Welcome to anyone who is new to my wine blog… especially to those who have found your way here through @coffee_and_crayons_blog. I wanted to get this recipe posted somewhere so I had a way to share it with others. While it doesn’t incorporate wine, it’s one that I make often and is one of my favorite whole food snacks. This is my smaller “snack-size” spin on one that is posted on Brittany’s @EatingBirdFood . Note: my ingredients list is vague for a reason. If you want to use 3 dates and make 12 bites, you’ll need less ingredients than if you use 7 dates and make 28 bites. I don’t typically measure this recipe and like to “use the force”, as my husband so says. My Snickers Bites don’t look incredibly swoon-worthy, but they’re delicious! See Photo #1 below.

Ingredients:
Medjool dates
Whole dry-roasted almonds (or pecans)
Peanut butter (the drippy kind where peanuts are the only ingredient)
Chocolate Chips (I either use semi-sweet or dark chocolate)
Coconut oil

Directions:
1. Line a cookie tray with a piece of parchment paper. Slice your dates into fourths and lay on the prepared tray, leaving enough room in case things get “messy”.
2. Press a single nut on each quarter piece of date. See Photo #2
3. Spoon a small amount of peanut butter on each date. Pop in the freezer to allow the peanut butter to harden. Try not to get excess peanut butter on the parchment, since it will be discarded if it’s not *on* the bite. Once hardened, I flip the bites over before adding the chocolate. This is completely unnecessary, but I think it’s pretty. See Photo #3
4. Warm up the chips with a small amount of coconut oil until smooth. I use a silicone measuring cup and microwave in 30 second increments until the chips and oil have melted together.
5. Spoon (or drizzle) a small amount of the chocolate mixture on top of each date… this is where it can get really messy and where you’ll be glad of a little space between each bite. Once all the bites are covered to your liking in chocolate, pop the tray back into the freezer to harden. See Photo #4
6. Once your snickers bites are hard enough, you can remove them from the tray and store them in a ziplock bag in your freezer. See Photo #5 below.

Photo #1 – completed Snickers Bite

Photo # 2 – dates are quartered and a single almond is pressed into each

Photo #3 – Photo of bites, first with peanut butter and then with the bites flipped over, ready for the chocolate layer

Photo #4 – chocolate layer with a bit of drizzle – now they head back to the freezer

Photo #5 – completed Snickers Bites, nicely hardened and ready to eat.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. It’s one that I make every week or so and one that doesn’t seem to require a lot of thought or planning, provided I keep all the main ingredients on hand. You can certainly adjust this recipe to fit your own preferences – I’ve used dry-roasted pecans instead of almonds (just as delicious) but highly recommend using the larger Medjool dates rather than the smaller “pitted dates” you might find in large bags at a store like BJ’s.