2-Ingredient Date and Almond Cookies
With only two ingredients needed, these date and almond cookies are a handy standby when you fancy something sweet. They’re easy to make, chewy, healthy and very tasty. Just whiz everything together, form the mix into balls, flatten them and bake.
I’ve made these date and almond cookies a few times now. They’re brilliant, if a little rustic looking. The ones you can see in the images here, I made for last week’s Bake Club. The theme was Healthy Bakes (no carb or low carb & no sugar or low sugar) and I reckoned they fit the bill nicely.
Dive Right In
- Why This Recipe for Date and Almond Cookies Works
- Date and Almond Cookies
- Ingredients, Additions And Substitutions
- How To Make 2-Ingredient Date and Almond Cookies
- Other Recipes for Healthy Vegan Bakes You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- Pin It
- The Recipe
Why This Recipe for Date and Almond Cookies Works
- Just two main ingredients – dates provide natural sweetness and stickiness, while almonds add nuttiness and substance. There’s no need for added sugar, flour or fat.
- You can choose the texture – home-ground almonds give the cookies a coarser, chewier texture, while ready-ground almonds make them a little smoother. Both work well.
- The dates hold everything together – their natural stickiness means the mixture binds without needing egg or another added binder.
- Quick and unfussy – everything goes into the food processor, then it’s simply a matter of shaping and baking. There’s no chilling, rolling or cutting out.
- Chewy rather than crunchy – the dates keep these cookies pleasantly soft and chewy, even after baking.
Date and Almond Cookies
These chewy cookies are my current go-to when I want something sweet and healthy. Although they’re made from only two main ingredients, they provide pretty much everything you need. The almonds contain protein and the sticky dates act as a natural sweetener and bind the ground almonds together, transforming them into a dough.
Dates contain quite a lot of sugar, but the sugar is unrefined and they have so many minerals, fibre and antioxidants in them, that they’re generally considered to be a health food. As long as you don’t over indulge, obviously. Pairing them with protein-rich almonds helps to prevent sugar spikes.
Almonds are not carb free, but they contain about a quarter of those found in wheat flour. They’re also super nutritious, especially whole skin-on-almonds, which is what I used this time. They are, however, quite high in fat.
I sometimes use ready-ground almonds for a smoother cookie and sometimes grind my own nuts for something even more wholesome and chewier.
The baked cookies are chewy rather than crisp and they’re really tasty. They certainly satisfy my sweet cravings and I don’t feel I want to over indulge either. If you end up making them on repeat, you can always add flavourings to ring the changes.
Of course, you don’t actually need to bake the cookie dough. Just form it into balls and you have raw energy balls.
Ingredients, Additions and Substitutions
Strictly speaking these date and almond cookies contain four ingredients, the other two being salt and water. But in substance, these cookies are made from just dates and almonds.
Almonds
Depending on what type of cookie you’re after, you can use either ready-ground almonds or grind your own whole almonds. Both are good.
If you grind your own, the resulting meal is a mixture of finely ground and little pieces, which gives a chewier texture and nuttier flavour than ready-ground almonds. It’s also fresher and if you use whole almonds, more nutritious too.
Almond skins contain polyphenols and flavanoids as well as dietary fibre.
Ready-ground almonds give the cookies a smoother texture and although not quite as nutritious, retain most of their protein, healthy fats, minerals and vitamin E. They’re also more convenient. (Ref: Science Direct)
In the images you can see in this post, I’ve ground my own whole almonds.
Dates
Dates are veritable powerhouses of nutrition, but beware, they’re also quite calorific. Eating two to four dates (40g or 1.4oz) a day is generally considered a healthy portion, more than that, not so much. They’re high in fibre, rich in antioxidants and have significant amounts of potassium, magnesium, copper and iron. (Ref: Healthline)
Ideally we’d use soft and squidgy fresh medjool dates for this recipe. They give the best results in terms of smoothness and flavour. But good quality medjool dates are expensive, so I use ordinary dry dates, which are less than half the price. I just soak them in water before using.
You can tell how fresh dates are by their skin texture. If they’re smooth they’re fresh, if they’re wrinkly they’re dried. Lots will be half way in between. The fresher they are the moister they are, so you may need no water or just a little to make my cookie dough.
