Chocolate Date Bites are naturally gluten-free, vegan snack that requires a bowl and only 10 minutes of your time.

You guys, I survived my 3 hour class yesterday and it went much better than I had anticipated. Thanks for sending in your good vibes..I had a video post planned for today but due to some technical issues, I had to push it back and share Chocolate Date Bites instead. I have been on a ball/bite kick lately because it’s an easy snack that are portable and pretty nutritious. Energy bites are blank canvas like pizza in some sense because you can easily customize it to fit your needs. These Chocolate Date Bites are made with a combination of dates, oats, almond flour, and cocoa powder all of which are full of wholesome nutrients, and naturally gluten-free, and vegan.

Dates, a staple food in the middle east is now slowly taking over the healthy living industry in the Western world. Since biblical times, dates were to believed to have healing properties probably due to it’s rich nutrient profile. Dates are naturally sweet, rich in dietary fiber, antioxidants and many essential minerals like potassium and magnesium. I have used dates in the past in a smoothie, date bars, raw energy bites, and salads but you can use them in baking as date paste instead of butter/oil. Here is a great post on how to make date caramel and date paste if you are interested for your next baking project, esp if you are into vegan baking.

Chocolate Date Bites are extremely easy to make but it will require a food processor, if not at least a good blender. You simple dump everything into a processor, quick pulse, and form the mixture into a ball, and roll in cocoa power. Boom. Valentine’s day is right around the corner so if you and your sweetie are into healthy snacks/treats, these Chocolate Date Bites will be perfect both for eating/gifting if edible gifts are your thing. Or, may I suggest you these Healthy Ferrero Rocher Truffles?

My sweetie wasn’t too impressed with the texture; it is more on the soft side but I loved it. I mean, what is not to love about a snack that is chocolate flavored? Next time, I am going to try rice crispy cereal instead of oats to see if that will make a difference in texture.

Since we are on the topic of Valentine’s day, what’s your plan? I am not into going out on Valentine’s day, so most likely it will be staying in with pizza, using the recipe for the last three years. If you are staying in like us, I suggest you to check out Monday’s post on making easy thin crust pizza.Store them in a airtight container in the fridge, which will help firm up the texture and keep it fresh for few days. My batch doesn’t last for more than 3-4 days so I am sure not about the exact shelf life.

Chocolate Date Bites

Author: Dixya @ Food, Pleasure, and Health
Serves: 10-12

Ingredients

• 20 pitted dates

• 1 cup old-fashioned oats

• 1/2 cup almond meal

• 1/4 + 2 tablespoon dark cocoa powder (use more or less per your taste) + more for rolling

• splash of vanilla extract

• couple tablespoon of water/milk, only if needed

• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Soften dates if they are old/hard by soaking them in hot water or microwave them with little water for 2-3 minutes.

2. Pour everything in a food processor and pulse everything until dates are incorporated in the mix. Add water/milk if needed.

3. Form the mixture into balls packing them tightly. Roll them in cocoa powder and arrange them neatly in mini-muffin liners. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge.

Notes:

Use GF certified oats if you strictly follow gluten-free diet and non-dairy milk such as almond to keep things vegan.

If energy balls/bites are your thing, don’t forget to check out:

• Healthy Ferrero Rocher Truffles

• Pumpkin Pie Energy Balls

• Carob Walnut Energy Balls

• Raw Energy Bites