"Date" Newton

If you thought this title had something to do with a romantic relationship between me and 'Newton' you are on the wrong post.

....but if you clicked on this post hoping to find a recipe for a "Fig Newton" like cookie, but with a sweet date filling instead - you are in the right place!

These may seem a little difficult, and I won't lie - there are a bunch of steps.. BUT they are all pretty straight forward and difficult to screw up!

Believe me - I tried... 

I got this idea from - eatliverun.com, but she used actual figs... and, well-I didn't have any, so what's a girl to do? 

SUBSTITUTE and pray it all works out!

First things first-get 2 tbsp. of ground flax seed soaking in 1/3 cup warm water (this is going to act as your egg in the recipe) 

Meanwhile... cream together brown sugar, butter and yogurt

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. brown sugar

2 tbsp. yogurt

3 tbsp. butter

Then add your flax/water mixture

and 2 tbsp. of milk

Now add your tsp. of baking powder, and 1/2 tsp. each of cinnamon, baking soda, and salt

Add your flour- 1 1/2 cups each of whole wheat flour and all-purpose

Mix until a soft dough forms

Then you can get your filling going while the dough is resting in the frig

In a sauce pan combine 1 tbsp. honey, 1 cup water, 1 cup apple juice (or any fruit juice), and 1 1/2 cup dates

Heat on stove until boil, then allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes

Then puree in blender, place back into sauce pan, add 2 tsp. of cornstarch (already mixed with water) and heat again to thicken

Then remove from stove and allow to cool (about 30 minutes)

Take your dough out of the frig, and roll out to about 1/8 inch thickness

*Preheat oven to 350*

You will want a rectangle that is 12 inches tall (will probably be 20 inches or so wide)

Cut strips of dough that are 4 inches wide (and then of course 12 inches tall)

Place your cooled filling in the center and roll up both sides.

Pinch together to seal the dough and cut into cookie sized pieces

Bake in a 350* oven for 20-ish minutes (until they are golden)

Remove and enjoy with a BIG glass of milk

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp. ground flax

1/3 cup warm water

3 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. yogurt

1/2 cup + 2 T brown sugar

2 tbsp. milk

1 1/2 cups dates

1 tbsp. honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup water

1 cup apple juice

2 tsp. cornstarch

Energy Bites

 You're stuck for time, rundown on energy, and STARVING! What do you do? You could:

A. Not eat anything and continue feeling tiresome and hungry

B. Scarf down whatever thing that looks remotely edible that crosses your path, which is bound to be something unhealthy
C. Eat something that is nutritious and delicious

Wait what?! Choice C! Choice C! Pick choice C!

I know, I know, you're probably thinking choice C is unattainable, only a figment of my imagination right? WRONG! The Blissful Baker is here to help! Read on to see how to make an unbelievably healthy and delicious snack bite that will curb your hunger and provide you with enough energy to make it through the day!

Ingredients:

-1 cup almonds

-20 dates

-1/2 cup raisins

-12 dried apricots

-1/4 cup coconut
-1/4 cup flaxseed

-1 tsp. cinnamon

-1/2 tsp. allspice

-1/4 tsp. ginger

-1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Step One

Step Two

Step Three

These little beauties taste like oatmeal raisin cookie dough-but ten-thousand times healthier!

Nutritional Info (1 energy ball)

Larabar Copycat

According to larabar.com, Larabar produces healthy, gluten free energy bars made from minimal, pure ingredients. The reviews are pretty much all positive. Everyone loves Larabar's taste and nutritional stats...however...the price is there people begin to hate the Larabar. They make such a great product but it comes with a price-namely, your left arm and right leg, and in some cases-your first born male child!


So I set out to create my own...

There are many people that have posted their recipe for a 'Larabar Copycat' on the internet...I did my research! I know that an original Larabar has two things: dates, and nuts. There are many variations on this of course... I did a few trial and error recipes before finding the best combination for a homemade Larabar:


Standard Recipe:
-1/2 cup dates
-1/2 cup salted peanuts (this cuts out the step of adding salt in the end)
-1 tsp. water

Directions:


1. Blend dates in a food processor until finely chopped.


2. Remove from processor to a medium sized bowl.


3. Blend nuts in a food processor until finely chopped.


4. Add dates back to processor and add water.


5. Blend all together until sticky


6. Dump sticky mess out onto counter and squeeze together into a ball. 

7. Separate into desired sized bars (for this recipe I got three nicely sized Larabars)


8. Wrap each individually in Seran-Wrap and refrigerate until ready to eat-or, freeze if keeping more than 2 weeks. (though, I'm not really sure how you could keep your hands off these bad-boys for more than 2 weeks!)

Nutritional Info (1/3 of recipe)

Now, don't get me wrong...these are amazing in their pure standard form but I wanted to experiment a bit farther to get a more peanutty taste :) ...I succeeded! However, when I got done I got a little excited and wanted to get a PB&J version and ended up with this:


Ingredients: 
-1/2 cup dates
-1/2 cup salted peanuts
-3 TBSP. Peanut Butter
-1/4 cup raisins
...if you only want peanut butter flavored and not PB&J simply omit the raisins!


Directions:
1. Follow steps 1-5 of standard recipe (DO NOT add the raisins!)
2. Add the raisins in after all the rest have mixed and blend in processor until raisins are just slightly chopped


3. Finish with steps 6-8 of standard recipe 
NOTE: This recipe makes 4 bars


Nutritional Info (1/4 of recipe)