These no-bake date paste energy bars with lots of nuts and dried fruits are a perfect sweet snack with your morning coffee or pick me up for a late afternoon. Loaded with nuts, seeds, dried fruits and granola, these energy bars are packed with nutrition.
These energy bars are easy to make with store-bought date paste packs. It usually comes as a 1kg pack but don't worry, there are ample recipes to use up like these batheeth or truffles.
All you need to do is mix in your choice of nuts and flavours, shape, chill, slice and eat! I have included a few ideas but there is no end to variations!
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Ingredients
With just a 3 main ingredients and variety of add-ons you can make several different batches of these date paste bars.
- date paste
- whole oats
- nuts
- dried fruits
- desiccated coconut
- seeds
- ground spices
- oil - to grease hands
How to make it?
It cannot be more simpler than just adding everthing in a chopper or food processor and process to crumbs and then press the dough into a lined pan. Chill and slice to serve. But I am here to tell you what not to do so that you don't end up with greasy jars to clean up.
You don't have to add the date paste to the processor. Use it only to crush the nuts, seeds and dried fruits if making a large batch. Most of the time, I just use a rolling pin and smash the nuts in a ziplock bag. And the dried fruits are roughly chopped or added as is.
If you are planning to use pitted dates instead of date paste, then yes, add them to the processor and grind them to crumbs. A little coconut oil will help bring everything together easily in the processor.
Substitutions
Date paste: You can use any kind of soft dates like sukary, mabroom, mejdool, etc. instead of the date paste. You will need a cup of tightly packed pitted dates for each batch.
whole oats: You can use any kind of granola. To make this gluten-free diet friendly use gluten free oats.
Equipment
A rolling pin and ziplock bag will do the job. But a food processor or a chopper can make it better and easier.
A square pan for uniform-sized pieces
Storage
Store them wrapped indivdually using a cling film or wax or parchment paper and place in fridge-friendly container. These date paste energy bars lasted in the fridge for a week. You can freeze them too and does not require thawing.
Top tip
The best way to slice this date paste bars is to use a sharp knife and cut top to bottom by pressing down with the other hand. Don't try sawing motion.
FAQ
Energy bars are best wrapped individually with a cling film or wax paper or parchment paper aka baking paper.
Yes, it is cheaper and safer as you know what goes into it.
The energy bars will last for 3 to 5 days in the fridge or a month in the freezer.
📖 Recipe
No Bake Energy Bars with Date Paste
Ingredients
- 500 grams date paste (approx. a cup of date paste)
- ½ cup almonds roughly chopped
- ½ cup dried fruits chopped roughly (raisins, cranberries, goji berries, apricots, figs, etc.)
- 2 tablespoons seeds chia, sunflower, flax, sesame, pumpkin, etc.
- ¼ cup rolled oats toasted (or use granola or desiccated coconut)
- ¼ cup chocolate chips crushed
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (or cardamom or cinnamon powder)
- coconut oil to grease your hand while mixing
Instructions
- Add date paste, chopped nuts, dried fruits, seeds, and toasted oats into a large mixing bowl. You may choose to chop the nuts and dried fruits in a food processor or chopper. You may add any flavour like vanilla extract or cinnamon or cardamom. Mix everything well with greased hands ensuring even distribution of nuts to date paste.
- Line a square cake pan with baking paper and transfer the mixture into it. Press with the back of a measuring cup or spoon to get a smooth surface. If you do not have a pan to use, you may choose to roll the mixture between two plastic sheets to the desired thickness and fix the edges to form a square and refrigerate.
- Make sure to chill this for at least two hours.
- Unwrap the chilled dough and use a sharp knife to cut with a top to bottom press motion and make equal-sized bars.
- You may choose to wrap each bar with wax paper but always keep it refrigerated in an airtight container. For longer shelf-life, you may freeze them.
Notes
- If you plan to make a variety of energy bars like me, then divide the date paste and mix each portion with the planned ingredients.
Recipe inspired from my friend, Rafeeda at thebigsweettooth.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!