I’m a very brand-loyal person, whether it be the shoes on my feet or the food on my plate. One brand I absolutely love is Attune Foods. I met their representative Annelies at the Chicago Healthy Living Summit; her passion for Attune’s healthy line of cereals and chocolate was immediately apparent and impressed me and I’ve been a fan ever since. 

Their Erewhon line of cereals make terrific certified gluten-free alternatives to mainstream rice and corn-based cereals and have been doing so for decades. While I’m not a fan of cereal for breakfast, I do like baking with it, especially for no-bake desserts like this one. These bars have the same flavors as my other date bar recipe but are so much simpler to make. The bottom layer is only slightly sweet with a nutty and spicy rice flavor to it, while the topping adds a good punch of flavor and texture difference. It’s a quick and easy crowd-pleaser.

No-Bake Gluten-Free Date Bars

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 16 squares):

• 1 box Erewhon Rice Twice cereal
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2-3 Tablespoons water
• 1 cup dates, diced
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup crushed walnuts
• 1/2 teaspoon course sea salt(optional)

Method:

1. In a food processor, blend the cereal until it makes a fine flour.
2. Add the melted butter, powdered sugar, almond butter, and cinnamon and continue blending until mixed.
3. Slowly add the water until the cereal mix starts sticking to itself. Shut off the processor and move it into an 8 by 8 baking pan and press into an even layer. Refrigerate for the time being.
4. In a small pot, bring the dates, brown sugar, and water to a boil. Continue boiling until the dates are soft and mushy and the water has evaporated. Remove from the heat and mash together into a somewhat smooth puree.
5. Spread the date mixture over the crust in an even layer. Top with walnuts and sea salt if using. Chill for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

The Attune Foods October recipe challenge is open until October 20th. They will also be holding a November and December recipe challenge so don’t worry if you can’t think of anything to submit for this contest period. In fact, just don’t enter so that I have a better chance of winning. Kidding. Sort of.

Happy Valentine’s Day! I like a good pun, so making date bars for Valentine’s Day was a no-brainer. Dates are nature’s candy(or is that beets?) and their flavor is as sweet as the sweetest valentine. I’ve also been wanting to make these for a while and being out of cocoa powder seemed like a sign. I love the flavor of almonds in the shortbread crust; if I made these again I’d definitely add nuts on top for a more intense flavor.

Almond Butter Date Bars

Ingredient:

• 1 cup dates, diced
• 1/4 brown sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 3/4 almond butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour(I used gluten-free)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• coconut flakes(optional)
• chopped nuts(optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

To make the filling, combine the dates, brown sugar, and water in a sauce pan. Boil until the water has evaporated and the dates are soft and mushy. Add more water if necessary.

In a separate bowl, combine the almond butter, sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and egg and mix until it makes a coarse and crumbly dough.

Press 2/3rds of the dough into a greased 8×8 baking pan.

Spread on the filling mixture in an even coating.

Sprinkle on the remaining dough in crumbs. Mix in any nuts or coconut if using.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the topping starts to brown.

These were soft and crumbly, and definitely sweet enough with the date filling. The cinnamon added a good earthiness to balance the almond butter. Like I said, if I made these again I’d add coconut and hazelnuts on top. Maybe next Valentine’s Day; nuts are great on Valentine’s Day(I told you I liked puns).