I was thinking about the Snicker-ish date things I made earlier this year--as you do. The first time (back in January), I made stuffed dates . The next time (in February), I decided to make them in such a way that I could cut them into bars. Same ingredients but less fussy. This time I decided to try making a sort of peanut butter cup thing that I could cut into bars. I'm happy to say that these were quite successful!
I placed some dates (pitted) into a bowl and covered them with boiling water, letting them sit for about 15 minutes. After that time, I scooped them out with a slotted spoon and out them in the bowl of my food processor fitted with the blade, leaving the soaking water in case some of it was needed. Today it wasn't, but when I make them again it might be. I dumped in some ground almonds and a few heaping spoonfuls of natural peanut butter. It was a newly opened tub so I was scooping from the top, which is very runny and perfect for this kind of thing. I whizzed everything up until it looked crumbly but would hold together when a bit was squeezed. I had to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times. I lined a container with baking paper and pressed this mixture in very firmly. Then I broke up a bar of dark baking chocolate (150g), heated it in the microwave for about a minute, stirred until it was all melted, and added another couple large dollops of peanut butter. I mixed this together well, spread it over the top of the mixture in the container, and put it in the fridge to set. As soon as the chocolate was firm enough to cut, I had to try a piece. Yum! We're both fans, so this will be something I make again.
I don't have any measurements to give--this is one of those things where it depends on how much you want to make, how soft the dates are, how much the ground almonds absorb, and how runny the peanut butter is. It's also not something that can go wrong. If the mixture was too crumbly, I could have added a bit of the date-soaking water, some more peanut butter, or maybe some almond milk--just a smidge at a time. It's probably not possible to make it too wet, as putting it in the fridge will firm things up anyway. If peanut butter isn't your thing, you could use any nut or seed butter that you like.
So I'm glad I gave these a try. They are yummy. And with summer coming up, I like the fact that no oven is required!
8 comments:
These look amazing. Seeing its past dinner when I read this, I now want a bite for my dessert. :)
They're so good! I hope your dessert was, too, whatever you had 🙂
In addition to all your other talents I can see that you are also the confectioner-in-chief, Shari. Bill is destined to become plump and contented.
He must be relatively contented since he's been hanging around for 46 years :-)
They look delicious Shari.
Wishing you a happy last day of April.
All the best Jan
And to you, Jan!
I make terrific peanut butter bars but I've never heard of using dates. Those would be very good. We were just talking at lunch today about how it's sometimes hard to share a recipe, not because one is reluctant but because we fly by the seat of our pants. A teaspoon or tablespoon of cumin? Or more? Oops! OK, we'll fix it this way or that. And it always ends up just right. So, I love hearing about your experiments!
As with most aspects of my life, I'm an improv kind of cook :-) Sounds like you are too. Flying by the seat of your pants is the only way to fly!
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