Secret Recipe Club time is back - the day where you publish a recipe from a blog who knows nothing about which recipe you chose, or who chose it.
For July, I got Lavender & Lime as my secret recipe buddy. The woman behind Lavender & Lime, Tandy, lives in South Africa with her husband and a few house pets, and when not blogging about food, she earns her living by selling natural and organic products.
Tandy has been in the kitchen with her Jewish family since she was a child, and she has loads of mouthwatering recipes to choose from, so I was in for a hard time choosing one.
But when I stumbled upon the recipe for date bars (for some reason I can no longer link directly to the recipe as it only shows a picture, but it should be at the top of the first link/page 10, dated March 22 - I hope!) - a raw bar full of healthy nuts and almonds, dates, coconut etc. - I knew this was the one I was going to make.
Tandy got the recipe from a friend who lives on the other side of the world, with whom she stays in touch through emails and phone. This recipe was mailed to Tandy from her friend, and I am grateful for that!
I started living more or less low carb (meaning as little sugar and wheat/grains as possible) about a month ago, and it was the perfect recipe for a healthy dessert/snack. I already made muffins based on dates a few weeks back, and they are perfect to use as sweetener (although they do contain a lot of carbs - but just not the "bad" ones from sugar or flour).
I made a batch to eat ourselves, and some of it was served to friends who came over spontaneously.
Everyone was happy with these bars - and even though you shouldn't eat them every day when trying to eat healthy/low carb, they are perfect for that occasion where you just have to have something sweet.
Which can happen when you least expect it.
Luckily I have all the ingredients as stables in my house.
Date Bars:
adapted from Lavender and Lime
75 g cashews
250 g dried dates, pitted
60 g dried coconut flakes
25 g good quality cocoa
1/4 tsp sea salt flakes
1 tbsp honey
6 tbsp virgin organic coconut oil (soft)
Line a baking pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray/oil.
Chop all the almonds and cashews in a food processor for approx. 10 seconds and set aside.
Press down the mixture in the baking pan with a spoon or spatula so you get a flat surface. Mark lines with a knife or other sharp object where you want to cut the bars - I think I got about 16 or 20 bars.
Refrigerate the pan until the everything is solid - take out the parchment paper and cut all the way through, where you have marked the lines, until you have separate bars.
Store them in the fridge and eat them cold.
Conclusion:
I think I already said it - these bars are a fantastic snack when you need something sweet and healthy, and they would be great with a cup of tea or coffee, if you're into that.
They will be made again for sure - thanks Tandy, for this great recipe! (And thanks to your friend :-))
