Date barks are all the rage right now. It first made an appearance in a viral tiktok video (I think?) and soon started making its rounds on every food platform known to humankind. I saw it and instantly knew I had to try it. Some recipes are like that; you just know they’re going to work. And seeing as how I’m always on the quest to jam in nuts and seeds into my family’s diet, this ticked all the right boxes.
The layers: first pit your dates. Lay them out on a lined baking tray. Throw on another layer of parchment on top and knuckle the dates down to flatten and spread them out. It’ll look like those fancy fruit leathers that people make. (I’d assume that these people wouldn’t use my sophisticated knuckling method though.) Anyway, that’s the date layer done.
Spread the peanut butter (unsweetened) evenly over the dates. Over that there’s a blueberry-chia jam (cook chia and berries together until the seeds plump up). Finally, melted dark chocolate gets poured over the whole bark. Nudge it out to the corners and crevices making sure it coats everything evenly. Sprinkle over some salt, then freeze the tray for about 15 mins until the bark sets.
Slice into thick shards. Refrigerate in the off chance that you haven’t gone through the whole lot in one sitting.
DATE BARK
Ingredients
- 16 dates, pitted
- 3 tablespoons peanut butter (I used unsweetened)
- 2 ½ tablespoons chia seeds
- 100 grams blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 70 grams dark chocolate
- ⅛ teaspoon coarse salt
Instructions
- Coarsely pound the salt into small granules in a mortar and pestle. Alternatively just use a small pinch of regular table salt.
- Rinse the berries (frozen ones need rinsing too) and add to a small saucepan. Stir in the chia seeds. Add ½ cup water and cook covered over a medium heat for 7 mins.
- Take the pan off the heat and let it sit covered for 10 mins. If the mixture appears too dry at this stage, stir in a few teaspoons of water. You want it thick but spreadable. Place in the fridge to cool.
- Break up the chocolate into small pieces and add to a bowl. Microwave the chocolate in 1 minute bursts, stirring between each, until melted. Set aside to cool.
- Line a baking tray with parchment/foil. Place the dates in an approximate rectangular shape on the tray. Place another layer of parchment/foil on top.
- Press the dates down with your fingers/knuckles until they flatten and spread out. Carefully remove the top layer of parchment.
- Spread the peanut butter evenly over the dates. Next spread the blueberry-chia evenly over the peanut butter. Pour over the melted chocolate and nudge them to the edges to get an even layer. Sprinkle over the salt.
- Freeze the tray for 15 mins, then slice into uneven squares. To store keep them in a covered container in the fridge.
Notes
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