Hello lovelies, we are a proper snack family that regularly craves for a little sweet or savory snack. We often eat fruits, sometimes small pretzels, nuts or crisp bread. But sometimes we crave for something really sweet, especially the kids. Since I prefer to offer them a healthy alternative, we often have something similar available at home, for instance blueberry granola bars (you can find the recipe here) or these healthy cookies with dates, nuts and coconut flour – and of course chocolate, because we all know chocolate makes us happy.
Dates as a natural sweetener
The lovely thing about these cookies is that all their sweetness comes from the dates and a little maple syrup – with no refined sugar at all. Dates are naturally sweet and bring along fibre, magnesium and potassium, while giving the dough a beautifully moist bind at the same time. I purée them together with the hazelnuts in the blender, so they spread finely through the dough and I don't have to sweeten anything extra. It works best with soft varieties like medjool – drier dates I simply soak in warm water for a few minutes first.
As my kids are naturally great eaters who always seem to be hungry, it is absolutely fine with me if they treat themselves with snacks throughout the day. To a certain extent of course. They simply loved these cookies and ate them up pretty quickly.
I used melted dark chocolate for the frosting. Dark chocolate is vegan on the one hand and the healthiest alternative on the other because it contains more cocoa and less sugar. The glaze isn't essential, though – thanks to the chocolate chips in the dough the cookies are already nicely chocolatey on their own, so the dipping is more of a festive extra.
These cookies are a delicious snack throughout the day or also very delightful with a glas of nut milk – I dipped mine in oat milk! The cookies get their natural sweet taste from dates and maple sirup and are thereby free from refined sugar. Fresh from the oven they are lightly crisp outside, and by the next day they turn softer and even more flavorful – if any of them last that long.
If you love these cookies with dates, my snack corner has more little treats waiting for you: coffee lovers should absolutely try my espresso cookies, for something protein-packed you'll adore the maca peanut cookies, and for snacking on the go my banana chocolate granola bars are the perfect companion. Give the date cookies a try – I am sure you and your kids will love them as much as we do.
