Name: No-Bake Fruit and Nut Bars
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 12
Ingredients: 1 1/2 C almonds; 2 C dates, chopped; 1/4 C cocoa; 1/4 tsp salt

I’m finally almost to the bottom of the GIANT tub of dates that Bret brought home in the late Fall. These No-Bake Fruit and Nut Bars from the 2019 Joy of Cooking use the dates very nicely. It’s nice to have a tasty snack to grab that’s sweet, but fairly healthy.

This recipe is very flexible and I added a few things that were hanging around the house, including about 1/4 cup of homemade trail mix that has peanuts, raisins, craisins, white chocolate chips and butterscotch chips.

Pretty much you throw all of the ingredients into the food processor, process for a minute, and you’re done. No baking, no muss, no fuss (except for cleaning those blasted food processor parts). I decided to roll some of them into balls to see if they’d be easier to eat (they were).

Coconut or a little peanut butter would be a good addition to the bars. Go through your cabinets and finally use up those dried fruits or nuts leftover from Christmas!

Quite a few years ago I made a Chewy Almond-Date Bar that also has dates and almonds, but are different in that they have Rice Krispies, coconut, and honey. You may want to check those out too. After you make them a few times, you’ll be comfortable adding or deleting ingredients to your personal taste.

You don’t have to bake these No-Bake Fruit and Nut Bars and after the ingredients are thrown into the food processor you have a great snack or energy bar. The best thing to me is knowing exactly what ingredients are in them. Who needs stinkin’ preservatives?

No-Bake Fruit and Nut Bars

Yield: 12 - 16 bars

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Tasty, quick snack bars full of fruit and nuts!

Ingredients

1 1/2 C almonds
2 C dates, chopped
1/4 C cocoa
1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

Line an 8" pan with parchment paper, extended over 2 ends of the pan (for easy lift out).
In a food processor (or a good blender), process the almonds until finely ground. Add the chopped dates, cocoa, salt, and whatever extras you want into the food processor and process until completely blended and sticky in consistency. If it's too dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water and process for a few more seconds.
Press the mixture into the pan, evenly distributing to the edges. Cut and serve! Store leftovers in a tightly sealed container at room temperature.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

The extras I added: a quarter cup of trail mix (peanuts, raisins, craisins, chocolate and butterscotch chips) and a quarter cup of quick-cook oatmeal.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1 bar
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 134Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 101mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 3gSugar: 12gProtein: 3g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

It seems like I learn something new with every recipe, including these Chewy Almond-Date Bars from a recent Cooking Light issue. I thought these looked great – they’re full of luscious fruits and nuts that come together to make soft, crunchy bars.

These bars are so easy to throw together. I don’t have a food processor, but have an awesome KitchenAid blender and it met its match on these bars, mainly due to negligence on my part. Who would’ve thought dates have pits in them? My Mom always used the boxed kind and those didn’t have pits. Apparently when you buy the really good medjool dates from Central Market, they do….

I won’t go into the dramatic hard-pits-don’t-blend details, but after discovering my error, the revised fruit and nut mixture (sans pits) came together nicely. The bars were soft and sweet with a nice crunch from the rice cereal. Plus, I felt like I was eating healthy!

Almond-Date Bars remind me of the Date Nut Balls my Mom used to make every Christmas, but this version comes in at less than 160 tasty and healthier calories per bar.

They’ll definitely stay in my keeper file!

Almond-Date Bars

Yield: 12

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Sweet, soft, fruity and crunchy. A great snack combination.

Ingredients

1 C almonds
1 1/4 C pitted dates, (about 15)
1 C dried apples
1/4 C flaked sweetened coconut
1 tbsp honey
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1 C crispy rice cereal
Cooking Spray

Instructions

Place first 6 ingredients in the bowl of a food processor (or heavy-duty blender); process until finely chopped.
Add cereal; pulse to combine.
Spray the bottom of an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish with cooking spray and press the mixture into the bottom of the dish. Cut into 12 pieces.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

The nutritional values are approximate because I added a touch more apple and rice cereal than the original recipe.

Note to self: always check fruit for pits....lesson learned.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 bar
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 152Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 105mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 3gSugar: 17gProtein: 3g

Nutrition Values are Approximate