1/4 cup chopped dates (roughly chopped whole fresh dates; see my note
about pre-chopped below)
1/4 cup dried cherries or dried cranberries
1/3 cup whole pecans, almonds or walnuts
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Set out two pieces of plastic wrap for shaping and wrapping the bars. Do this first; you’ll have sticky fingers when you need it.

Place the dates and cherries in a food processor. Pulse until processed to a paste. Transfer paste to a medium bowl (don’t clean processor).

Add the nuts to the processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the nuts, along with the cinnamon, to the bowl with the fruit paste. Use your fingers to knead the nuts into the paste.

Divide mixture in half. Place each half on each of one of the sheets of plastic wrap. Wrap the plastic around each bar and start squishing into a bar shape form, 3 and 1/2 inches long, 1 inch wide and 3/4-inch thick); press against countertop to flatten bottom side, flattening top side and ends with flat of hand. Tightly wrap the plastic around each bar and store in the refrigerator. Makes 2 bars.

Note about using pre-chopped dates: Pre-chopped dried dates are much cheaper than whole dates, and sometimes are the only option available at the supermarket, depending on where you live. However, they are typically coated with oat flour (to prevent sticking), and sometimes a bit of sugar, too. They are too dry and hard to work as is in this recipe, but with a bit of tweaking, they will work just fine. To make them usable for larabar purposes, place them in a small bowl and cover with warm water (not hot or boiling water; this will make them turn to mush). Let stand 3 to 5 minutes until softened; then drain and pat dry. Not only will this soften the dates, it will remove any oat flour and/or sugar).

A Few Ideas for Variations:

Apricot-Almond: Use 6 tablespoons coarsely chopped dried apricots and 2 tablespoons date (to measure 1/2 cup total); use almonds for the nuts.

PB & J (cheap and delicious!): Use 1/4 cup dried cherries or cranberries and 1/4 cup raisins or dates; use raw or roasted peanuts (lightly salted or unsalted) for the
nuts.

Cashew Cookie Dough: Reverse the proportions of fruit to nuts–Use 1/3 cup dates for the fruit and 1/2 cup raw cashews for the nuts.

Pistachio Heaven: Same as cashew cookie dough, but use raw pistachios and add a tiny drop of almond extract.

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough: Same as cashew cookie dough but use raw or roasted (lightly salted) peanuts for the nuts.