find the dried pineapple without added sugar. Even if I wasn’t on the Whole30, I’d probably prefer that there be no added sugar. Pineapple is sweet enough! And whenever you cut out artificial sugar, tastebuds change. I’m finding that every fruit tastes sweeter! Carrots even taste sweet now and I never felt that way before.
Since I could not find the pineapple and was too tired to try another store, I went with dried apples instead. I used dried apples in the last Larabar recipe as well. I’ve used green and red dried apples and tasted little difference.
Individually wrapped in plastic to bring to work!
After scraping the mix out of the food processor, I smashed it down with my hands between parchment paper. I made a rough square and then cut it into 9 pieces with a pizza cutter. But the squares were just too delicate and kept flaking. I decided not to spend any more time fighting with them and just rolled them into balls instead. They seem perfectly happy now! And incredibly yummy! I rolled them in extra coconut flakes just for fun!
Note: With the pineapple, they probably would have been more sticky and held together fine as squares.
I actually like this flavor even more than the Apple Pie ones I made last time! Turned out great!
Carrot Cake Bites
This recipe is so easy! I love how you only need a decent food processor. You can mix everything at once.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup dates, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes ahead of time (do not mash them down into the cup)
- 3/4 cup raw almonds
- 1/4 cup raw pecans
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (plus extra for rolling later)
- 1/4 cup dried apples (green or red)
- 2 tbsp shredded carrots
Directions
- After soaking the dates, place them in a large food processor and mix until gooey.
- Add all nuts and then mix until crumbly.
- Add dried fruit, coconut, and carrots, mix until well chopped.
- Dump ingredients onto a cutting board or parchment paper for rolling. Roll into balls, roughly 16.
- After all balls have been formed, roll onto extra shredded coconut. (This keeps them from being too sticky as well).
- Place in a container or wrap individually beforehand.
- Refrigerate a few hours before eating.
Not. My. Fibro. 