Chocolate Date Bars

5 from 1 vote

These healthier cookie bars are made with whole food ingredients and are date sweetened! Whole oats, almonds, and dates are the stars. A layer of almond butter fudge puts them over the top.

Prep Time25

Cook Time18

Total Time43

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: bars

Calories: 254kcal

Author: Michelle Miller

Equipment

Ingredients

Oatmeal Cookie Layer

1 1/2 cups oats gluten free, if necessary
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
4 ounces Medjool dates (about 10 dates, pitted)
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 egg
1/4 cup coconut oil melted

Date Layer

12 ounces Medjool dates (about 30 dates, pitted)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Almond Butter Fudge

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or melted dark chocolate bar
1/3 cup almond butter unsweetened

Instructions

In a food processor bowl, combine 1 cup of the oatmeal (reserve 1/2 cup of the oats for later), the almonds, the coconut, and the baking soda and sea salt. Process until a flour forms (it should be coarse, not completely smooth).
Add the pitted dates, egg, and coconut oil to the food processor bowl, and pulse until the dates are mostly broken down.
Add the reserved 1/2 cup of oats, and stir to mix in to the dough.
Reserve 1/2 cup of the oatmeal mixture to use as a topping later. Line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper, and then press the rest of the oatmeal mixture into the pan. I like to use a little roller to pack it down tightly. Set the pan aside.
Add the dates, lemon juice, and sea salt to the food processor bowl. Process the dates until a very smooth, caramelly mixture forms.
Stop the food processor and scrape the sides a few times to make sure its evenly processing. If necessary, add 1-2 tablespoons of water to help the mixture smooth out. *If you’re using small dates or older, dried out dates, soak them in hot water for 1-2 minutes, drain them, and use the soaked dates to make the date caramel.
Add chocolate chips, almond butter, and coconut oil to a double boiler. Heat the pan over medium heat.
Stir once in a while to prevent burning, until the chocolate is fully melted, and remove from heat.
Preheat the oven to 350º F. While the oven is preheating, add the date layer on top of the oatmeal crust. The date caramel is very sticky, so using wet hands or wetting a silicone spatula to spread the dates into an even layer is helpful. *It also helps to freeze the oatmeal layer for 1 hour prior to spreading the date caramel, if time allows.
On top of the date layer, add the almond butter fudge and smooth into an even layer.
Crumble the reserved oatmeal mixture over the top of the chocolate layer.
Bake the chocolate date bars for 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. For the easiest and cleanest cuts, cover the pan with plastic wrap and freeze the date bars for at least an hour prior to slicing.

Notes

How to Store Leftover Chocolate Date Bars

These are a great high-energy snack to have on hand in the freezer!

Once the date bars have fully cooled, cover the pan with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1 hour. Pop the date bars out of the pan by pulling on the parchment paper. Cut the date bars into 16 squares.

Add the cut date bars to an airtight container, and freeze up to 6 months. Enjoy right out of the freezer! Eating these frozen makes the date layer extra chewy, and more like caramel.

Tips & Variations

Other Nut or Seed Butters: These can be made nut free by swapping the almonds and almond butter for sunflower seeds and sunflower seed butter! You can also use a combination of sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds and sunflower seeds to give it a boost of nutrition.

Any natural nut butter will work in the place of the almond butter - creamy peanut butter, cashew butter, or even hazelnut butter!

Coconut Free: If you don't enjoy coconut, omit it, and add an additional 1/4 cup of oats to the base.

Notes on Chocolate: The chocolate really. needs to be a dark chocolate, 70% or darker, to stand out flavor wise on these bars. If you only have semi sweet chocolate chips, add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to your melted dark chocolate to give it an extra chocolaty pop.

Add Crunchy Nuts: If you love the crunchy texture of nuts with the chewy texture of sweet medjool dates, add an additional 1/4 cup of chopped almonds to the top when you add the oatmeal mixture topping.

Nutrition