I generally spend the month of February doing some deep cleaning & major decluttering at home. It’s not that I don’t do it otherwise but I like to pick a more relaxed time when the festivities have been wrapped up and the kids have gone back to school and have settled in. Having said that and lest you think I have OCD, I am generally on the extreme ends of the cleaning spectrum so I can sparkle the house when I really have the time for it and deep dive into ruthless decluttering. On regular days I just stick to the mundane – basic cleaning & cooking. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why you don’t find me blogging routinely. I totally love blogging and everything that comes with it. Be it editing the pictures, writing the intro, looking for new recipe ideas, learning new photography tricks or just planning my next video shoot. I can drift away into this magical land quite easily but the reality is that this requires a few hours of peace and quiet and some extra food in the fridge just to ensure that my family doesn’t starve because mommy was just too busy on her computer.
Anyway, coming back to my decluttering story, I managed to lay my hands on a lot of dry fruit that was intended to be used up in cakes for Christmas but I never got to fulfil their destiny. Now I am more than happy (and relaxed) to try out yet some more non-Christmassy recipes that I hope you will enjoy too. First up is this recipe for date & walnut bites that I found in the Friday magazine. I tweaked the recipe to suit the quantities of ingredients that I had on hand and I am glad they were put to good use.
These date bites were made using Medjool dates that I bought for the first time from the Saudi Arabia pavilion at the Global Village. I always had them on my wish list but the price tag was always a deterrent. However, I was totally thrilled when I got them for AED50 for a kilo at the Global Village which at that time seemed like a fair price. Now I am not a connoisseur of dates but I can tell you that the Medjool is expensive for a reason. Three regular dates make up one Medjool date and the bonus is that it is very fleshy with a small seed inside. This variety would be the perfect choice of dates if you wish to make desserts like the sticky date pudding (I gave it a try, the recipe will be up shortly!). If you are in Dubai and plan to go to the Global Village you can get your hands on some Medjool dates for a lower price than what is sold at the supermarket. For those of you who aren’t, this recipe works with any kind of dates so do give it a try!
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Date & Walnut Bites
Ingredients
- 140 grams 1 cup walnuts
- 150 grams 1 cup pitted dates (I used 7 Medjool dates)
- 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 4 teaspoons coconut oil
- 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
Instructions
- Pulse the walnuts in a food processor till they turn crumbly, like coarse sand.
- Add the dates, sesame seeds, coconut oil and pulse a little more until the mixture comes together like a dough
- Transfer the mixture to a plate and pinch out gooseberry (amla) sized portions, roll between the palms of your hand and roll them in the desiccated coconut.
- Refrigerate until they firm up a bit. Serve
Disclaimer
The nutritional values are only indicative.
Ah… thanks for that tip on the dates! Will check out next time we go… 🙂 The bites look so tempting… actually one of the best things to make when you have a potluck and are looking for an easy recipe! 🙂
Yeah! I hope you get a better bargain with the Medjool dates Rafee!!
i do that without the blender n eat it . will try yr way.
Sure! I hope you like them this way too!