Tu B'Shvat

In honor of Tu B’Shvat (Monday, February 9th), here’s a recipe featuring dried fruit and nuts…

CHOCOLATE DATE AND NUT BARS (PARVE)

Dates and walnuts are natural baking partners. Add chocolate and make it even better! These bars are mostly lots of fruit and nuts, with just a little bit of batter to hold everything together.

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
¼ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup sugar
1 cup raisins
2 cups pitted cut-up dates
2 cups walnut pieces
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 F (165 C). Line the bottom of a large baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil and spray with vegetable spray.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cocoa and salt.

In a large bowl beat the eggs, vanilla and sugar just to mix. Add the dry ingredients and mix together. Stir in the fruit, nuts and chocolate. Use a wooden spoon and mix enough to cover everything with the batter. There will be just enough batter to hold the fruit and nuts together.

Spoon the mixture into the pan and spread so that you have an even layer.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until nicely browned. Cool the pan on a cake rack.

When cool, invert the pan onto a cutting board and refrigerate or freeze to firm up the chocolate. Cut into bars with a sharp knife.

Makes about 64 small bars