It’s been far too long since we talked about chocolate. I mean, a good three weeks, which as you guys know, is a very long time for me. I just got so very excited with all the spring strawberries. Plus I’ve also tried to make a point to focus a bit more on easy dinner recipes for you guys. But in doing this, my chocolate desserts got pushed to the side for a minute. Don’t worry, they’re back and I am so happy about it. What am I also happy about? The fact that it is Friday! That’s obvious though, huh? To be honest, Friday’s are just like any other day for me. I normally always work on the weekends, so I don’t see Friday the same way I did when I was in school. When I was in school, Friday was my favorite day of the week. Come three o’clock on a Friday afternoon I was the happiest kid in the room. I had two nights off from worrying about the following school day, and two days to do whatever I wanted. It was the best feeling. Take me back to those days?! Haha. Not really, I wouldn’t want to go back because I’m loving where I’m at in life right now, but I guess the point is that weekends are not the same as they were six years ago (…oh my gosh I am getting old). All this said, I was talking with my mom this week and telling her that I always tell myself I’ll take an hour on Friday or Saturday to do something fun, but in the end I just feel guilty for not working, and instead come up with more work to do. Does anyone else experience this? Work guilt? I should note that I do have a really hard time just sitting and chilling. Like it’s not in my make up to naturally do that, but slowly and surely, I’m working to incorporate a bit more “chill” time into my life. Baby steps. Anyway, I’m still excited it’s Friday. I’m looking forward to hopefully a little bit of down time, and of course making chocolatey treats, because in my opinion, no weekend is complete without chocolate.
Which brings me to these bars. Finally. Currently, I am all about creating a slightly healthy…ish dessert, cutting back on processed sugar, and using the best ingredients possible. I mean, I’m not doing this always, but when I can, it’s certainly an added bonus to not feel an ounce of guilt while eating chocolate…not that we really ever do around here. Mom always said, if you’re gonna eat it, just enjoy it and then go for a walk later. Got to love Jenny, aka Mom. Here’s the breakdown on these bars. They are vegan, gluten free, loaded with protein, packed with antioxidant rich dates (which no one would ever guess), full of good for us fiber, and covered in chocolate, which you know is just good for our sanity. These also happen to be no-bake and for the most part, pretty quick and simple to make. You will need a food processor to really blend the dates and peanut butter together and create the most deliciously sweet dough. From there, you’ll press dough into a pan and sprinkle brown rice krispies overtop. Next, chill the bars really, really well. I cannot stress this step enough. If the bars are not frozen, they will be zero fun to cover in chocolate, so be sure to allow time for the bars to chill. Then generously cover in chocolate and done. Five ingredients, very simple, healthy..ish, and so delicious. Could you ask for a better Friday treat?! I think of these bar as a cross between a peanut butter cup and a snickers bar. They have the creaminess of a peanut butter cup, but they’re also a little crunchy like a Snickers bar. It’s the perfect combo, and it’s SO GOOD. Also, depending on how you look at these things, these bars could easily be considered the perfect before or after workout snack. Hello protein…okay, okay…and chocolate, but hey, chocolate has it’s benefits too (go with the dark). Hope you all have a great weekend. See ya Sunday!
Nothing but deliciousness.
