Healthy Paydays – Only Two Ingredients! {Vegan, Gluten-Free}

Dried dates taste like caramel- healthy, chewy caramel.  While eating an embarrassingly big pile of them one day I thought, I have to invent a DATE PAYDAY!!  A Dateday?

These seriously only have two ingredients, unless you count water as an ingredient, but I don’t.

I have received quite a few questions about dried dates.  Where to find them?  What type to buy?  So here’s the scoop: I use whole, dried dates. I find them with the dried fruits and nuts near the produce aisle of my grocery store.  Packaged “chopped” dates may not work for this recipe because I’ve, personally, found that they have a different texture.  Medjool dates are considered the King of Dates and are often a little bit more expensive to buy but seem to be available in many grocery stores, those will also work very nicely.  In order to get these to stick together make sure you firmly press the nuts into the date mixture and refrigerate completely before cutting with a sharp knife. I hope that helps!  Please keep the questions coming.

Let's make 'em!

In a food processor blend 1 cup of peanuts until they are very fine and start to clump together.

Add the dates and water and blend until you get a fairly smooth paste. You will have to stop several times and scrape down the sides. Make sure the mixture is very sticky, if it’s a little dry, add a bit more water.

Lay out 1 1/2 cups of peanuts on a baking sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper. Don’t try this without parchment! You will regret it.

Blop the date mixture onto the peanuts as evenly as possible without disturbing the peanuts underneath.

Use an additional piece of parchment to completely flatten. A cutting board is handy to help flatten the mixture.

I clean mine up a bit by grabbing straggler nuts and pressing them into blank spaces.

Refrigerate for at least an hour before cutting into candy bar sized pieces.

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Healthy Paydays - Only Two Ingredients! {Vegan, Gluten-Free}

Yields 16

These seriously only have two ingredients and are easy to make with a food processor. Healthy, chewy, great for lunches, snacks, breakfast, or dessert!

Ingredients

4 cups Lightly Salted Peanuts, divided*

1 1/2 cups Dried, Whole, Pitted Dates**

2 Tablespoons Water

Instructions

In a food processor blend 1 cup of peanuts until they are very fine and start to clump together.

Add the dates and water and blend until you get a fairly smooth paste. You will have to stop several times and scrape down the sides.

Lay out 1 1/2 cups of peanuts on a baking sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper. Don't try this without parchment.

Spoon the date mixture onto the peanuts as evenly as possible without disturbing the peanuts underneath.

Press the remaining peanuts into the top of the mixture flattening it as you go. Use an additional piece of parchment to completely flatten. You can utilize a cutting board to help flatten the mixture.

Refrigerate for at least an hour before cutting into candy bar sized pieces.

Notes

*Substitutions: If you can't find lightly salted peanuts you can use regular salted peanuts. OR, use unsalted peanuts in the filling and salted peanuts on the outside if you're worried about them being too salty.

**I find my dates in the dried fruits and nuts near the produce section of my grocery store. I would advise you to avoid using "chopped" dates in this recipe as they often have a different texture. Dried "Medjool" dates are considered the King of Dates. They are usually a bit more expensive but they have the proper texture too.