Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough Laraballs

These Laraballs are ADDICTING!

Only 2 or 3 ingredients and completely satisfying!

No OATMEAL, BUTTER, EGGS, BAKING, GLUTEN, or SUGAR!

LARABALLS: Always Healthy, Gluten-Free, Fast!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough

1 1/4 c walnuts

3/4 c raisins

Other add-ins: cinnamon, or rolled oats (for a lower-calorie treat)

Blend in a food processor until a dough forms, and  enjoy!

You can eat it by the spoonful, 

or transfer the mixture into a plastic bag and make balls from the outside of the bag, 

or use candy molds and freeze like shown below. 

Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough

Fresh-You RECIPES are so EASY, they can be written up (and made) by kiddos, especially Laraballs!  Click here for more flavors!  This afternoon, my daughter decided to make a "book of food" when included nearly twenty recipes/pages that she could make!  Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough Laraballs made the cut (though the words didn't come out boldly enough to see in the pics below)!

When kids help decide about what to make and help make foods, 

they have big appetites for what is on the menu!

COMMENTS: Do you have certain foods that you eat when you are in a "healthy mode/phase"?  In my house, if there is a bag of Laraballs prepared/handy, everyone is less hungry, cranky all day long, and eating less junk!

Cashew Cookie Laraballs

Larabars are awesome!  Cashew Cookie was one of the original flavors!  It's also one of the first Laraball flavors I tried to recreate (Check out all the yummy flavors!).  Now you can too!

Buying Larabars is great for CONVENIENCE; ready INSTANTLY, if you don't have 3 MINUTES to make up a batch! Additionally, the sealed up in a wrapper offers ready-to-go-ness, and hardly ever goes bad-ness! Not that we have ever had a Laraball hang around long enough to have a chance to "go bad".

Cashew Cookie Laraballs

1 c roasted cashews

1 c dates

optional: dash of salt

Combine nuts and dates in a food processor* until mixture is moldable into balls (this batch makes twice as many balls as other Laraball recipes, ~3 dozen), OR you can shape them with cookie cutters like these cute hearts that my daughter made on her own!, OR you could make sandwiches with apples!

*If you only have a mini, use 1/2 c of cashews and dates each to make ~16 balls.

Apple sandwiches with these Cashew Cookie Laraballs taste like caramel covered apples!

(Apple Brownie Sandwiches are also pretty fabulous!)

 

 COMMENTS: What do you pack for "treats" in your lunch, or your kids' lunches?

Choco-Peanut Crunch Laraballs

Peanut Butter Cup Laraballs!

(Learn about Laraballs HERE.)

These are a simple variation of the Brownie Bites.

1/2 c peanuts, roasted, unsalted

1/2 c dates

1/8-1/4 c cocoa, unsweetened

1-2 Tbsp CHIA SEEDS*

2 tsp vanilla (optional)

1/8 tsp salt (omit if using salted peanuts)
*for less crunch use 1 Tbsp + 2 Tbsp water

Combine everything with a food processor until well blended. Empty contents into large re-sealable plastic bag. Form into one inch balls. Enjoy!

 

If you're feeling WILD, just try eye-balling these quantities and see how it turns out! I'm sure it will be a SUCCESS!

 

The CHIA SEEDS are a new and unusual ingredient for a Laraball. They are tasteless and only provide the tiniest little crunch (like a raspberry seed, or the crunch you might notice when chewing a Fig Newton). Barely noticeable, AND SUPER nutritious!! = add as much in to your diet as possible! You can throw chia seeds into anything!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  Do you ever remember a winter like this one?  62 today - really?!  It sure is great for runners, like me!  Are there wintry things you want to be doing, but haven't been able too?  A friend of mine's husband built an ice skating rink for their boys for this winter, and it hasn't gotten much use, bummer for them.  She IS a runner, so at least she is loving the random warm days!

How to Make Brownies in 5 Minutes or Less!

