I love brownies. My kids love brownies. My uber-healthy husband even likes a brownie every once in a while. (He’s weird, I know. Who only likes brownies every once in a while?!) But since they are terrible for us, we try to avoid them. But never let it be said that because we’re a healthy-ish, bloggy-type family that we don’t like junk food. We so do. In order not to eat it as often as we would really like to – daily, at every meal – we have developed a new food group. It is called faux-junk. (Named by my teenage daughter, of course.) These Brownie Bites fall into the faux-junk category. Made with real food, and little effort by mom. These are a go to snack when we just can’t take it any more!
So Medjool dates are super good. I love me some Medjool dates. I had a friend in college that taught me to eat them with a little peanut butter smeared on them as a snack. Wow! So good. That being said, I don’t really worry about the extra expense if I plan to mix them with a lot of extra stuff. I also don’t worry about it if it is cheaper to buy the ones with the pits in rather than already pitted. It takes about 60 seconds to pit a pound of dates. (It actually takes me zero seconds, because my 3 year old like to help me cook and smooshing dates and pulling out the seed is totally fun for a 3 year old sous chef.)  So if you are date-picky, Medjool all the way. If you could care less, buy the cheaper ones. Just make sure they are not dried out.
No Bake Brownie Bites
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb dates, pitted
- 1/2 cup walnuts, almonds or pecans
- 1/4 cup single ingredient peanut or almond butter if you have the type that includes nuts and salt, omit salt below
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Add nuts to food processor and pulse until they are chopped well. Add all other ingredients and pulse until well combined. If the mixture is a little dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time, while the food processor is running until the mixture sticks together like dough.
- Roll out dough into small balls with your hands. You can leave them in small balls, use a fork to make a criss-cross design (like cookies), or press them into a dish and cut them like bars. All should be stored in an airtight container.
- Though you don't have to store them in the refrigerator, we prefer ours there. It helps keep their shape a little more than in a warm room.
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