I’m back with another simple, speedy and satisfying recipe – this time for delicious and nutritious chocolate date cookies. These came about last Saturday morning, when I realized I had just over one hour left to shower, get ready and prepare a dessert to bring along to my boyfriend’s.

Often when I bring food along, I tend to go with a tried and tested recipe, or something new that I’ve carefully thought out. Last week, however, I quite enjoyed wildly chucking ingredients into a blender, fuelled by adrenalin and an optimistic sense that, somehow, this would not be a disaster. The cookies I ended up with definitely exceeded my expectations, and got great feedback at the event I made them for.

I’ve since made them again twice, and love having a little stash of them on hand during the week, for when I want a little something sweet at work or before bed. They’re so simple to make, super soft and almost fudgy (the more so the less you bake them), and they can be enjoyed baked or raw. 

Chocolate Date Cookies

Makes: ca. 10 small/medium cookies (I tend to double the recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 cup soft dates – I use Palmyradelights sukari, but medjool should be great too
• 3 tbsp unsweetened rice milk (or almond, oat etc.)
• 1-2 tbsp maple syrup*
• ca. 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseeds
• 2 tbsp cacao powder
• 1 tsbp lucuma powder
• 1 pinch salt
• chocolate chunks (I use 85% dark chocolate, but go for whatever you enjoy)
• chopped walnuts (pecans or peanuts would be amazing too)
• Variation: Leave out the walnuts and – before stirring in the chocolate chunks – add 2 tbsp smooth, slightly runny peanut butter for chocolate pb cookies. (Even better: add some chopped peanuts too!)

* The amount is totally up to you, depending on your preferred level of sweetness. The first time I used 2 tbsp maple syrup, and loved them, but they were almost a bit too sweet. I made them again with 1 tbsp, which is probably my go-to if I just make them for myself. If making them for friends who aren’t necessarily into healthy eating, I’d probably use 2 again. You can also leave the maple syrup out completely, in which case you may have more of an energy-ball situation going on. The maple syrup basically takes this from sweet snack to serious sweet treat, if you get what I’m saying 😉

Method

1. Blend together the dates, rice milk and maple syrup (this only works well with soft dates; if yours are slightly drier, try soaking them in hot water first and draining, before blending).
2. Add the remaining ingredients (pinch of salt, buckwheat flour, ground flaxseeds, cacao and lucuma) and mix till combined. It should be a thick, slightly sticky dough.
3. Stir in the chocolate and walnut chunks.
4. Shape the mix into equal sized balls with your hands (the mix shouldn’t be too sticky, but if it is, wet hands or adding more flour make it easier), slightly flattening to get a thick cookie shape.
5. Bake in an oven preheated to 175° C for ca. 8 minutes, or eat just as they are. (Or snack on some raw ones while the rest bake 😉 )

Enjoy!

Feel free to tag @blueberrysmiles22 if you share your creations on Instagram, so I can share in the joy 🙂

P.S. If you’re interested in more healthy cookie recipes, check out my breakfast cookies.