Mini Almond Butter Date Bites

Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Refined Sugar-free

I have an enormous sweet tooth. I could eat sugar all day and not think twice about it. But, I try to keep my refined sugar intake on the lower side. I started experimenting with using dates as a sweetener, trying to find what is the best form of date to use. There is date sugar, date syrup, but the one I liked the most was date paste. 

Want a raisin? How about a date?

Date paste is very easy to make; all you need is a food processor. I took 1 pound (about 18 to 20) whole date, cut out their pits, put them in a large bowl, added 1/2 cup boiling water to the date and covered with plastic wrap. After I let them sit for 30 minutes, I poured the dates and water into the bowl of a food processor and pureed until smooth. It takes about 10 minutes and some scraping down of the bowl to get all the dates. Then put it in a mason jar and into the fridge. It will keep in the fridge for about a week. 

Dates will not be as sweet as sugar, but these little bites are still plenty sweet. I set out to make these into cookies, but the dates always seemed to make things more cake-like than cookie. So I switched to a mini muffin baking mat instead of a cookie sheet and the result was perfect. It’s like eating a mini blondie. 

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Recipe

1/2 cup (113g) smooth almond butter

1 tbsp neutral oil

1/2 cup (81g) coconut sugar 

1 cup date paste

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup almond flour

3/4 oat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp tapioca starch

1 tbsp collagen peptide (optional, but I like the boost)

1/4 cup puffed quinoa (if you don’t have, your favorite chopped nuts are a great replacement)

1/4 cup allergen-free chocolate chips (you can leave out the chocolate if you like)

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a mini muffin pan with paper lines (or if you don’t have a mini muffin pan, you can just dollop the dough onto a baking sheet; you’ll get a similar result). 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, oat flour, baking soda, salt, tapioca starch, puffed quinoa and chocolate chips. 

In a large bowl, combine the almond butter (the runnier the better), oil, coconut sugar, date paste and vanilla. Using a whisk, mix them all together until smooth. It might take a little elbow grease. Add the egg and whisk until it is fully incorporated. 

With a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the almond-date mixture until fully incorporated. 

Using a cookie scoop or two spoon, dollop 1 tablespoon of dough into each muffin cup. Top each bite with a chocolate chip, if you want. 

Bake for 14 to 16 minutes until the top is just golden brown. They won’t get super golden brown, but have no fear, they are just fine. 

Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. They delicious warmed up with your favorite jam or just as they are. 

Store in an airtight container for up to a week. These guys also freeze very well so you can always have one ready to go!