Transform Your Dates Into A Sweet Snack With Just 3 Ingredients

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You need a sweet snack. But not just any random snack, and certainly not those artificially cloying treats that cluster the grocery aisle. You want something that offers a naturally sugary taste, with just enough richness to satisfy the sweet tooth, mellowed out by a soothing delicacy to not overwhelm the palate. This balancing act might sound quite demanding, but you can easily achieve it with only a box of dates and two other simple essentials: chocolate and a cooking oil (often coconut oil). When these three ingredients come together, date bark is the result, and it's one worth fawning over.

Dates' most defining feature is their intricate sweet taste. It's not subtle and laced with tart notes like berries, or vibrant in the way that peaches and mangoes tend to be. It's a total sugary league of its own, with an intense depth that reminisces of caramel and molasses. There are quite a few types of date fruits, but for chocolate bark in particular, medjool dates are a common option. Soft, large, and packed with a rich sweetness, they make the perfect star of this sweet snack show.

Chocolate, in a way, is the opposite of this fruit. It's bold, dark, a little nutty, and distinctively bittersweet. These harsh edges play off the dates' charming, sweet tone, and you get a snack that adorns the allure of a grand, decadent dessert — all gathered in bite-sized pieces that are so easy to make.

The process starts with lightly pressing down on the sliced and pitted dates. Hurdle them together and overlap them so they stick together and create a "sheet" of dates. Then, microwave the chocolate and oil together at 30-second intervals to get melted chocolate. Once done, drizzle it over the dates. After a few hours of setting in the fridge or freezer, your date bark should be ready.

Those three ingredients are the baseline, but you can always do more, like mixing different types of chocolate. It doesn't seem like much, but this swirling trick can give you even richer barks. If it's not more chocolate you want, how about peanut butter or tahini? These additions add extra richness and highlight the bark's nutty undertone. Pistachio cream or butter is another stellar pick should you want to add a light touch of sophistication to the bark.

You can also jazz the bark up with a wide array of toppings. Scatter a little extra crunch across the bark with any chopped nuts you prefer — walnuts, peanuts, etc. With dark chocolate as the backdrop, you can use colorful ingredients to dress up the bark. Go with pistachios for vibrant pops of green, orange zest to add those tiny zingy flecks, or add a whimsical touch with rose petals. And despite already having the dates, fresh (or dried) fruits are never off the table, so bring them right in. The more the merrier!