Almond Maple Crunch Date Bark

I have been seeing everyone make all kinds of date bark on my social media so I finally decided to give it a try myself!  The general idea is to lay out dates, layer things on top of them and top it off with melted chocolate.  Sounded pretty dark delicious to me!  A lot of people are making it with peanuts but I decided to go with almonds for mine and made Almond Maple Date Crunch Bark!  I always have almonds in my pantry and make my own almond butter so it was perfect!

First, I lined a 9x9 inch pan with parchment and filled it up with dates.  I prefer to buy dates with pits because I find that they stay fresher and softer longer, but you have to remove the pits first which takes a few minutes but is totally worth it!  You just cut a slit into them on the side and remove the pits.  I used 28 dates for this, you need them to cover the bottom of your pan cut side of the dates up and opened up when pressed down.  But you may use more or less depending on the size of the dates since I find that they vary.

I topped the dates in the pan off with a little dark chocolate to glue them together then chilled them before adding the almond butter layer.  I then mixed my home made almond butter with a touch of vanilla extract maple extract and sea salt and spread that over the dates in the pan.  Next I added chopped toasted almonds, then the rest of the dark chocolate smoothed out.  This might be a little different and more fussy than the way most people are making the date bark but I found that it worked out well for me.

This date bark turned out so heavenly!  This is like a better for you candy bar!  The dates are like caramel and the toasty almond butter with the hint of sea salt and scent of vanilla and maple is the perfect match for them along with the dark chocolate!  You could totally make this Almond Maple Crunch Date Bark as a healthier home made Halloween candy since Halloween is just around the corner!  I do hope you give it a try!

Almond Maple Crunch Date Bark

Makes 16 pieces

Ingredients:

• 1 cup smooth almond butter
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp maple extract
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• about 26-28 medjool dates with pits (enough to fill the bottom of a 9x9 inch square pan when halved and pressed down)
• 2 cups melted dark chocolate
• 3/4 cup chopped toasted almonds

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together the almond butter, vanilla, maple and sea salt and set aside.
2. Line a 9x9 inch square baking pan with parchment.
3. Cut the pits out of the dates, and place them cut side up, on top of the parchment at the bottom of the pan, press them down, there should be enough to fill the pan.
4. Drizzle a little of the chocolate over the dates to fill in the gaps and smooth it out.
5. Place in the freezer to set the chocolate, about 5 minutes.
6. Spread the almond butter mixture evenly over the dates.
7. Sprinkle the chopped almonds over the almond butter.
8. Pour the rest of the chocolate over the almonds and smooth out evenly with an offset spatula or knife.
9. Place in the freezer to set, about 20 minutes until the chocolate has hardened.
10. Cut into pieces and enjoy!

Keeps for 2 weeks in the refrigerator in an airtight container.