"Put the lime in di coconut" bars

"Put the lime in di coconut" bar

My latest endeavor: Fruit and nut bars! I have now made at least five different flavors, but this one is my favorite right now! Let me back up...
I'm a big fan of the infamous "Larabar" spelled with the German umlaut "a"with two dots on top. Now, these of you who like these bars know that at a roughly $2.00 per bar price those little babies can get spendy! So, what's a girl gotta do? Experiment!!!
The good and nutritious thing about larabars is that they are made from only a handful of ingredients, all of which you can recognize and pronounce. They contain no refined sugar or additives. The sweetness solely comes from the dates (who also provide the stickiness to hold it all together). The nuts range from cashews, almonds, peanuts, to coconut and pecans and probably other ones I forget right now. The fruit are dried cherries, apples, banana, carrots, the dates of course, tropical fruit, and more. If you are curious, here is a link to all the flavors they offer:

http://www.larabarstore.com/?trk_src_ss=LAR32011WEBPAYPC&gclid=CO7m3t31hagCFZFoKgodeh-fsg

Okay. That said. I had to try to make my own. Now, here is where the fronts divide! Some of you non-foodies-hate to cook-don't like to be in the kitchen-people will say:"Why????" "Don't fix it if it ain't broken!". So, if you are one of those people who think peeling an apple is too much of a chore, and should not be part of making or eating an apple crisp - then you are better off forwarding this blog to your foodie friend or neighbor, and ask THEM to whip up a few bars for you!
The other half - or shall I say - the other one or two of you - might get as excited as I did, and start to  break out the food processor!!!

Like I said - three to four ingredients, and a new all natural whole foods bar is born and chilling away in your fridge! Give it a try!!

dates

dried pineapple

Ingredients
makes about 6 bars

1 1/2 cups of chopped dates (about 12) ...find in your produce section
1 1/2 cups of dried UNSWEETENED coconut ...find in your health food/ bulk organic / nut section
1/2 cup of roasted UNSWEETENED cashews ...found mine at Target
6 oz. dried pineapple chunks
zest of 2 big or 3 small limes

Roughly chop the dates and pineapple and put in food processor. Add cashews, coconut and lime zest and process until thick and doughy. It's done when dough stays together in a clump when you pinch it between your fingers.
Transfer to wax paper. Shape into an approximately  4 x 10 inch rectangle (4" will be the lengths of each bar) about 1/2 inch thick, or to your liking. Can also be shaped into small bite sized morsels. Wrap it with the wax paper and chill in the fridge for an hour or overnight.

dried unsweetened coconut

lime zest

food processor 

shape into 4x10x1/2" rectangle

Can be cut into individual bars and wrapped in wax paper for ease of transportation.