Brownie Bites are every bit as rich as any brownie I've ever tasted! No baking required!

Brownie Bites

1/2 c pecans

1/3 c dates

1/4 c cocoa, unsweetened

1/8 c flaxseed, ground

1. Simply blend all ingredients in a food processor.
2. Continue to blend/pulsing until fine mixture forms, and begins to come away from the edge of the container.
3. Next, put mixture into plastic sandwich bag. Hint: you can put your bag into a mug, folding the edges of the bag over the edge of the mug (like a trash can). This just helps you fill your bag fast.
4. Now you can shape the dough into balls without getting your hands all greasy. One inch diameter is a nice serving, and even smaller is good for little kids. They can pop the whole thing in their mouth without making a mess of crumbs.
5. Alternatively, you could mash the whole mixture into a container and cut into squares.

While some flavors, especially Skinny Mints, taste great frozen, these taste much better refrigerated or at room temperature.

These are really nutritious, just like Larabars! They even make a great breakfast with coffee! Having young children, I often find myself being up for a few hours without having eaten, even though I'm sure to feed the kids right away! These are great to pop in my mouth as soon as I come downstairs, so I can lift my metabolism, energy, and mood right away!

These are yet another "Larabar ball" or Laraball flavor! If you like these, you might also like to try some other flavors:

Skinny Mints

PB&J Poppers

No-Bake Carrot Cake
and More!

To receive more fresh-you updates, you can sign up on the right-hand side of the blog, below "Popular Posts", to "Follow by Email" and/or you can "like" my Facebook page here! THANKS!

WHAT DO YOU THINK? TELL ME IN A COMMENT: How do you like your brownies? Plain, smooth? Or do you like them with stuff in them, nuts, fruit, caramel, marshmallow...???

PB&J Poppers!

Craving peanut butter? No worries! It's a healthy fat that speeds up your fat-burning and overall metabolism! It's a great source of protein and FIBER, as well. Peanuts also provide vitamin E, folate, and magnesium.  For more on benefits of NUTS click HERE!

Be sure to eat "natural" PB; this is peanut butter with an ingredients list that includes only one or two items: peanuts, and perhaps salt.

PB and J Poppers

GRAB YOUR FOOD CHOPPER and whip some up!

1/2 c peanuts

1/2 c unsweetened raisins

1/4 c ground flaxseeds

Add 1/2 tsp chia seeds for an added nutritional punch!

Blend together until mixture begins to clump and then shape into balls! Addicting! For more hints about how to make these yummy treats, click here. Here is carrot cake flavor!  You can learn about Laraballs here!

"Like" the fresh-you Facebook page here!

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Tell me in a comment below: do you like some other version of PBJ? Grape or strawberry jelly? Jam? Add dried fruit or nuts inside? Almond butter instead? Perhaps peanut butter and butter (Earth Balance spread) like my oldest daughter?

PB&J Poppers!

Craving peanut butter? No worries! It's a healthy fat that speeds up your fat-burning and overall metabolism! It's a great source of protein and FIBER, as well. Peanuts also provide vitamin E, folate, and magnesium.  For more on benefits of NUTS click HERE!

Be sure to eat "natural" PB; this is peanut butter with an ingredients list that includes only one or two items: peanuts, and perhaps salt.

PB&J Poppers

GRAB YOUR FOOD CHOPPER and whip some up!

1/2 c peanuts

1/2 c unsweetened raisins

1/4 c ground flaxseed

Add 1/2 tsp chia seeds for an added nutritional punch!

Blend together until mixture begins to clump and then shape into balls! Addicting! For more hints about how to make these yummy treats, click here. Here is carrot cake flavor!  You can learn about Laraballs here!

"Like" the fresh-you Facebook page here!

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Tell me in a comment below: do you like some other version of PBJ? Grape or strawberry jelly? Jam? Add dried fruit or nuts inside? Almond butter instead? Perhaps peanut butter and butter (Earth Balance spread) like my oldest daughter?