After years of baking my excellent granola bars (with oats, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, butter, jaggery and honey – the recipe is in my Everyday Love cookbook), I finally made a no-bake energy bar/square that I was super happy with - a sugar free date, nut and seeds bar that’s easy to make, delicious and healthy. It’s grain free and gluten free too! It’s an energy boosting, good-for-the-brain, anytime snack or treat and it will cost you less than a few bars of chocolate or a box of sweets/mithai. Store in the fridge or wrap in a cling wrap/foil for travel.
Makes 8 small squares
Ingredients:
1 packed cup (200g) soft dates (medjool/muscat), deseeded
½ cup (75g) equal mix of almonds, cashews, pistas
¼ cup (25g) watermelon/melon/sunflower seeds
2 teaspoons ghee
Method:
1. Roast the nuts on a medium-low flame until slightly browned. Cool and roughly chop by hand or in a mixie.
2. Lightly roast the seeds separately and set aside.
3. If you buy dates with seeds, deseed them first. Grind the dates in a chopper/mixie until they form a rough paste/puree.
4. Using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix the chopped nuts and seeds with the date paste.
5. Heat the ghee in a pan, add in the date and nut paste and gently mix, allowing the dates to heat and soften and the ghee to blend in.
6. Line a 7” x 4” (approx) rectangular box/dish with cling wrap. Spread the mix evenly, pressing it down and into the corners to make it even and firm. Set in the fridge for an hour or two. Cut into squares, remove the cling wrap and store in the fridge.
Handy Hint: You can use a mix of figs and dates, or add in desiccated coconut/coconut flakes and/or a few spoons of khus khus (poppy seeds). Follow the same proportions as in the recipe.