All Hail Larabar!!!

[I. Kay]

Ok, so I just tried out a new Larabar, called "Jocalat". I've never seen it around before.

Indredients:
organic dates, organic walnuts, organic hazelnuts, organic cocoa mass, organic cocoa powder, organic cashews, organic coffee

Cals: 190
Fat: 11g (2 sat, 3 mono, 5 poly)
Carbs: 24g (5g fiber, 19g sugar)
Protein: 4g

And it tastes like a friggin' BROWNIE. 2 big thumbs up over here (as I wait for Alan or Mike to come by and pop my balloon :p )


Also, I picked up a bottle of Bolthouse Farms "Vedge" drink.
juice from: tomatoes, carrots, celery, beets,parsley,lettuce,mushroom s, spinach,watercerss, bell pepper
with natural flavor, ascorbic acid, beta carotene, folic acid, lycopene and lutein

8oz = 67 cals, 760g potassium, 458g sodium

NOT from concentrates.

[RacerBill]

Cool. Thanks, Ian. I'll have to look for that Jocolat. I've had the other Larabars and I don't care much for the chocolate coconut one. This sounds like it's better.

[emartin10]

I've been buying LaraBars at Costco for a while. I freaking love them!

E

[Lost Dog]

The Mole flavor is excellent.

[James Newman]

I don't have any problem with these. I had a Larabar the other day. I think they'd be great to include as like a dessert in a post workout meal.

Newman

[Alan Aragon]

Those ingredients kick ass.

I suggest you eat it if you like the taste.

How was that for a shoot-down, Ian?

PS - I was waiting for a Kevin Larabee joke that never happened.

[Michael Roussell]

Originally Posted by Ian Kay

Ok, so I just tried out a new Larabar, called "Jocalat". I've never seen it around before.

Indredients:
organic dates, organic walnuts, organic hazelnuts, organic cocoa mass, organic cocoa powder, organic cashews, organic coffee

Cals: 190
Fat: 11g (2 sat, 3 mono, 5 poly)
Carbs: 24g (5g fiber, 19g sugar)
Protein: 4g

And it tastes like a friggin' BROWNIE. 2 big thumbs up over here (as I wait for Alan or Mike to come by and pop my balloon :p )


Also, I picked up a bottle of Bolthouse Farms "Vedge" drink.
juice from: tomatoes, carrots, celery, beets,parsley,lettuce,mushroom s, spinach,watercerss, bell pepper
with natural flavor, ascorbic acid, beta carotene, folic acid, lycopene and lutein

8oz = 67 cals, 760g potassium, 458g sodium

NOT from concentrates.

Ian,

I've actually been looking to try to Larabar but haven't been able to find one. I had a blog entry a couple weeks ago about how crappy "protein bars" are and a reader suggested them to me.

[BamaDave]

I like Larabars a lot. They make a good pre-run snack in the evenings. I wish they would produce something similar with more protein.

[Bill2380]

PS - I was waiting for a Kevin Larabee joke that never happened.

I thought Kevin had expanded his empire to include some new product when I first read the title.

[UpNorth]

Originally Posted by BamaDave

I like Larabars a lot. They make a good pre-run snack in the evenings. I wish they would produce something similar with more protein.

Ask and you shall receive:

Protein bar recipe

These are pretty simple to make but takes about 20 minutes and some elbow grease. The original recipe called for cashews instead of pumpkin seeds and while the cashews tasted great the pumpkin seeds are half the price, have a better nutrition profile and taste good to me. For the whey I use Naturade Vanilla which tastes pretty good. I tried Designer Whey vanilla and it tasted awful. The flavor of the whey makes a huge difference so beware cheap brands.

Ingredients:
1 lb Pumpkin Seeds
1 lb Dates
3 tablespoons unsweentened cocoa powder
420g whey protein powder
~1/2 cup of water

Makes 12-14 bars


1. In a large bowl add the whey and mix in the cocoa powder. Then add about 1/4 cup of water and stir. Keep adding water until you get a thick paste and all the whey is disolved. Err on the side of too dry, you can always add water later. Too wet and your bars will be a sticky mess.

