Date Coconut Bark

No bake (practically no guilt) sweet treat.

14 pitted dates

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

2 tbsps virgin coconut oil (solid at room temperature)

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 tbsps maple syrup

2 oz (about 1/3 cup) dark chocolate chips 

Place the everything except the chocolate chips in a food processor and whirl until crumbly. You might like to keep some of the dates chunky or whirl until everything is completely chopped. Line an 8 X 8" pan with wax paper then press the mixture firmly into the pan. Refrigerate of 30 minutes. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 20 second intervals until almost melted. Stir to complete the melting then pour over the date mixture. Smooth out and refrigerate until the chocolate is set.  To cut, warm a serrated knife under hot water then wipe dry and make a cut. Repeat for all cuts so the chocolate doesn't crack. Store in the refrigerator, but it won't last long!

Makes 16 squares

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Healthier Date Walnut Cake

Don't sleep on this one! It uses only whole wheat flour and no refined sugar making this super moist cake an easy  and delicious choice.

Ingredients:

25 pitted dates

1 1/2 cups hot milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

sprinkle of cinnamon

First soak the dates in hot milk for 1 hour.

Whisk the whole wheat flour, baking powder and baking soda together. Set aside.

Purée the dates and milk in a blender or food processor then add the oil and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Pour batter into a parchment lined and oiled 6" springform pan. Top with chopped walnuts and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake at 350°F for 50-55 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely before removing the ring and paper.  

Serves 6-8

Adapted from: iamtarneet

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Date Filled Oatmeal Cookies

With the help of my husband whose specialty is date squares we put together two recipes in one to make these tender date filled oatmeal cookies. He made the filling usually made for date squares or matrimonial cake and I made the oatmeal cookies. It turned out to be the perfect marriage of sweet filling and chewy, perfectly textured cookies!

Ingredients for Oatmeal Cookies:

3/4 cup butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup lightly packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 tbsps water

2 tsps vanilla

2/3 cup flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

3 cups rolled oats

 

Cream butter, sugars, egg, water and vanilla together until fluffly. Combine the flour, baking soda and cinnamon and add to the butter mixture. Stir in the oats. Scoop onto parchment lined baking sheets leaving 2" between each ball. I used a 1" scoop here. Gently press just to flatten the dome of the ball.

Bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes.

Ingredients for Date Filling:

1 lb pitted dates, chopped

1/2 cup hot water

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

zest of 1/2 orange

1 tsp vanilla

 

Combine everything except the vanilla in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the dates soften and the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla and cool. Or you can even prepare the filling the day before. 

Assembly:

Turn the cooled cookies upside down and pair them off with equally sized partners. Even though I used a scoop the cookies were not all the same.  Evenly distribute the date filling on half the cookies. Start with about 1 tsp each at first then go around and add more.

Place another cookie on top of the filling and they're ready for snacking! Store in air tight containers.

Makes 28

And here's the link to our Date Squares (Matrimonial Cake):

https://www.hotandcoldrunningmom.ca/2014/05/date-squares-matrimonial-cake.html 

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Pumpkin Date Loaf

This pumpkin date loaf was a great way to use some of the pumpkin purée I found the other day when I defrosted my freezer! It's dense, not too sweet and packed with goodness!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter, room temperature
3 tbsps brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup pumpkin purée
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsps cinnamon
1 tsp cardamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk (or milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice)
1 cup oats
3/4 cup chopped dates

To begin, if you don't have buttermilk add lemon juice or white vinegar to regular milk and let it sit for about 10 minutes to curdle. Then get a pair of scissors and snip up the dates. I find this way easier than chopping with a knife for dates. Toss the chopped dates with the oats and set aside.

For the batter, cream the butter and brown sugar together then add the eggs and pumpkin.
Mix the dry ingredients together and add the pumpkin mixture to the dry mix alternating with the buttermilk in 2 or 3 additions. Stir in the oats and dates.
Line a 9 X 5" loaf pan. (You'll notice the edges of the paper are already brown because I re-use parchment when I can)
Pour the batter in and sprinkle some oats on top if you like.

Bake at 350°F for 1 hour and 10 or 15 minutes. A cake tester should come out dry. Test at 1 hr 10 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in the pan then remove from the pan and cool on rack. 

Because it is a dense loaf it could take an hour or two to cool. Wait at least one hour before slicing.

Adapted from: tasteofhome.com

Date and Apple Pie Bars

Instead of making individual hand pies, make a pie you can cut into squares.

1  lb pie dough (enough for 1 large pie)

3/4 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
5 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Use your own favourite pastry recipe and divide the pie dough into 2 portions, one a bit larger than the other. Roll out the larger one and put it in a 10 X 6 pan.  Toss the dates, nuts and apples with vanilla. Mix the flour, 2 sugars and cinnamon together and toss with the apples. Fill the pie shell.

Roll out the other piece of dough to fit top.

Dampen the edges with water and put in place, pressing to seal. You can also cut decorative shapes out and wet with water to seal in place.

Make slits in top for air to escape and brush with milk. Sprinkle sugar over top and place in a 350F oven for 50-60 minutes.

