Hello and welcome back to Five Things I Ate! This week, letâs use up all those extra fancy dates. Read past posts here, and please follow my Instagram, @fivethingsiate.
As the legends foretold, I once again became fixated on a food and ended up with way too much of it at once. For this month, that food is dates. Of course, as soon as I bought four boxes of Medjool dates I decided I didnât want to eat them anymore so I had to make use of them.
For the record I ate more than Five Things this week, but as I started typing out my food newsletter, I realized I had so much to say about these no-bake caramel date bars that I might as well just give them the spotlight they deserve. No pictures because they were so gooey that they werenât very photogenic, but perhaps if you make them you can send me a photo of yours?đ„șđđÂ
Also not to bore you but I Once Again am battling some apartment issues, namely when it rains outside it also rains inside (hooray for climate change!) so I trust you have a more photogenic background for your baked goods than me.Â
No-bake salted date tahini caramel bars
Adapted from Healthy GF Family
Makes 24 small candy-sized squares, or 12 larger cookies.
I really didnât expect much of this recipe. I enjoy baking a lot, so I donât usually gravitate towards âno bakeâ or âhealth foodâ alternatives to traditional cookies and cakes. However, these no-bake salted date caramel bars taste truly indulgent. I found myself wanting a little bite as a treat after every meal. They kinda taste like salted caramel peanut butter cups. The recipe is based loosely off this one, substituting tahini for both the pb and coconut oil. Please be warned that if you donât have a proper food processor, and instead use a cheap blender like me, youâre going to be in for a rough ride when you make the date caramel. I ended up adding a few tablespoons of hot water which just meant my date bars were even gooey-er. Â
Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap.
Tahini cookie layerÂ
4 oz tahini
Œ cup maple syrup
1 cup old fashioned oats
In a blender, blitz oats, drizzle in tahini, and maple syrup until you make a smooth sticky dough. At first it will seem too very liquidy but the oats will absorb the fat. You could actually stop here and roll the dough into little balls and dip in chocolate for some cookie dough snacks! Otherwise, scrape out the dough and press it into a lined loaf pan, and stick it in the freezer.
Date Caramel Layer
1 cup pitted dates, see recs here
1/3 cup tahini (yes I know I mix measurements between oz and cups here)
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large pinches Kosher salt
In the same blender, blend all ingredients. This is going to be real real sticky so if your blender isnât too powerful you may add some hot water, just a splash or two to help. Then give up lol. Using a spatula, spread across cookie layer.
Chocolate Layer
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1 tablespoon tahini
Flaky sea salt
Microwave together slowly till it melts. Only you know how long that will take your microwave. Pour over date caramel layer, smooth out with a spatula, and top with flaky sea salt.
Stick the whole thing in the freezer for an hour or till firm. Then, cut into small squares with a sharp knife. Chocolate will crack and thatâs OK.
Store in a sealed container in the freezer or fridge. I prefer eating them straight from the freezer (they donât freeze up too hard and remain nicely gooey, but deliciously cold!). Â
XOXO,
Soph
P.S. I know that many of you are longtime subscribers to Five Things I Ate â thank you for your loyalty and readership! This newsletter has been kicking around for a while, and if itâs within your 2024 budget please consider buying a paid subscription so you can help me buy a new blender as I wrecked mine! If itâs not in your budget, please forward to a friend and encourage them to sign up <3