{"id":777,"date":"2009-08-14T11:50:48","date_gmt":"2009-08-14T18:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/?p=777"},"modified":"2009-08-14T11:50:48","modified_gmt":"2009-08-14T18:50:48","slug":"sunbutte-date-nut-bars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/2009\/08\/14\/sunbutte-date-nut-bars\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunbutter Date Nut Bars"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve made a variety of dessert\/snack bars based on the simple ingredients of dates and nuts.\u00a0 Sometimes I substitute prunes for half the dates to bring the carb count down.\u00a0 Sometimes I add banana or other fruit.\u00a0 And I use a bunch of different flavorings.<\/p>\n

You can make these raw (with a dehydrator) or cooked.\u00a0 I find that lower temperatures lead to a wetter bar and higher ones to a cakier one.\u00a0 But the proportion of ingredients changes that up too.\u00a0 If you do a very thorough blending job you end up with something like a Lara Bar, or you can leave the mix more chunky, which gives it more character.<\/p>\n

I started using sunflower seed butter (aka sunbutter) a few months ago and discovered that they give the bars a chocolate-like look, mouth-feel, and even some taste.\u00a0 Since chocolate is the worst of Miriam’s food intolerances, that’s a really cool find.<\/p>\n

Here’s the version of this recipe I used for a submission to the baked goods, bar cookies, competition at the Sonoma County Fair last week.<\/p>\n

Recipe:<\/h2>\n

Sunflower seed butter (sunflower seeds, cane sugar, salt), 16 oz
\nRaw cashews, 2 cups
\nDates, 14 oz
\nGinger root, fresh, 2 TB
\nCinnamon, 2 tsp
\nCardamon, 1 tsp
\nVanilla extract (vanilla, organic alcohol), 1 TB
\nSea Salt to taste
\nWater as needed<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Don’t worry about the amounts of the main ingredients.\u00a0 I used full containers so that’s what it came out as.\u00a0 My sunbutter is from Trader Joe’s.\u00a0 The dates are pitted deglet noor dates in a pre-packed container from Whole Foods.\u00a0 You can use any kind as long as they’re fresh (don’t use dried date pieces, the ones that look like elongated pellets).\u00a0 For the cashews, I just poured them into the empty sunbutter container to measure (and to scoop out residual butter).<\/p>\n

As for the flavorings, those amounts are guesses.\u00a0 I did a lot of add and taste, add and taste again.\u00a0 I will note though that the batter was spiced beautifully but the bars came out very mild; the spices were in the background.\u00a0 When I do it again, I’ll double (or triple) the amounts.\u00a0 If they come out nice and strong I’ll call them gingerbread bars, but I was careful with the naming for the contest because I didn’t want them to be judged that way when they were so mild.<\/p>\n

Chop the ginger root and put it in the food processor first.\u00a0 You want to make sure it’s well processed.\u00a0 Now add your other ingredients and blend until smooth.\u00a0 If you want a chunkier bar, take some of the cashews and process them before anything else and turn out to a bowl when they’re at the right consistency.\u00a0 Do this in as many batches as it takes for the size of your food processor.<\/p>\n

Date notes: take the time to feel each one with your fingers before putting it in the processor.\u00a0 I usually find one pit for every 2 containers or so.\u00a0 And there are often the little end caps left on.\u00a0 Just one of these things will spoil your entire batch if left in.<\/p>\n

\"Ingredients<\/a>

Ingredients in the food processor<\/p><\/div>\n

Why add water if your goal is to bake or dehydrate out the liquid?\u00a0 Because food processor motors can only handle so much and it helps the mix come together.\u00a0 Don’t add too much water or baking will take forever and the bars will be overcooked and thin.\u00a0 I used perhaps a cup total for this batch, which is more than I usually need but my ingredients may have been dryer than normal.\u00a0 Just add a small amount at a time, as needed.\u00a0 Don’t measure because the amount you need will vary based on a lot of factors.<\/p>\n

When it’s ready, mix in a bowl if needed, and turn out into a baking pan.\u00a0 You want the mix to be about 3\/4 or 2\/3 inches deep.\u00a0 My pan was enamelled so I did nothing to it but you may want to lightly oil a less smooth pan.<\/p>\n

\"Bar<\/a>

Bar mix ready to go into the oven<\/p><\/div>\n

I baked at 250*F for about an hour.\u00a0 I prefer lower temps (150*F) for longer periods of time but of course I waited until evening of the night before the Fair contest to start these.\u00a0 Check often for burning (if you bake at a higher temp, they are easy to overcook).\u00a0 At lower temps you may need to flip them part way through to dry out the bottoms.<\/p>\n

They came out perfect.\u00a0 When I use less cashew and bake at a lower temperature I get more a fudge-like bar.\u00a0 These surprised me by coming out cakey.\u00a0 In fact, Michael just assumed I used flour.\u00a0 They tasted like they had flour to me too.\u00a0 They were still great, even if they weren’t what I expected.<\/p>\n

I chose the six best bars for the contest.\u00a0 The recipe made about 3 times this amount.\u00a0 Those were good sized bars too.<\/p>\n

\"Finished<\/a>

Finished bars ready for Fair delivery<\/p><\/div>\n

So…did I win anything?\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 I wasn’t really expecting to.\u00a0 Aside from a touch of sugar in the sunbutter, the only sweetener was the dates.\u00a0 These weren’t really dessert bars, they were snack bars.\u00a0 And if you were a judge tasting cookie after cookie and suddenly came upon a low-sugar one, it would taste flat to you.\u00a0 I think they were delicious (and so did Miriam and Michael) but they weren’t really right for this contest.<\/p>\n

I don’t know where I fell but there were 12 entries in the “bar cookie: other” category and I didn’t get one of the 5 prizes.<\/p>\n

\"County<\/a>

County Fair display case<\/p><\/div>\n

These bars were great for just eating but even better heated up in the toaster oven and served under vanilla ice cream (vegan of course).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve made a variety of dessert\/snack bars based on the simple ingredients of dates and nuts.\u00a0 Sometimes I substitute prunes for half the dates to bring the carb count down.\u00a0 Sometimes I add banana or other fruit.\u00a0 And I use a bunch of different flavorings. You can make these raw (with a dehydrator) or cooked.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15,24,26,3,23],"tags":[7,6,8,77,59,5,12],"class_list":["post-777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-desserts","category-family","category-food","category-recipes","category-snacks","tag-dairy-free","tag-egg-free","tag-gluten-free","tag-photos-food","tag-sonoma-county","tag-vegan","tag-vegetarian"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":782,"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777\/revisions\/782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}