Date Nut Bars

This post a while back got some good laughs...

And ain't it the truth...!! 

But as it turns out, dating a few nuts here and there IS good for something... Stories, and apparently tasty little bars!

INGREDS

• 1 cup of GF oats
• 1 TBSP of chia seeds
• 1 TBSP of quinoa (raw)
• 1 cup of any chopped nuts you like (I did half almonds and pistachios)
• 12 dates
• 1/4 cup of coconut oil
• Salt and Pepper
• Spices

WHAT TO DO

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Chop up all your nuts, and pour all the ingreds except dates and oil into a bowl.
3. Melt the coconut oil and pour over the nut mixture, mix it all up.
4. Add a few turns of salt and pepper, and spices if you're keen. I like cinnamon, turmeric, and sometimes ground ginger. Mix it up.
5. Pour out onto a sheetpan and spread out so everything can cook evenly.
6. Bake for 8 minutes, take it out and shake it up. Spread it out again and bake for another 8 minutes. You want it to turn into crunchy granola. It should be golden brown, maybe a teeeeny bit burnt in some places.
7. While it bakes, take the seeds out of your dates and chop them up. The finer you chop them, the easier your life will be in a sec.
8. Mash up the dates as best you can. Your goal is to turn them into a paste.
9. When the granola is done, pour it while hot over the date paste and mix, mix, mix! You want to dry and get rid of any big date chunks.
10. Then press into a little pan ((lined with paper)) and refrigerate overnight, or at least a good 2-3 hours.
11. After that, you can cut them into bars. Keep 'em stored in the fridge though.

A WORD ON DATES

They get things MOVING. Are you picking up what I'm putting down? This is not a warning, so much as a little heads up. And maybe a helpful tip if things are feeling... sluggish? Also, they are sweet, sweet, sweet. I would call this more of a dessert bar, than a breakfast-y/granola bar. I like a little bite or two after dinner. And I served them as the "dessert" yesterday for the Fourth of July BBQ.

So there you have it! You can either date nuts in bars, or eat a date nut bar!

xo