Homemade Blueberry Muffin Lärabar Balls

A great many people rightfully find the “make your energy bars at home” trend both unnecessary and incomprehensible.
Why spending (read this as wasting) time making like 100 bars when you can just buy the one you want in a easy-to-carry single-serving package?
I totally get it.
But I believe that there’s a time and place for everything and for me that time and place (currently trying to save a few bucks) is right now.

Among all energy bars Lärabars have to be my fave, they are one of those things that I love to snack on.
Each bar has between 2 and 9 ingredients, all of which are whole organic foods like fruits and nuts, on top of that they actually taste pretty good (except the lemon flavor — I had it once and it really grossed me out.)
They are tasty and healthy, but they are expensive. Unless they're either on sale, if I have a coupon (never happened) or if I buy them in bulk (again, never happened).
Recipes for homemade Lärabars have been crowding the internet for some time now but I hadn’t gotten around to making them until yesterday, when it finally dawned on me that (1) I always buy the same Lärabar (2) I could save enough money to buy a Tesla Model S (okay probably not, but I could still save a lot!)

The cool thing about making Lärabar at home is that they’re super easy to make. Easier than any other granola/cereal/protein bar. There’s no melting, no cooking, no baking, no waiting, no nothing.
You put everything in the food processor (or blender) pulse a couple of times and voilà homemade Lärabars.
Seriously, that easy.
As you will notice the ingredients list is remarkably short but somehow their sum is greater than their parts.
I decided to shape these bars  into balls because it’s easier. But do as you like, I won't judge you.

These Homemade Blueberry Muffin Lärabars Bars are soft and chewy as real Lärabars are.
Remember that these are energy bars meaning that they are nutritious, substantial, and they stick with you. Eating a wad of nuts and dates isn’t like putting a handful of blueberries in your mouth!

Homemade Blueberry Muffin Lärabar Balls                                                                               Print this recipe!
Adapted, just a little, from EatingBirdFood

Ingredients
Makes about 22 balls

1 cup cashews
1 cup almonds
1 cup Medjool dates (about 12), roughly chopped
1 cup dried blueberries
Seeds from 1 vanilla pod (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Pinch of fine grain salt

Directions

Place cashews and almonds in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until chopped into small pieces. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Place chopped dates in the food processor and pulse until a thick paste forms. If the dates are too dry add some water, 1 teaspoon at a time.
Add in chopped nuts, dried blueberries, vanilla seeds, lemon juice, and salt.
Pulse until everything is combined. You might need to stop the food processor a couple of times and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Scoop one tablespoon of mixture and using your hands, form into balls.
The balls should last for a couple weeks at room temperature, but store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer for prolonged shelf life.

Nutrition facts

One ball yields 135 calories, 6 grams of fat, 19 grams of carbs, and 3 grams of protein.