2020 RECIPE & PHOTO UPDATE.
Among the many fun things about receiving a Vegan Cuts Snack Box each month is that it’s a treasure trove of inspiration. A lot of the goodies inside are not readily available to me if I want repeat snacking, so if I like something, I try to recreate my own version.
One such treat, an Earnest Eats Dark Choco Mint bar, was tucked inside the June box. Theirs is a baked bar packed with nuts, chocolate, and mint, but also contains brown rice syrup and cane syrup. The flavor was fantastic with a nice hit of real mint and a subtle chocolate taste, but I wasn’t thrilled about the sugar content. In recreating their bar, I decided to go raw and to bump up the mint flavor with a small amount of alcohol-free extract alongside a handful of fresh mint straight from the garden. Dates give these bars their sweetness. I also use a nut flour instead of going 100% whole nuts. This lightens the load on my food processor and helps the bars come together quickly.
A word of caution: these are not light in calories!
Recipe note: Instead of using a 9-inch x 9-inch pan, try making them in a silicone mold like this one as I did for these photos.
Raw Chocolate Mint Date & Nut Bars
- Prep Time: 10
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 9 Bars 1x
- Category: Snack
- Cuisine: Raw
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Great for breakfast-on-the-go, a mid-hike energy boost, or as a post-workout snack, these raw Double Chocolate Mint Bars are sugar-, oil-, and gluten-free. But they aren’t calorie-free! Go easy on these bad boys!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups pitted & chopped dates
- generous 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
- 1/3 cup nut butter, creamy or crunchy
- 1 1/2 cups nut flour blend (I use Nature’s Earthly Choice Almond, Coconut, Pecan & Walnut Blend)
- 3 Tbsp. cacao powder
- 1/4 cup whole raw almonds
- 1/4 cup raw pecan halves
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp. pure peppermint oil
- 1/4 cup cacao nibs
Instructions
- Line a 9-inch x 9-inch pan with parchment. Or use a silicone mold like this one.
- In the bowl of a food processor, grind the dates, mint leaves, and nut butter until finely chopped.
- Add the nut flour and cacao powder and process again. The mixture will be dry and crumbly at this stage.
- Now add the whole nuts and water and pulse to break down the nuts. You want to be able to see bits and pieces of nuts. Add the cacao nibs and pulse just enough times to incorporate them into the mix.
- If you are using silicone molds as I did, put the date mixture into a bowl to make it easier to work with. Divide the mixture between 9 molds and using wet fingers, press mixture into the molds. Place in the refrigerator for a few hours to set and the flavors meld. Gently remove the bars from the molds and store in an air-tight container.
- If you’re using a pan, dump the mixture straight from the food processor bowl into the pan. Using wet fingers, press the mixture firmly into the pan. Place in the refrigerator for a few hours to set and the flavors meld. Slice and store in an airtight container.
Notes
If you can’t find a nut flour blend, use your favorite nut flour instead.
Keywords: raw, chocolate, mint, gluten-free, sugar-free, oil-free, dessert, snacking, raw bars, cacao
Looks delicious. I love all of the healthy ingredients! I bet the crunchiness is great too.
These sound so fresh & beautiful Annie! I am already scheming about how I could make these sans food processor 🙂 I am all for the bumped up mint!
Hmmm…I’ll bet it wouldn’t be that difficult, Shira. Just finely chop the dates and walnuts and everything else stays whole!
These look delicious. I would probably make them into balls. Do you think that would work?
Yep – that would totally work!
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Yum! Chocolate and mint is a great combo. I am thrilled that I have all of those ingredients on hand! I know what I’m making tomorrow. 🙂
🙂 I have a big pot of mint on my porch and I’m always looking for ways to trim it back!
What healthy but delicious ingredients 😀
Cheers
CCU
Kinda like your smoothie the other day!
What’s natural nut butter, is that made from a mixture of different nuts? I like the fact that these have fresh mint leaves in them, I would never have thought of putting mint leaves into something of this sort. It looks very interesting, not to say tasty and delicious!
Natural nut butter has no added oil or sugar. I used peanut butter, but some folks like other kinds so I just went generic in the ingredients.
These look fantastic! I am considering trying them out, but without the mint (sadly I have never been the biggest fan of mint). Do you think normal cocoa powder would work as well though? I do not have any raw cacao powder on hand and it isn’t that easy to source it in my town.
Cocoa powder will work just fine. You could always use another kind of flavored extract – but definitely not necessary.
Ohhh, it looks soooo nice, it’s making me hungry!!
Thanks, Annie! That’s the exact response I was seeking ;-)!
YUM! I love mint and chocolate–especially raw chocolate!! 🙂
Waw, we get that tasty lovely bar recipe! Yippieeeeeee! I am so happy now! You are so right! I know that your home-made raw oat-date-nut bars are going to be way more tasty & fabuliscious too! I happento have all the ingredients in the house so I will make these beauties tomorrow! 🙂 yeah! xxx
Thanks, Sophie!
I would never have thought of putting fresh mint in a chocolate bar – how interesting! These are so healthy Annie, but they look delicious too. Thanks for this creation! Celeste 🙂
I never would have thought of it myself, but when I saw “dried mint” in the ingredient list for the bar that inspired this recipe, I had to try it!
You are totally speaking my language. These look absolutely scrumptious!
Chocolate and mint are so fabulous together. This bar sounds delightful!
Every vegan friend I know has subscribed to Vegan Cuts, perhaps that’s a good sign it’s a good deal to try. Plus, like you, I also love getting inspired and recreating dishes and treats… Ok ok you convinced me 😉
:-). You won’t regret it!
Oooh, this sounds so yummy! Double chocolate was enough, but adding mint? Divine! Thanks for sharing this at Raw Foods Thursdays. Pinning this!
I bet these are so satisying! Crunchy, chewy and sweet 🙂
I especially love the use of mint in this recipe. I’m sure I would love these bars! Thanks for sharing at Raw Foods Thursdays.
The fresh mint really makes such a difference!
Looks delish and love that it is raw, too!
I wanted to tell you that these have become part of our life sans mint. Just a couple changes. The 2nd time I made these I had half the dates so I used small black figs to make up the difference. Then the person I was making them 4 didn’t care 4the mint so I skipped that & upped the cacao powder to 4 T. They are now the family snack! We keep them in the freezer. Really good. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh wow! I’m so happy to hear that you like these and that they’ve become a part of your life ;-)! I think it’s great that you put your own personal touch on them, too – it’s what cooking and eating are all about. I really appreciate you letting me know, too!
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Question – where does the second cup of oats factor in?
Or the soaked cup, for that matter? Neither are added in the directions.
Good catch, Sarah – and sorry for the omission. I’ll get the recipe fixed up. Both the 1 cup of soaked oats and the 1 cup of dry oats should get mixed in with the date mixture and the remaining ingredients. Apologies for that error. Amazing how I can read something over and over again and not see the mistake!
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