I’ve seen this recipe pop up on several different Instagram posts. According to ‘Deliciously Ella’ it is currently ‘trending’. She said she doesn’t normally follow recipe trends but she decided to give this one a go. I gave it a go too and I can assure you that if you do so, you will not be disappointed. My sister made a batch and it was such a treat to sample a slightly different take on it. She used orange flavoured dark chocolate inviting yet another delicious taste to the ‘party in your mouth’.
I think you can be flexible with ingredient amounts so I am not going to list them here. I just covered an oven tray with a baking sheet and filled it (almost) with pitted dates. The original recipe uses ‘Medjool’ dates but I would use whatever dates you have to hand. I usually have a stock of dates so I just used what I had. I used ‘crunchy’ peanut butter and just spread it on top of the dates. Well, I tried to spread it but it kept lifting the dates off the tray. I discovered it was better to melt the peanut butter first. It also works better to put the tray of dates in the freezer for a half hour before you apply the melted peanut butter and back in again before you apply the melted chocolate. In the Instagram post they use smooth peanut butter and then a sprinkling of chopped almonds before the top layer of melted dark chocolate is added. They also sprinkle some sea salt on top. The original recipe is called ‘Salted Dark Chocolate Date Bark’. As I used crunchy peanut butter I did not add the salt on top as I thought this contained enough salt. The completed bark is placed in the fridge to harden. It is later cut into bars. If they are not consumed immediately 🙂 then I would suggest keeping them in a container in the fridge.
So that’s pretty much it. Dates (pitted), peanut butter (smooth, crunchy or even a different nut butter like almond butter), if smooth butter is used add chopped nuts (almonds / mixed) and melted dark chocolate (70% >) spread on top. Easy and delicious.
This is a healthy snack. Definitely calorific but a little of what your fancy …… and all that jazz!! It’s a treat, not a staple, but you can rest assured that it is full of good nutrition. If you need to bring an easily transportable snack that would give you a quick energy boost and stave off hunger for hours, then this is it!
Although dates are a source of natural sugar, they are lower on the glycemic scale than refined sugar. Dates are a good source of several minerals including selenium, magnesium, copper and potassium. Almonds, if you use them, are full of healthy fats. Peanuts are also a good source of fats, minerals and vitamins including Vitamin A. The dark chocolate is full of anti-oxidants. It’s magnesium content promotes a calmer nervous system. In this combination you won’t notice the sometimes bitter taste that the dark chocolate can have. You can also mitigate this a bit by adding some natural essence like vanilla etc.
You may have seen this recipe on Instagram or other social media. Well….. it may have flashed past your eyes, made to look super quick and easy!! I hope that my reporting of the pitfalls are helpful though I wouldn’t let that put you off. It’s well worth the effort even if it isn’t completed in a flash 🙂
Anne ♥
Busy Hands Anne 