Healthy Treat - Homemade Hot Fudge Brownie "Larabar"

Thanks to my friend, Renee, for reccomending this recipe. And thanks to Chocolate Covered Katie for posting it on her blog! Just click here for the recipe straight from her blog.

I made these thinking they would be an okay diet food. You know, the ones you eat because that's all you can eat and it's good for you. Oh my, I was very surprised! These are delicious!! And they are grain free, no added sugar (only what's naturally in the dates) and still taste like a dessert!

My three year old can't get enough of them. He proudly announced to the little girl we were carpooling with on the way to preschool this morning that he has a special chocolate bar in his lunchbox and "it has no sugah in it". I guess he heard me telling my husband that. Ha!

So, after you blend together the nuts, dates, vanilla, salt and cocoa powder you come upon the challenge of how to shape the crumbly mixture into bars. I pulled out my mini candy bar mold I bought last Halloween to make homemade candy bars.

[That was before I found out that Aldi brand mini candy bars have real vanilla!] It was super easy to press the mixture in the candy bar mold and the little bars popped right out, perfectly shaped. This will be key for getting my older boys to try them. If it looks too messy and homemade they are very suspicious!

If you make them or another of her flavors, let me know how you like them!