DATE & NUT BARS – खजूर मेवे की बर्फी

The recipes that I have shared so far and the ones that I will be sharing in the coming few days, are make-ahead kind of recipes. It was my intention to share recipes that are healthy and ones that you can be made at least two to three days ahead of when you wish to serve them; ones that won’t spoil easily, stored in the fridge. This will definitely help in reducing your work load before and also on the big day.

Few of the recipes that I shared/ will share also make for a wonderful edible gift for your Diwali gift box. These Badam Burfi Truffles, for instance, are great for optics and also taste amazing and are a super healthy addition to your gift basket. Think of them akin to marzipan, just that these are egg-free. And so are these date and nuts bars.

Apart from some toasting of nuts, these bars don’t need to be popped in the oven. These are easy and simple to make and I do not even need to go into telling you how good these are coz it is pretty evident from the list of ingredients. I leave it to you whether you wish to call them nuts burfi or nuts bars.

I took a cue from the date and nut bars, that a family friend had brought from Hyderabad, which had chunky nuts in them. And when I recreated these at home, the homemade ones turned out even better than the store brought one! Perhaps you can chop the nuts in smaller size and roll the mixture into a log just like the chocolate salami, that I had shared earlier this year, and gift it rolled-up in the parchment paper. Or you can simply wrap each bar separately and tie it with colourful string and place them in the gift box. Go make yourself a batch now and thank me later 😀

10 Medjool Dates (approximately 200 to 220 gm, pitted weight i.e. stones removed)

½ C / 85 gm Almonds

¼ C / 35 gm Cashew Nuts

¼ C / 35 gm Pistachio

3 tbsp Shredded Coconut (optional)

2 tbsp Hemp Seeds, toasted

2 tsp Ghee (vegans can use edible coconut oil)

Prep a small tray with raised edges by greasing it with ghee or oil. I use parchment paper since it makes it easier to release the contents from the tray. Set aside.

Roughly chop the dates and pulse them to attain puree. (Do not worry about the puree being too smooth.) Set aside.

Roughly chop the nuts and toast them in a teaspoon of ghee on medium heat till the nuts begin to change colour. Add the shredded coconut and hemp seeds and toast everything together till the nuts become aromatic. Be careful not to burn the coconut. Remove the contents in a plate or bowl and set aside. (The whole procedure won’t take more than two minutes to two and a half minutes)

In the same pan, add a teaspoon of ghee and add the pureed dates. Sauté the puree for half a minute and then add the nuts. Remove from heat and mix everything together using a spatula or a serving spoon.

Decant everything in the prepped tray and using the back of a spoon or spatula, spread out the contents and even out the surface.

Set aside to cool and then place in the fridge. I prefer to keep it overnight but you can keep it for two to three hours before cutting them into slice/ bars. Use a really sharp knife for cutting clean slices, else the nuts would break and make the bars uneven.

I could yield ten slices of two centimetre thickness, three inches long and an inch broad. (You can further cut these rectangles in two equal halves to yield smaller, burfi like squares)

Yield – 10 (3′ X 1′)

Note – In case you are using regular dates, you might want to soften them by soaking them in water for a short while. (Discard the water before blitzing them.) This will make it easier in turning them into a rough puree.

Note – Feel free to add aromatics such as vanilla extract or cardamom powder to the bars. I did not use anything.

Note – I drizzled the bars with dark chocolate (although it is not clearly visible in the pictures since I took all ‘side shots’) It makes for nice optics.

Thank you for your visit and see you soon again with another exciting recipe! 

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