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Filling, crumbly, rich and unctuous, these date and hazelnut bars are delicious. A hint of orange and chocolate chunks in this recipe give additional flavour and take the traditional date slice to new levels. Just what you need for a delicious fuelling stop when adventuring in the great outdoors.

A plate of chocolate date and hazelnut bars.

A White Christmas

For Christmas this year, we were going take a break from tradition and have Christmas lunch on the beach with friends. Something robust, nutritious, filling and delicious was needed for this and what better candidate to take along than Dan Lepard’s chocolate crumble date bars.

This was yet another post I first saw on Suelle’s fabulous blog, Mainly Baking as her October entry for We Should Cocoa. It was only a matter of time before I gave them a go and if Suelle had not already done so, I would probably have entered them for this month’s date challenge.

As it happened, the weather provided us with a most magical cold, crisp and snowy Christmas. The downside was that traveling by car was out.

And thus it was that we didn’t make it to the beach after all. The roads were just too difficult to negotiate. So we had a good old stomp around Bodmin Moor instead.

It was a glorious day, sunny and without a breath of wind. We sat atop Sharp Tor and ate our sandwiches, with coats and hats stripped off. As we ate the date and hazelnut bars, we surveyed the wonderful snowy scenery that lay before us for miles around.

Dan’s Chocolate, Date & Hazelnut Bars

The slices were just what I was hoping for; filling, crumbly, rich and unctuous. The hazelnuts gave a lovely crunch and the chocolate pieces an unexpected and welcome addition. I had been a bit concerned that, because of their crumbly nature, they wouldn’t hold together very well.

Luckily, they were in fine fettle by the time we made it to our lunch spot and that was despite being bumped around in a rucksack for an hour or two. Thanks to Dan for this much appreciated take on the traditional date slice.

Other Date Recipes You Might Like

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Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these chocolate, date and hazelnut bars, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.

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Choclette x

Date & Hazelnut Bars. PIN IT.

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5 from 2 votes

Chocolate Date And Hazelnut Bars

Filling, crumbly, rich and unctuous, this traybake is delicious. A hint of orange and chocolate chunks give additional flavour and take the traditional date slice to new levels. Just what you need for a delicious fuelling stop when adventuring in the great outdoors.

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Total Time1

Course: Afternoon Tea

Cuisine: British

Keyword: chocolate, dates, hazelnuts, slice, traybake

Servings: bars

Calories: 272kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Ingredients

375 g dates pitted
1 orange juiced and zested
100 ml water
75 g hazelnuts (or use ready roasted hazelnuts)
125 g unsalted butter fridge cold and cubed
250 g wholemeal flour (whole wheat)
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
125 g light muscovado sugar
100 g milk chocolate roughly chopped (I used Green & Black's 35%)

Instructions

Simmer the dates, orange juice and water in a pan for ten minutes until soft. Leave to cool.
375 g dates, 1 orange, 100 ml water
Roast the hazelnuts for ten minutes at 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) , then rub off their skins with a kitchen paper or a clean tea towel and roughly chop. Omit this step if you have ready roasted and skinned hazelnuts.
75 g hazelnuts
Place the butter, flour, baking powder, cocoa, orange zest and sugar into a large bowl. Rub together between your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
1 orange, 125 g unsalted butter, 250 g wholemeal flour (whole wheat), 1 tsp baking powder, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, 125 g light muscovado sugar
Stir in the chocolate and hazelnuts.
100 g milk chocolate
Press two thirds of the mixture into the bottom of a 23 cm (9") sq silicone mould or lined baking tin until firm. The back of a spoon is good for this.
Spread the date mixture over the top in an even layer.
Stir a tbsp of water into the remaining third of the crumble to make the mixture clump up a little.
Spoon over the date layer.
Bake at 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) for 30 minutes.
Leave to cool then cut into 16 squares.

Notes

This recipe produces large square bars that are quite shallow, which is how I like them. For smaller, but deeper bars, bake in a 20 cm (8 inch) tin.

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.

Nutrition Estimate

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below letting us know how you got on and do share a photo on Instagram. Tag @choclette8 or use hashtag #tinandthyme.