Michelle Darmody: How to make perfect date and peanut bars

Dates are sweet, and their smooth and fudgy texture makes them a good replacement for a homemade cream and butter laden toffee.

The nutty, salty and sweet combination of chocolate and peanuts is a classic

Roasted peanuts and chocolate work together beautifully, the nutty, salty and sweet combination is a classic and the addition of toffee and caramel have created some of the world’s most popular chocolate bars. Luckily, we have dates, and particularly Medjool dates, as a natural source of toffee. They are sweet, and their smooth and fudgy texture makes them a good replacement for a homemade cream and butter laden toffee.

Medjool dates, while delicious, can be expensive when you buy them in small packets.

This recipe uses a lot of them, so it might be worth seeking them out in a Middle Eastern shop where they tend to sell large kilo boxes. The nicest ones to be found in Cork are not in a shop, but in Izz Café and Restaurant on George’s Quay. Their boxes of Palestine dates are tender and sweet, and I always seek them out.

The chefs in Izz also make gift boxes with a variety of chocolate-coated dates that make a beautiful and thoughtful present. Each date is filled, and some are delicately topped with rose petals while others have a sprinkling of sesame or pistachio.

If you do buy a big box and have more dates than the recipe requires you can use them in all sorts of ways, eating as they are, or halved and topped with a little peanut butter, they are also great added to porridge or granola, and of course used as a delicious baking ingredient.

Date and Peanut Bars

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

I make about 18 small bars, as they are quite rich, but you could cut them larger if you wish.

Servings

18

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 2 hours 0 mins

Total Time

 2 hours 20 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 450g of Medjool dates

• 190g roasted peanuts

• 120g peanut butter

• 300g dark chocolate pieces

Method

1. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking tin with parchment.

2. Add the dates and half of the peanuts to a liquidiser and pulse until they form a very rough paste.

3. Chop the other half of the peanuts and set aside.

4. Press the date mixture into your prepared baking tin and flatten it out.

5. Spread the peanut butter on top and press the rest of the chopped nuts into the peanut butter.

6. Place into the fridge while you melt your chocolate. You can either do this on a hob in a bowl over some boiling water, or in a microwave.

7. Remove the date and peanut mixture from the fridge and pour the chocolate on top. Smooth the chocolate out.

8. Place the tin into the fridge for a few hours to firm up.

9. Remove from the fridge and use the edges of the parchment to lift the slab out of the tin.

10. Slice it with a knife dipped into warm water.

Baker's tips

Dates can be easier to blitz with a little water added to the liquidiser. I add about a teaspoon or two to loosen the mixture. If your dates are quite dry you could also soak them in warm water for about a quarter of an hour, drain and squeeze off the excess liquid before liquidising.

Wetting your hands before smoothing out the date mixture will help you to spread and flatten it evenly across the bottom of your cake tin.

It is best to use peanut butter that is not too runny. I like to use quite a thick, crunchy variety.

I use dark chocolate in this recipe as I think it works best with the toffee taste from the dates and the nuttiness of the peanuts. Also, milk chocolate often does not melt as well as dark chocolate and is more difficult to smooth out.

Adding a teaspoon of butter to the dark chocolate just as it melts will bring out the shine and will stop the chocolate breaking when you are slicing the bars.

You can tilt the tin, front to back, side to side after adding the chocolate to ensure it spreads out and coats the top of the mixture smoothly and evenly.

If you like thicker bars, use a smaller tin. A two-pound loaf tin would work well for this recipe.

If you are finding the slab difficult to cut, place it into the freezer for about ten minutes then use a knife that has been dipped into hot water on the semi-frozen slab to cut nice, neat lines.

I make about 18 small bars, as they are quite rich, but you could cut them larger if you wish.

The bars will last for about a week in an airtight container in the fridge. They also freeze quite well. Add a sheet of parchment between layers of the slices when putting them into the freezer. It is best to thaw them in the fridge before serving.

Two delicious variations

Tahini, walnut and sea salt flakes

I like to add a mixture of chopped nuts when making the date paste in the liquidiser, then spread this with tahini rather than peanut butter.

Press some chopped walnuts onto the tahini then continue as the recipe suggests with the chocolate layer. It is nice to sprinkle a few flakes of sea salt onto the chocolate.

This bar has quite a different flavour profile to the peanut version which is probably more of a crowd pleaser.

Dried apricot and cranberry

You can use any other dried fruit as long as the dates form the basis for the recipe.

Dates have the best sticking and combining power. For this version a combination of apricots and cranberry adds a zesty flavour.

I recommend adding 320g of dates, 80g of dried apricots and 50g dried cranberries and follow the recipe as is.

Or adding some dried figs also works well.