I'm on a "sweetening things with dates" kick this week, re-making old recipes and trying new ones. These Dark Chocolate Date Paste Cookies are among the new.
The recipe is adapted from The Sweet Laurel Bakery Cookbook, and it caught my eye not only because of the date paste, but because it calls for arrowroot. Arrowroot is an ingredient which is popping up everywhere thanks to Paleo. I haven't used arrowroot much but am looking forward to trying it in more things. As for the date paste, it's fairly simple to make if you have a food processor. This recipe only calls for ½ cup, but I make 1 cup at a time so I have enough to make my Date Paste Chocolate Chip Cookies too.
Food Processor Cleaning Tip
This is a tip I wish I'd learned sooner. Before you put the lid on the food processor, lay a sheet of plastic wrap across the open processor container. Fit the lid of the food processor over the plastic wrap to create an instant spatter shield.
Double Dark Chocolate Date Paste Cookies
Recipe
Date Paste Dark Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup date paste (140 grams)
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups almond flour (125 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup arrowroot powder (flour) (36 grams)
- ½ cup vegan chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
Instructions
- First, you'll need to make some date paste. Take about 10 pitted Medjool dates (7 oz) and put them in a 2 cup glass measure or a saucepan if you prefer. Pour ½ cup boiling water over the dates and press them down so they are fully submerged in water. Let dates sit for about 20 minutes. They should absorb most of the water and you should not need to drain (though you can if you want thicker paste). Add soaked dates to food processor and process into a somewhat lumpy paste. You should have 1 cup (which should weigh about 10 oz) of paste. Pulse in food processor to make a paste. You'll only use half for this recipe.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, beat together ½ cup of date paste, coconut oil and vanilla. If you still have your food processor out from making date paste, you can process the ingredients instead.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder and arrowroot (or cornstarch)
- Add the dry mixture to the date mixture and stir to make a dough. Stir or knead in the chocolate chips.
- Cover and chill for about half an hour.
- Spoon dough by even tablespoons and shape into balls. Press to ¼ inch thick. Bake 7 to 9 minutes. Let cool.
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