Recently, Jack and I have been trying to eat healthier. Since moderation is not really in either of our vocabularies, we attempt to avoid starch, dairy and sugar Monday through Friday, noon. Once the weekend hits, all bets are off and we gorge ourselves stupid ...well, not really [okay sometimes].
This tends to work fairly well. Come 3pm however, things can get a little dicey. My heart beats a little faster, my eyes get dart-y and I can't concentrate. All my thoughts are stolen by daydreams of macaroons, lemon tarts, cookies, gummy bears and milkshakes - basically, anything and everything I'm trying to avoid.
This tends to work fairly well. Come 3pm however, things can get a little dicey. My heart beats a little faster, my eyes get dart-y and I can't concentrate. All my thoughts are stolen by daydreams of macaroons, lemon tarts, cookies, gummy bears and milkshakes - basically, anything and everything I'm trying to avoid.
These bars are perfect for when you're jonesing for sugar but you're trying to layoff the cookies. I mean, what's more healthy than getting your sugar fix from dates. I don't know if you know this, they're fruit!!
The original recipe only had three ingredients but since I'm full-time fancy, I threw in some coconut. If you add coconut you'll have to offset it with a few more dates. I added 1/2 cup coconut and then an additional 1/4 dates... so three, because they're massive.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup pitted dates
1 cup craisins [or raisins]
1 cup almonds
If you have a good food processor, go ahead and throw all the ingredients in and set to chop. I forgot about my beautiful KitchenAid blender and used my chop-o-matic. It did nothing. Actually no, scratch that. It did the almonds and then broke. Just gave up. Enter KitchenAid blender.
I then added the almonds and coconut to the fruit and let it combine for another 2 minutes. It should be fairly sticky at this point. If it's not, blend a little longer. If it still isn't, add more dates or craisins - it should help. If there's still no luck, you probably weren't meant to eat these.
Once the texture is sticky enough to not crumble, roll into a ball and place between two sheets of saran wrap. Roll out to your desired thickness and then slice into bars. These guys may not look like much but they pack a punch so don't make them too big.
Since having these my 3pm sugar rage has subsided and my coworkers no longer avoid my meeting requests.
Wow, these look so good! I may just have to try these hehe xo
ReplyDeletelooks good and delicious. Definitely making some!
ReplyDeletexo
ooh I love this! I pinned it and I will try it soon - by the way how long can you keep them? Can you make them on Sunday evening and have them for the rest of the week?
ReplyDeleteThey lasted about a week! Towards the end they were a little tougher but still good.
DeleteI definitely think if yo make them Sunday they'll still be tasty Friday!!
I have used walnuts, almonds, dates, coconut and molasses and it was super amazing! Thanks for the idea! I also put it in a decorated box and gave it to my bf on V day. The best Valentines Day delicacy for a healthy boyfriend :)
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