Cool 1 hour before cutting.

Two-in-One Muffins

My friend bought me this little gadget a year ago.  I finally tried it out.

I made up two separate muffin recipes and ended up with 24 two-in-one muffins.

If you don't have a gadget like this I believe you could pour one batter in the bottom of your muffin paper and pour the second one on top.

For the dark half I used the Five Roses recipe for Date Bread:

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup boiling water

1  1/2 cups chopped dates

1  1/3 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 egg

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup walnuts

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup melted butter or marg

Dissolve baking soda in boiling water, pour over dates and let cool.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt.  Beat egg and gradually add brown sugar.  Add cooled date mixture, chopped nuts, vanilla and mix well.  Fold in dry ingredients. Add melted butter and mix well.  

For the light half I used the Five Roses recipe for basic muffins with a couple of additions:

2 cups flour

2 tbsps sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 cup flax

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter or marg

Stir dry ingredients together.  In a small bowl combine beaten eggs, milk and melted butter.  Add to dry ingredients.

Stand the gadget in the muffin pan and pour one batter in each side, 2/3 full.

Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 20-25 minutes.

Next time I'll try it with cupcake batter.

Slow Cooker Apple Date Butter

Fall Fest: Slow Cooker Apple Date Butter from: http://virtuallyveganmama.com/2011/10/fall-fest-slow-cooker-apple-date-butter.html

by JENNIFER on OCTOBER 5, 2011 · 26 COMMENTS

It’s Fall and what a wonderful time it is. The spectacular fall weather has arrived with all its amazing colors and smells – this is hands-down my favorite time of year. It’s also apple season, where I can enjoy apple picking with the kids, cooking and baking with this healthy and delicious fruit. I’ll tell you something about myself you didn’t know – I can’t eat raw apples. I know, isn’t that just terrible. I have a slight allergy to certain raw fruits and vegetables that make my mouth and throat itch out of control. It’s drives me crazy because all I ever want to do is bite into a fresh, crispy apple. However, I can enjoy apples if they are slightly cooked, so don’t feel too bad for me. 

Apple butter, a delicious fall treat that my family and I always enjoy. It’s fun to spread on a piece of toast, on pancakes, or use it in baked goods. I made delicious red beans with apples and cinnamon last night for dinner and threw some apple butter in – it was outrageous! Don’t worry, I’ll post this for you next week. I have to make it again today because it was so good and there are no leftovers, so I’ll make sure to write down the recipe.

I’ve always wanted to make apple butter and found out by looking at several recipes online that it is not as healthy as I thought it was. Some recipes called for 2 cups of sugar – yes, 2 CUPS OF SUGAR! Apples are naturally sweet, so why do you even need all this sugar? So, what I did was pull a few recipes online for the basic measurements like how many apples do I need and cooking times. I thought making an Apple Date Butter would be a good idea because I love dates – as you all know – as a healthy alternative to sugar because of its taste and nutritional benefits. I am glad I did this because I’m really happy with the resulting flavors. This Apple Date Butter is naturally sweet with hints of cinnamon, cloves and vanilla.

I borrowed this nifty apple/peeler/corer from my sister-in-law and was so excited to use it. I thought it would save me time and be lots of fun for the kids to use because they love to help.

Have you ever used one of these? It was really cool for like five apples until it stopped working. Either I was doing something seriously wrong, or it’s just been used too many times and is broken – I’m going with broken. Oh well, back to regular peeling, coring and slicing.

After all your apples are sliced, just throw it all into a slow cooker with remaining ingredients and give it a good stir. Now cover and let cook for many hours until it’s a dark brown, gooey deliciousness. We made this on a Sunday and just felt so relaxed hanging out and enjoying the wonderful fall aromas that filled the house.

Where’s the reduced slow cooker picture you may be thinking? This was done way past my bedtime, so I just canned the finished apple date butter and went to bed, forgetting all about another picture. *YAWN*

Some changes I would make to this recipe would be to reduce the amount of dates by half or increase the amount of apples. If you don’t want to add the dates at all, just use 2 cups of unsweetened apple juice – preferably fresh – instead. However, I thought I would end up with at least 4 pints, but only ended up with 2 1/2 pints. I have plenty, but with the amount of time it took to cook, I would have liked some more to give away and freeze. Oh well, I’m still thrilled with the results, it came out fantastic.

Printable Recipe

Slow Cooker Apple Date Butter

Cook time: 9-11 hours

Yield: 2 ½ pints

Ingredients:

5 ½ pounds apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1 cup chopped dates, pitted

1 cup unsweetened apple juice, fresh is best

1 cup water

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Fill slow cooker with peeled, cored and sliced apples. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until combined.

Cover and cook on low setting for 9-11 hours or until the butter is a thick, dark brown, spreadable consistency. Stir occasionally.

If there is too much liquid, remove lid and cook on high until thickened. Keep an eye on it and stir it
occasionally to prevent burning (this all depends on your slow cooker). You can also transfer to a pot and heat on the stove until it reduces if the slow cooker isn’t doing its job.

Transfer to canning jars and store in the refrigerator or freeze.

Enjoy!