I have been making my own homemade almond milk. I know, I'm crazy. But it tastes so good! And so much better than store bought! Now I'm totally addicted and basically make it at least once or twice a week (if I can contain myself and not drink it all in one go!) But this post is not about making almond milk, which if you want to do you should follow this simple and well photographed recipe: http://ohsheglows.com/2013/01/24/my-favourite-homemade-almond-milk-step-by-step-photos/ This post is about what to do with the mountains of leftover almond meal from making said almond milk. If you are not a crazy person like myself and don't have mountains of almond meal lying around, you can obviously just go buy some. OR you can even use whole almonds.
Ingredients:
2 cups packed almond meal (if using whole almonds, this is probably equivalent to about 3 cups of almonds which you can just pulse through a food processor and see how much you come up with. You can also mix it up with some cashews or pistachios)
2 cups pitted dates (you can use any variety of dates you like. Mejool dates are the most widely available in the US. But if you happen to find yourself in a middle eastern store that has different varieties of fresh dates then feel free to experiment. If you buy dried dates, you can simply reconstitute them by soaking them in water for a couple of hours before using them)
6 oz dark chocolate (bar or chips, as long as it's good quality)
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp peanut or almond butter
1 tbsp honey (optional)
Preparation:
If you have a tiny food processor like I do, you may have to do this in batches.
Process the almond meal with all of the dark chocolate and set aside in a bowl.
Leave half the almond/chocolate mixture in the food processor and set the other half aside in a bowl.
Add 1/2 tsp salt, 1 cup dates and 1 tbsp peanut/almond butter to the food processor and process until all the ingredients are combined.
Transfer to a large bowl.
Process the remaining almond meal/chocolate with the remaining dates, salt, and peanut/almond butter.
Add this to the same large bowl.
Taste the mixture at this point and if you feel like it is sweet enough and has the consistency you desire, you can omit the next step. The consistency should be that of a firm dough.
Add the honey and combine with a fork or your fingers. The honey will loosen the mixture a little bit, as well add some sweetener.
Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper (this will make it easy to lift the bars out once they are firm).
Press the mixture into the bottom of the baking dish, packing it tightly and making it as flat and even as possible.
Cover and refrigerate overnight, or for at least a few hours.
Lift the mixture out of the dish and cut into desired size bars.
Wrap each bar in plastic wrap or in small Ziploc bags and store refrigerated to maintain firmness and freshness.
Ingredients:
2 cups packed almond meal (if using whole almonds, this is probably equivalent to about 3 cups of almonds which you can just pulse through a food processor and see how much you come up with. You can also mix it up with some cashews or pistachios)
2 cups pitted dates (you can use any variety of dates you like. Mejool dates are the most widely available in the US. But if you happen to find yourself in a middle eastern store that has different varieties of fresh dates then feel free to experiment. If you buy dried dates, you can simply reconstitute them by soaking them in water for a couple of hours before using them)
6 oz dark chocolate (bar or chips, as long as it's good quality)
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp peanut or almond butter
1 tbsp honey (optional)
Preparation:
If you have a tiny food processor like I do, you may have to do this in batches.
Process the almond meal with all of the dark chocolate and set aside in a bowl.
Leave half the almond/chocolate mixture in the food processor and set the other half aside in a bowl.
Add 1/2 tsp salt, 1 cup dates and 1 tbsp peanut/almond butter to the food processor and process until all the ingredients are combined.
Transfer to a large bowl.
Process the remaining almond meal/chocolate with the remaining dates, salt, and peanut/almond butter.
Add this to the same large bowl.
Taste the mixture at this point and if you feel like it is sweet enough and has the consistency you desire, you can omit the next step. The consistency should be that of a firm dough.
Add the honey and combine with a fork or your fingers. The honey will loosen the mixture a little bit, as well add some sweetener.
Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper (this will make it easy to lift the bars out once they are firm).
Press the mixture into the bottom of the baking dish, packing it tightly and making it as flat and even as possible.
Cover and refrigerate overnight, or for at least a few hours.
Lift the mixture out of the dish and cut into desired size bars.
Wrap each bar in plastic wrap or in small Ziploc bags and store refrigerated to maintain firmness and freshness.
