When it comes to a Healthified dessert, dates are a girl’s best friend. Sweet tooth strikes? All you need is a juicy Medjool date, a teaspoon of nut butter, and a square of dark chocolate. Want to get a little fancier? They are so versatile and lend such a delicious natural sweetness to a recipe. These date caramel blondie bars are a prime example.
Dates can be made into a caramel with just two ingredients and a couple of easy steps. Boil in some water, blend in a food processor with some vanilla extract, and voila! Date caramel. I’ve incorporated date caramel into desserts in various ways (just search “date caramel” and you will see for yourself), but they are the star of the show in these blondie bars. I have a grain-free and vegan date caramel blondie recipe already, so I tweaked it a bit to yield something a bit more voluminous. A bar you can really sink your teeth into. I also added chocolate discs this time around because they definitely add something (chocolate, yes, but also a little crunch). You could also substitute with chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate.
Planning and prep:
The only thing you need to think about ahead of time is boiling water and soaking your dates for 20 minutes before you are ready to bake. Remember to reserve 1/4 cup of the soaking water before draining the dates! You will use this in the food processor when blending them to make the caramel. Then the whole recipe start to finish can be made in under an hour. Waiting for them to cool (about 2 hours) is the hard part. I even suggest putting them in the refrigerator for at least an hour after they are cooled to room temperature. The coconut oil acts as a binder when cold, and because the date caramel makes these blondies more soft, this extra step gives the bars more of a firm structure. When ready to serve, enjoy as is or pair with a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream.
Date Caramel Chocolate Chip Blondie Bars
Equipment
- Food processor
- 8×8 baking tin
- Hand beater or stand mixer
- Mixing bowls
- whisk
Ingredients
For the date caramel
- 20 Medjool dates, pits still in
- 3-4 cup boiling water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the blondies
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 cup chocolate chips or discs or use chopped dark chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8-by-8-inch baking dish with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, soak the dates in the boiling water for 20 minutes.
- Reserve ¼ cup of the soaking water, then drain the dates. Peel the dates (skin should easily come off) and remove the pits.
- In a food processor, place the dates, the reserved soaking water, and vanilla extract. Blend for 20 to 30 seconds, scraping down the sides as you need until creamy. Gather ¼ cup of the date caramel and transfer the rest to a small bowl. Set both aside until ready to use.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine the almond flour, tapioca starch coconut sugar, baking powder, and sea salt. Stir until blended.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and coconut oil. Transfer the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and beat until a batter is formed. Add the date caramel in the small bowl and blend again. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Transfer the batter to the baking dish, spreading it evenly to all sides. The dough will be thick! Wet the back of your spatula to more easily spread if needed. With the remaining ¼ cup of date caramel, dollop a tablespoon at a time across the top of the batter. Use a knife to swirl it around.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the blondies to completely cool in the baking dish, about 2 hours. I suggest placing the baking dish in the refrigerator for an extra hour before removing the blondies and slicing them into squares.
