Vegan date nut bar with date caramel

My date nut bars are the perfect vegan snack. Especially if you want to start the new year with less sugar but don’t want to give up snacking. A simple recipe that becomes something very special thanks to Becks cocoa cacao.

Healthier snacking: Vegan date nut bars

These homemade date nut bars are the perfect veganuary snack to combat the classic afternoon slump.

Because they are:

• great to prepare
• with less sugar
• vegan

Instead of conventional cocoa powder, I use vegan Fairtrade premium cocoa powder from Becks cocoa for my nut bars. The fruity Garden Eden variety with apple and cinnamon goes really well with the apple sauce in the base. And in winter anyway. As the latest creation from Becks cocoa, Garden Eden once again demonstrates the creativity of the cocoa makers from Stephanskirchen. The combination of sweet apple and warming cinnamon invites you to enjoy it. Whether in the form of homemade muesli bars with dates or as hot chocolate. Of course, the drinking chocolate powder can also be used to make really good hot (or even cold!) chocolate. At Veganuary, we like to use oat milk, of course.

You can find Garden Eden and numerous other types of cocoa in the online store. These include the Nude variety, which I used to create an ingenious sweet lasagne last year. Or Chill Bill, which is perfect for my chocolate bread.

Making sugar-free Snickers yourself

While the drinking chocolate powder is subtly sweetened, I recommend the cacao Especial no. 2 from Becks cocoa if you want to prepare the bars completely without industrial sugar. This is because it is unsweetened, single-origin fine raw cocoa.

Don’t be fooled by the name of date caramel, as it is simply made from dates, water and nut butter or nut butter. Making date caramel yourself is really easy. Puree the three ingredients in a high-speed blender or food processor and you’re done. The result looks and tastes like caramel, but is free from industrial sugar.

My tip: If you use peanut butter and add peanuts to the base, the bars taste like homemade Snickers. But they are much healthier!

You can also prepare the date caramel in advance and use it as a spread or to sweeten porridge and the like.

Vegan date nut bars

Makes one 30 cm loaf tin, approx. 10 bars

For the base
200 g rolled oats
150 g nuts, e.g. cashews, hazelnuts, almonds
2 tbsp Becks cocoa Garden Eden cocoa
75 g Medjool dates
160 g applesauce
1 tbsp coconut oil

For the date caramel
150 g Medjool dates
30-50 ml hot water
50 g nut butter or nut butter, e.g. peanut or almond

For the topping
50 g coconut oil
2 tbsp Becks cocoa Garden Eden cocoa
2 tbsp maple syrup

50 g chopped hazelnuts

Line a loaf tin (30 cm) with baking paper.
For the base, roughly chop the rolled oats and nuts in a food processor or high-speed blender. Add the Garden Eden cocoa powder, pitted dates, apple sauce and coconut oil. Blend until smooth. The consistency should be reminiscent of shortcrust pastry.
Pour into the prepared loaf tin and press down to form a base.
For the date caramel, pit the dates and chop in a food processor or high-speed blender. Gradually add a little hot water. Add the nut butter and blend until a smooth, caramel-like cream has formed. Pour onto the nut base. To make the bars easier to cut, leave to set in the freezer for 30 minutes or in the fridge for 1 hour.
In the meantime, melt the remaining coconut oil in a small pan. Remove from the heat, stir in the Garden Eden cocoa powder and maple syrup. Leave to cool until the coconut oil has firmed up again.
Cut the date slices into 10-12 bars. Spread with a little chocolate cream and top with chopped hazelnuts.

Rezept und Bild: Hey Foodsister Vegane Dattel Nuss Riegel mit Dattelkaramell – Hey Foodsister