No Bake Vegan Paleo Date Squares

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Healthy and entirely sinless no-bake vegan date bars without a stitch of flour, butter or sugar! Yes, it’s true. This recipe by Leanne Vogel of Healthful Pursuit will blow any baked date bars you’ve ever had right out of the water – and you’re tummy will be happy with you too! It is always recommended to soak your nuts, and Leanne recommends then drying them to crispy, crunchy perfection. If you don’t have a dehydrator, and aren’t ultra picky about your food processing temperatures, you can easily use the lowest setting on your oven. These date bars are super delicious served with a cold glass of brazil nut or coconut milk. Sink those teeth in and enjoy!

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 cup brazil nuts, soaked and dried
• ⅓ cup macadamia nuts, soaked and dried
• 1¼ cups shredded coconut
• 8 medjool dates, pitted
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon sea salt

Date Filling

• 2 cup medjool dates, pitted and chopped roughly
• 1 cup dried mission figs, hulled and chopped roughly
• Zest from a medium orange
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ cup water

Instructions

To make the crust:

1. Add brazil nuts and macadamia nuts to the bowl of your food processor. Blend to small pieces.

2. Add remaining crust ingredients and pulse until everything is well mixed and the dough begins to form into a ball.

3. Press ⅔ of the crust into an 8X8-inch cake pan. Set remaining dough aside.

To make the date filling:

1. Add all ingredients but water to a large bowl, mix until fully incorporated.

2. Transfer half of the date mix to your food processor. Add water and blend until smooth.

3. Transfer back to the bowl with chopped fruits and mix thoroughly.

4. Drop date mixture onto prepared crust, smoothing out with the back of a spoon. Then, crumble remaining crust on top.

5. Cover and transfer to the freezer to chill overnight. This will help the bars form nicely and avoiding breaking when you’re cutting.

6. When ready to serve, cut into 16 bars.

Keeps for 10 days in the fridge or 4 months in the freezer.

Assembly:

1. Once the crust is complete, firmly press it into your prepared pan. There’s quite a bit of natural oils so you shouldn’t have to worry about the dessert sticking to the pan. If you’re concerned with this, feel free to drape parchment paper over the sides of the pan.

2. Once the crust is in, add the date mixture.

3. Crumble the remaining crust over top and chill these babies for at least 12 hours.

Notes

*Soaked and dried nuts – you can make this recipe with regular raw nuts.

*Medjool dates — I made this recipe with medjool dates because they are softer and more pliable than honey dates. If you want to use honey dates for this recipe, you may have to soak them beforehand