Hi Carrots ‘N’ Cake readers! I am honored to be writing a guest post for Tina while she is away in Seattle! My name is Danielle and I blog over at Clean Food Creative Fitness! I am a CrossFitter, who eats Paleo about 80-90% of the time, and live in Boston! Sound familiar?! I’m also a nutritionist and health coach and love making healthy eating delicious!
Today I wanted to talk Paleo. I am hearing about more and more people trying Paleo or wanting to give it a try, which is so exciting! However as we are getting closer into Fall and Winter and the holidays start coming up, we are finding more sweets and non-Paleo temptations available! I wanted to give you a recipe that is Paleo and a great treat to make and have on hand as a quick snack when you are craving something sweet! Little secret: My family (who is nowhere close to Paleo) really liked them! You could even bring them to an outing, the office, or a holiday party so you know there will be at least one Paleo option available.
Chocolate Coconut Date “Lara” Bites
Ingredients:
- 25 small dates
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 2 tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder***For those of you wondering if chocolate is Paleo see this awesome post from Whole9!
- 1 tsp. coconut oil
- dash sea salt
Directions:
- In a food processor add all of your ingredients.
- Pulse your ingredients until well blended. About 2-3 minutes. They will be a bit chunky still.
- Roll your mixture into balls.
- Refrigerate to store and enjoy!
Makes 13 Bites
Some other Paleo “Sweets”:
- Larabar (not the peanut one)
- Dates, figs, or Dried Unsweetened Mango
- Scoop of coconut butter
- Coconut flakes toasted with sea salt and cinnamon
- Freeze dried fruit
- Fresh fruit
What’s your go to when you want something sweet???
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
I LOVE that you included other Paleo “sweets” — I’m about a week and a half into Paleo eating and my biggest challenge is the after-dinner sugar craving. I’ve done fruit + almond butter, microwaveable “cookies” (like Tina’s nut butter cookie) with varied ingredients (cocoa powder, almond butter, pumpkin, egg, cinnamon, flaxseed, almond milk, etc.), and chocolate milk (cocoa powder, almond milk, stevia), but I’m still looking for ideas that are low sugar and calorie. How sweet is coconut butter? That’s on my list to try…
Any other ideas anyone has are greatly appreciated!
@Cassie @ CassieRanae.com:
What a perfect opportunity to challenge yourself to nix your after dinner sugar habit!
@Melissa: Ha! Yes. Yes, indeed.
Looks like a great recipe! I love the simple ingredients that go into this dessert. For something sweet, I usually go for dark chocolate or something with peanut butter.
I may try these. Lara bars are my favorite sweet treats.
sounds perfect!!
Love the recipe Danielle!
I just got a food processor (my first) – so I’m excited to try this!
I usually look to fruit when I want something sweet. Apples, oranges, berries, mango . . . I love it all.
I recently made an apple pie that happens to be a paleo recipe (I found it on Pinterest). It was incredible. I brought it to my sister’s house for a football party, and everyone loved it. Here’s the link to my post if you’re interested: http://eatmovebalance.com/a-twist-on-homemade-apple-pie/
I made a similar bar that people have said is like a Larabar. I’ve never tried one, but I love the date based bars. These look incredible and I will be trying them soon!
Looks super amazing-great idea!
These little bites look delicious! I take it you can’t have peanuts on the paleo lifestyle? I don’t think I could give up peanut butter!
However I do like everything else that paleo has to offer. For me, it woul dbe easy, but my Husband would never go for it! Going to make your little bites this evening!
YES!!!! Totally making this recipe. I love Lara bars (not the price!) and I’m always looking for something easy that I can enjoy for a quick snack that’s also healthy.
If I want something sweet I usually end up eating a baked good within moderation, or more often than not, I’ll have greek yogurt, cereal, granola, and all those add-ins! It’s actually really delish and filling.
ok ok, and I’ll have dark chocolate (my fave choc) too hehe.
I love salty and sweet – dried figs with salted macadamias. Sooo good! I also have to have one piece of very dark (at least 70%) chocolate every night.
The bf brought be back dates from Turkey. Guess who’s making you “lara” bites tomorrow? This girl! Thanks for the recipe.
Plain dark chocolate, love Lindt the best!
I actually do grab a Larabar, but when I want something sweet it usually means ice cream. And by ice cream I mean salted caramel ice cream!
These look really good! Love that they are bite size!
They look delicious!
These look delic!!! I tried my first Lara bar a couple of weeks ago and love the short ingredient list! The taste and texture remind me of the filling in Fig Newtons [a childhood favorite]
i’m not pro-paleo, but i do love to make my own flavors of lara bars or lara “ballz.” much cheaper!
Oooh, these look delicious!
I made these last night and they were delicious! I’ve tried other “Lara Bar” recipes in the past, but these will be my go-to recipe from now on. Thanks!!
I LOVE making homemade Larabars. The cost is just not worth it since you can make a giant batch at home in such a short amount of time. I normally make bars, but I have to try “bites” to cut out half the time
These look great! My kids love LaraBars- I can’t wait to give these a try!
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