When I saw Angela make Banana Bread Larabars I knew I had to try them. Go check out her blog! She is fantastic.
I changed the recipe a little – I used prunes instead of dates, and peanuts instead of almonds. And my peanuts were roasted. I also changed the shape just a little, as you can probably tell from my title 
I gave them a new name…
Banana Cookie Lara Balls
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup dried banana (2 bananas worth)
- 1/2 cup prunes
- 2/3 cup roasted unsalted peanuts (raw is fine too, I just didn’t have any)
Directions:
- Slice the bananas and cook them in the oven at 200F for 3-4 hours. They should get thin and chewy.
- Chop the prunes.
- Process bananas and prunes in a food processor for 20-30 seconds or until they form a big ball of mush. Remove and set aside.
- Process the peanuts in the food processor until they’re crumbly. Probably 20-30 seconds here.
- Mush together the prune/banana paste and the crushed peanuts with your hands until you get a big ball.
- Using a Tablespoon measurer, make balls out of the batter. Roll them in your hands to make them more spherical.
- Place them between layers of saran wrap and smoosh with the bottom of your measuring cup. Now they look like cookies!
- Refrigerate and EAT.
My recipe made 10 of these little guys. The nutritionals are excellent. Each cookie ball contains: 98 kcalories, 5 grams of fat, 13 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fiber, 6.5 grams of sugar, and 2.8 grams of protein.
They are great (and almost gone)! I was nervous about using prunes instead of dates, but I think I like them even better than Larabars. Bobby completely agrees. What do you think?
Up next – A GIVEAWAY! Check back in tomorrow. For now, you can check out ZestyCook’s blog for a $100 Amazon gift card giveaway.
December 11, 2008 at 11:07 am
Thanks for the pingback!!!
Awww you are too sweet!
Glad you liked them! They are sooooo amazingly good!
Angela
http://www.ohsheglows.com
December 11, 2008 at 11:15 am
Thanks for checking out my blog! I really like yours as well. We are very similar! Your recipe looks amazing!!
December 11, 2008 at 11:16 am
BEYOND HEAVENLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 11, 2008 at 11:20 am
Oh my gosh – YUM! I am definitely going to try them out. Thanks Maggie!
December 11, 2008 at 11:25 am
oh my god! that is SO cool! now i want a mini food processor! which one do you use?
December 11, 2008 at 11:41 am
Awesome! I tried making laraballs too. I like your idea of using prunes; they are probably better in the “mushiness” factor. Maybe a combo of both would be spectacular! Yum!
December 11, 2008 at 11:41 am
Way to go on the homemade lara ‘balls’ !
December 11, 2008 at 11:46 am
YUM!
December 11, 2008 at 2:48 pm
wow these look amazing. if i wasn’t so lazy and busy right now i would make them, then eat them.
December 11, 2008 at 4:11 pm
those looks AMAZING! i’ll have to make some when i get home, so i can throw the bananas in the dehydrator. what a great idea!!!
December 11, 2008 at 4:21 pm
these look awesome!
December 11, 2008 at 4:49 pm
What a fantastic recipe!! Thanks
December 11, 2008 at 5:24 pm
how adorable!!! i make larabar clones like it’s my job. i wonder how they actually make the bar shape. that’s probably a stupid question haha i think it’s interesting that you bake the dried bananas. i’ve never heard of doing that.
December 11, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Those lara balls look delish… such a great idea!! And those baked bananas look like they would be good plain. Did you try them?
December 11, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Those look yummers and Im enjoying your blog!
http://theplatedecorator.blogspot.com/
December 11, 2008 at 7:44 pm
homemade larabars!!!!!!!!!! they look fantastic!!!!!! yum yum~~~~~~~:D
December 11, 2008 at 10:59 pm
oh WOW. first of all, I think I would like those banana “chips” like that! they look so yummy!! And I am not a fan of larabars but still, those look fantastic and really yummy! I bet it was even better that the peanuts were roasted!
December 12, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Your lara balls look great. I love how just a couple simple ingredients can make such a yummy snack! Ever tried the dates/peanut butter/cocoa powder combination? it’s like a super rich chocolate brownie. One of my favourite desserts ever.
December 12, 2008 at 7:02 pm
The texture looks just like Laras! Great recipe!
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December 19, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Do you think I could make these without any nuts?
December 24, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Hi there. Nice! Really caouldn\’t agree more REGARDING \”Lara… balls!\”. I really liked it a lot. Try vegan chocolate chips. Thanks.
January 12, 2009 at 11:42 am
btw- i am making a variation of ur banana cookie laraballs tonight. will blog about them by tomorrow. testing your recipe!
can i make them using dates + almonds?
March 5, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I have to try these!
May 14, 2009 at 7:30 pm
The bananas didn’t stick to your pan? But this is genius! I would’ve never thought of using dried bananas, very cool. Have you tried Trader Joe’s flattened banana or Nothing But Banana (something like that)? It’s so good rolled up with PB in the middle
Natalie
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