Flavourings (optional)
If you make these cookies often, you might like to add some flavouring to ring the changes. Here are some suggestions:
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp mixed spice or pumpkin spice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- finely grated zest of 1 organic orange
How To Make 2-Ingredient Date and Almond Cookies
This recipe is one where you can let the food processor do the heavy lifting. All you need to do manually is roll the mixture into balls and flatten them.
Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for cooking times, measurements and quantities of ingredients used.
Step 1. Soak Dates
If you’re using fresh medjool dates, you shouldn’t need to soak them first. Dried dates will need it though.
Place the dates in a bowl and almost cover with hot water. You don’t want to add too much water as you’ll lose too much of the dates’ sugar and flavour. Cover the bowl with a plate and leave to soak for 15-30 minutes. The longer you leave them, the softer they’ll be.
Step 2. Process Almonds
If using whole almonds, grind them as finely as you can in a food processor or coffee grinder. They won’t be as finely ground as shop-bought, but that’s okay.
Step 3. Make Cookie Dough
Place the ground almonds into a food processor.
Remove the dates from the bowl and add to the food processor, but don’t discard the water.
Add the salt and any flavourings you might want to use.
Process until the dates have broken down and the mix starts to clump together into a dough. If it doesn’t add a little of the date water. You don’t want a wet mix, but it should stick together if you squeeze it between finger and thumb.
Step 4. Shape Cookies
Line a large baking sheet or two smaller ones with baking paper.
Take a tablespoon of the mixture and roll it into a ball with wet hands. Place it on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining mix.
Top Tip – You don’t need to wet your hands to roll the balls, but it helps to prevent the dough sticking. Likewise if you wet a fork or cookie stamp, the dough is less likely to stick.
Space the balls well apart, then press them flat with a wet cookie stamp or bottom of a wet glass. You can also use a wet fork and create a criss cross pattern as you flatten them.
As you can see in the images below, once the cookies have baked, it’s actually quite hard to tell if they’ve been forked or stamped. I did both.
Step 5. Bake
Bake in the middle of the oven until lightly browned. Because they’re already quite dark, it’s a bit hard to see, but try not to burn them.
Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
They’ll keep well in a sealed container for three to four days, though you can freeze them for longer storage.
Other Recipes for Healthy Vegan Bakes You Might Like
- Chia seed muffins
- Chocolate coconut cannellini cake
- Healthy pumpkin scones
- Peanut butter banana muffins
- Tahini date flapjacks
- Tiger nut chocolate chip cookies
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these 2-ingredient date and almond cookies, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or tips for making these bakes without added fat or refined sugar?
Please rate the recipe too. And do tag me @choclette8 on Instagram with your images, I really enjoy seeing your take on my recipes.
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If you’d like more date recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Date and Almond Cookies. PIN IT.
2-Ingredient Date and Almond Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 225 g dates pitted weight
- 200 g almonds ready ground or whole
- 2 pinch fine sea or rock salt
Instructions
- Place the dates in a bowl and almost cover with hot water. Leave to soak for 15-30 minutes.225 g dates
- Line a large baking sheet or two smaller ones with baking paper.
- Set the oven to 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4).
- If almonds are whole, grind them as finely as you can in a food processor or coffee grinder. Otherwise place the ready ground almonds into a food processor.200 g almonds
- Remove the dates from the bowl and add to the food processor, but don’t discard the water.
- Add the salt and any flavourings you might want to use (see note below).2 pinch fine sea or rock salt
- Process until the dates have broken down and the mix comes together into a dough. If it's too dry, add a little of the date water and process again. The mix should clump together if you squeeze it into a ball.
- Take a tablespoon of the mixture and roll it into a ball with wet hands. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Space the balls, well apart on the baking sheet(s), then press them flat with a cookie stamp or bottom of a glass. Alternatively crisscross them with a wet fork.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown, but not burnt.
- Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- They’ll keep well in a sealed container for 3-4 days, though you can freeze them for longer storage.
Simple and elegant recipes really appeal to me. I’ve recently been reading about how good dates are for you and I have some lurking in the cupboard that need using – right by the ground almonds!
Yay, sounds like you know what you’re going to be baking next.