Following my extreme tardiness on the recipe challenge, I made this snack exactly one week after it was due. Just like last week, I had never cooked with dates so I went to the handy world-wide web, and more specifically, to one of my favorite vegan recipe blogs, Oh She Glows. Angela had a perfect recipe for 5 Ingredient No Bake Vegan Dates Squares!
You can find the ingredients and directions on her website as well as below – recipe was copied from her site!! I did not change one thing when I made the bars, except I used a pan that was too big, I did not have an 8×8 pan and I used tin foil, go figure!
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1.5 cups whole raw almonds
- 1.5 cups regular oats
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 10 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
Date filling:
- 25 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped (~2.5 cups)
- 1/2 cup water
Directions
1. Line a square pan (8 in x 8 in) with two pieces of parchment paper going opposite ways. In a food processor, process the almond, salt, and oats until a fine crumble forms. Now add in the dates and process until crumbly again. Melt the coconut oil and add to the mixture and process until sticky. You can add a tiny bit more oil if the dough is too dry. Remove from processor, set aside 3/4 cup of the mixture for later, and press the rest of the mixture very firmly and evenly into the pan.
2. Grab your pitted and roughly chopped dates and water and process in the food processor until a paste forms. You will have to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl often. You can add a tiny bit more water if needed, but you want the paste quite thick. Scoop out the date mixture onto the crust and gently spread with the back of a wet spatula until even.
3. Sprinkle on the 3/4 cup of mixture you set aside and gently press down with fingers. Refrigerate in the fridge until firm for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight. Cut into squares and serve. Store in the fridge or freezer.
Waiting to cool!
Final Product!
So what did I think? Delicious. What did I do wrong? I used the wrong size pan and I used tin foil. When I cut the squares, the cut the tin foil on the squares. Obviously that would happen. In general I absolutely loved them, they were very simple (5 ingredients, helloooo!). The only thing that took a long time was cutting up 35 dates, but I will definitely be making them again!
Please visit Better With Veggies for the recipe link up for other recipes with dates and check back some other time (will most likely not be a Monday) for the next featured ingredient!
Running Bun 