with a mulberry-nut topping and shortbread crust.
Prep Time: | 10 mins |
Additional Time: | 30 mins |
Total Time: | 40 mins |
Servings: | 6 |
Yield: | 6 bars |
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped dates
- ¾ cup peanut butter
- ½ cup flaked coconut
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 pinch salt (Optional)
Instructions
- Place the dates, peanut butter, coconut, cocoa powder and salt into a food processor. Cover, and blend until smooth, about 4 minutes. The mixture will be very sticky.
- Press the mixture into a loaf pan lined with waxed paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Remove the chilled mixture from the pan and slice into 6 bars. Wrap each bar in foil and refrigerate until serving.
- To be sure your bars are truly raw treats, look for raw cocoa powder at your specialty food store.
Reviews
These are delicious! Thanks for a great substitute for sugar treats! I used unsweetened coconut flakes, cacao powder, and a mixed nut butter from Trader Joe’s along with the dates. It mixed up very easily and was ready in no time at all. Made for a perfect bite size sweet treat for the afternoon. Also so I wouldn’t eat the whole recipe at once and to make sure I would like it, I only made two servings and cut them into bite size pieces. Thanks again! I’ll definitely be making these more often!
This is delicious. I made pretty much as instructed but omitted the salt and just pulsed in the coconut and a cup of macadamia nuts at the end. I sprinkled some coconut over the top and pressed in to add some eye appeal. One reviewer’s tip to use cooking spray on the food processor for an easier clean up was much appreciated. Will definitely make again.
Hubby enjoyed these.
It did not look at all like the picture!! It was so dry when eating. Will not make them again.
This was the first time I made this recipe. They taste delicious but I think if I were to make it again I need to rework some of the issues I encountered. My first issue was using natural peanut butter. There was some oil separation so the finished bars were somewhat oily in texture. The second issue will be easy to fix. I think next time I will fold the coconut (and any other additions) in at the very end.
I made as is and I think because I used natural peanut butter that it came out kind of liquidy. So added extra dates, coconut and a bit more cocoa powder to make it more thick. Spread into a small pan lined with saran wrap. They do taste amazing though.
I love, love this. So easy to make and everyone loves it.
Wow, these taste amazing. I used Cacao Powder rather than Cocoa as I had 2 packs in my cupboard and didn’t know what to use it for so I used it in this recipe. I used homemade peanut butter to make them. I will definitely be making these again.
I didn’t have coconut so I used walnuts instead. Not bad, but I kinda wished they were more firm. I should have tried freezing them.
I bought dates to make something sweet without processed sugar and came across this recipe. I make peanut butter in my VitaMix, so this recipe had extra appeal. After making a batch of peanut butter, I removed all but 3/4 c. from the container and then added the dates, coconut, and cocoa powder. I then just pulsed for a bit and ultimately just blended all together using the tamper and scraping down the sides. I lined a stone bar pan with enough wax paper to fold over the top and used a mini rolling pin to flatten the mixture. It then went in to the fridge for a bit before I cut it into small squares. It didn’t look as lovely as some of the photos, the taste/texture was super! After tasting it, I realized I forgot the salt. Still yummy, but salt would bring the flavors alive, so next batch will have a pinch or so… I will definitely make this recipe when I want sweet in a more “natural” form! Yum!
Just made these. Subbed in raisins for the dates. Left out the salt. Halved the recipe (I was skeptical). Rolled them into balls. And rolled them in shredded coconut. They taste like chocolate covered raisins. Yum. Perfect treat to lift the spirits. Thanks!
I didn’t care for the overpowering PB taste, but was using the all natural “Adams” brand ( isn’t that why we try these recipes anyway? To be all natural/healthy?!) I like this idea, though, because of the endless possibilities. My bars never set up as I’d like, but I was using really expensive refrigerated dates. I’ll try adding more coconut (because that awesome fruit needs to be tasted) and cocoa. Why not, I’ll throw in some rice crispies like someone suggested as well.
The taste was amazing.i used chunky natural peanut butter only after the rest was blended in and that added a bit of crunch. Wonder what it would be like if I left the coconut flaked? Unfortunately, the mixture was sticky, so I had to make balls. Once chilled, they firmed up and disappeared fast!
I have wanted to make these for a while now but have no food processor, so I used my hand crank chopper/mixer. My children attend a peanut-free school so I had to substitute sun nut butter for the peanut butter. They did not stay together as well as I think they might have if I had a real food processor, so I formed them into balls – but they tasted great and my kids loved them! Definitely in the school lunch rotation.
This was a flop for me. I made this with Jiffy PB and sweetened coconut because that’s what I had on hand. They never set up after I refrigerated them and they taste more like a rich PB goo. I used almost the whole box of chopped dates said 1 1/2 C. in box. Maybe using all the natural stuff would have been the better bet and not sweetened coconut.
added rice krispies
Sorry but these simply do not taste good.
These were pretty darn good! I used the Earth Balance coconut and peanut spread instead of peanut butter and made balls instead of bars, which were rolled in a mixture of two parts powdered sugar to one part cocoa.
I have made endless batches of these and everyone that tries them asks for the recipe. I cut the cocoa powder by 1 tbsp to make a less chocolate flavoured bar. Have tried with sea salt (sweet and slightly salty) and with out the sea salt (more PB/cocoa flavour). Both ways are very good. Look for a brick of dates that you can chop. Not as sticky then. I roll the bar out between 2 pieces of wax paper, place in fridge and then slice with a pizza cutter. I’d love to eat a full serving of them but who really needs that much. This allows smaller bars to be cut.
Such a treat, I love them!
Made according to the recipe and it is very good. Place in center of large piece of parchment, fold up the sides and chill, then cut into squares. Also made a batch with dried Kalamata figs, almond butter, coconut, roasted almonds and 2 scoops vanilla protein powder. Excellent! One tip: spritz your processor and blade with non-stick spray for easy clean-up.