2. Grind the pumpkin seeds to a rough chop. I use a hand mixer with an attachment but a coffee grinder would work. Add to the bowl.

3. Chop the dates and add to the bowl.

4. Mix everything together. You can do this with a mixing spoon but it will be a workout. Its much easier to mix with your hands but it is really messy. I usually wet my hands before mixing which helps. Oil would probably work well too. For the mix you are looking to get everything incorporated well. When it's all mixed together it should just be able to stick together. If it doesn't add some more water but just a little at a time. It's a fine line between "nice bar" and "sticky mess."

5. Once everything is incorporated take out the mixture and form a brick on a cutting board. Mine is usually about 1/2" high, 12" wide and 5" deep. Then cut into whatever size bars you want. I wrap my in plastic wrap and throw them in the fridge. They'll last a couple of weeks in there.

One last tip. If you do end up having added too much water, you can pulverize some graham crackers and roll the bars in it (I've had to do this more than once). It absorbs some of the moisture and makes them easier to handle.

I make these often. To mix things up I'll add shredded coconut, cashews or almonds instead of pumpkin seeds, unsweetened chocolate instead of cocoa powder, figs instead of dates, and my favorite dried mangos. The protein powder acts like a glue so you could pretty much add anything to it.

[Lost Dog]

Originally Posted by UpNorth

Ask and you shall receive:


I make these often. To mix things up I'll add shredded coconut, cashews or almonds instead of pumpkin seeds, unsweetened chocolate instead of cocoa powder, figs instead of dates, and my favorite dried mangos. The protein powder acts like a glue so you could pretty much add anything to it.

couple of questions. Do you use shelled pumpkin seeds (pepitas)?

What type of dates did you use. The types range from dry to moist to chewy to delicate. Curious if you've tried different types.

Figs sound good. I might try it with dried apple rings, too.

[UpNorth]

Raw shelled pumpkin seeds. Would be a little too crunchy with the shell

Medjool(sp?) dates. They're not that sticky. Figs work as a great substitute and dried apricots worked fine as well but were too bitter for me. Let me know how the dried apples work out.

I should also mention that my kids love these things!

I have a spreadsheet with the nutritional information on these as well if anyone is interested.

[I. Kay]

Originally Posted by Alan Aragon

Those ingredients kick ass.

I suggest you eat it if you like the taste.

How was that for a shoot-down, Ian?

PS - I was waiting for a Kevin Larabee joke that never happened.

Looks like it passed the Alan & Mike Test!

Yeah, I wouldn't complain if they tossed in 9-10 more grams of protein, though I'd bet it'd be soy and the texture would change.

Hell, I like these as is and can get my protein elsewhere.

Seems I've been carb-fueled entirely by dates, figs, raisins, apples and oranges for a while now. For some reason I feel great... hmmm.

[BamaDave]

Great recipe - thanks, Jeff! And, wow, your kids like them. That's certainly an incentive for me to try them out.

My girls like my wife's Luna Bars but don't like LARA bars for whatever reason. I'll have to give these a try.

[Kevin Larrabee]

Nope, no Kevin Larrabee protein bar yet...

My bars would suck anyways, I would want 0 sugar in them.

Ill stick with the MD bars and the Sustain bars.

[Kaiser]

I love Larabars ever since Sarah ('silly' from this forum) turned me on to them at her shop in Little Rock. It's been my cycle ride snack since then.

FYI, I was talking to the Larabar execs at an industry show and they are a rotation item (meaning they are there sometimes at any particular store and not at others) at Costco Wholesale - 18 bars for 18 bucks. The box I get from my local Costco is not with the new Chocolat (which I am not that fond of because they are kinda dry for a ride snack), but the other flavors. That's about the cheapest I've seen it anywhere. Our local Trader Joe's has them for $1.29 a piece and I've seen them all the way to $1.79/bar at other places.

[RacerBill]

That's cheap! I usually pay $1.45 apiece for them.