Nut Butter Date Bites

Don’t you love meeting someone new who you immediately feel an all-pervading connection with? Someone you skip all the strangeness and even sense of mystery with, jumping right into the feeling of a special bond, where all you want to do is spill your guts about everything that’s happened to you, and hear about everything that’s happened to them?

Today that someone happened to be my film teacher. She talked with her hands, wore all black with cat-eye leopard print glasses, changed her voice when she talked, and sang phrases. I just want to share a bottle of red wine with her and talk until 1 am. She talked about how film was a medium that was capable of combining all the art forms and that was why she loved it so much; Music, photography, food, writing, fashion, landscape, all of it. Anybody that can use the word “seductive” to describe their profession (with the purest intention), is somebody I have the highest regard for. My dad is one of these people, who describes the art of farming with such fervor and passion, you feel chills up your spine as well as the utmost appreciation for life, creation, and the ability to feel and experience the things we do. 

Anyway! FOOD…

This class is 3 ½ hours long! Damn! I watched people race to the vending machines at break, coming back with diet cokes, snickers bars, and bags of chexmix and doritos. I had already drank my suspiciously thick and green protein concoction on the subway that morning, but needed some more quick energy. I decided to make these “cookies” tonight that  I saw a recipe for a while back.

They’re great for kid’s snacks, or for YOU to bring to work, on the train, on the plane, in the car, whatever! No flour, sugar, dairy, or ingredients you can’t pronounce; Just good ol’ fashioned nuts and fruit.

They don’t smell, make crunching noises in class, or go bad. They’ll also fill you up with enough protein to get through to the next meal of the day and satisfy any sweet craving you may be having.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup almonds
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup pitted medjool dates
1/2 cup peanut butter (Almond or sunflower butter would work too)

Directions:

1. Chop almonds in food processor until you get a coarse meal.
2. Add all other ingredients and pulse until the mixture looks well blended (May need to add peanut butter)
3. Make  Tbsp.-sized balls with your hands and then press cross-hatches into them with a fork
4. Cover and keep in the fridge

I also popped some amaranth (on a skillet over high-heat) and added about 1/2 cup to the mixture for some extra crunch, protein, and fiber.

As always...get creative. Coconut flakes? Cocoa nibs? Cocoa powder? Maca powder?