No-Bake Date and Almond Brownies

The last few weeks we have been going through some chaos here at the homestead. Bathroom renovations are still going on, the house is covered in a layer of dust, the hallway is off limits for the boys, we've been going out and about EVERYDAY to stay out of the way of the tradies, and to top it all off, our oven stopped working. Luckily the grill and fan still work, so we've had to cook a lot with a curve and my bread and baking have all been on hold until we can get it fixed.

Ugh.

I was able to make a variation of some date bars that I posted on FB this week though.

No-Bake Date and Almond Brownies!

Way too easy, super yummy, everyone loves them! Like eeeeeveryone. Grown ups and kiddos alike.

It's as easy as putting all of the ingredients into the food processor and letting it work it's magic for about 5 minutes.

 

Pour it out into a baking tin lined with parchment.

Let it set in the fridge for 30 minutes or so and cut it up.

Make sure you keep it in fridge to the freezer, it keeps it nicely set.

Ingredients :

• 2 cups pitted dates
• 3/4 cup natural almonds
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• A pinch of salt

Method :

1. Place all the ingredients into the food processor.
2. Blitz for at least five minutes. It will be a bumpy ride at first but once that's done, let the machine do it's thing.
3. Once it starts to look like nice wet potting soil, empty into a parchment lined smallish baking tray.
4. Spread it out and press it firmly down with the back of a spoon and smooth it out as you go.
5. Place in the fridge for a least 30 minutes.
6. Take it out of the fridge and slice.
7. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Enjoy and love the peanut buttery goodness!

 

No Bake, Date & Coconut Balls... Dreamy...

After the big pantry clean out of 2014, I found a lot of ingredients that I noticed hadn't been used in ages or just about to go off. Soooo.. Hello coconut!

Since the boys love eating pitted dates, google uncovered this combo in this gem! Easy as and actually the only tedious part is making the actual balls. I wanted to make them small enough for the little mens' fingers to handle, so I used a teaspoon to form each one. Also, beware, when I first started the food processor, it was full on! I thought it was going to dance it's way off the bench!

It's really cool to see what happens when the coconut gets mixed and pulverised and turns into an oily mess... My hands loved making all those little bits and slithering in the oil..

Toss them in remaining coconut and ta-da!! After some chatting with a lovely old friend, I'm am really inspired to try some crushed nuts to coat them, especially walnuts! How yummy does that sound?!

So success! Boys love them. I love them. Done. I can't wait to try our next incarnation of them!

Ingredients :

• 2 1/2 cups desiccated coconut
• 2 cups (200g) pitted dates

Method :

Place 2 cups of coconut and the dates into a blender or food processor. Process on high speed for 3-4 minutes, pausing to scrape down sides as needed. Remove from processor and roll teaspoon-sized balls. Roll in remaining 1/2 cup of coconut.

What variations have you tried?...

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