Healthy Peanut Butter ‘Cookie Dough’ Bites {vegan}

I have two terrible habits when it comes to buying groceries: 1) I will buy an ingredient for absolutely no reason other than it looks appealing in the moment and then said ingredient sits there until I scramble to figure out what to do with it 2) I will buy an ingredient with the intent of making a specific dish and then put the ingredient out of sight/out of mind and eventually realize said ingredient is now past the sell by date or about to expire and then have to scramble to figure out what to do with it. This tale is of the latter.

Weeks ago I purchased medjool dates with the specific intent of making my own Hemp milk, promptly placed the dates inside my cupboard and then promptly forgot about them. Until yesterday when I was looking for something else within the confines of my cupboard and came across these dates. I was past the point of wanting or needing to make Hemp milk. I glanced at the sell by realized I had 24 hours to ensure I made something with fresh-ish dates and then set about trying desperately to come up with a quick and easy dessert for which I could use up my unopened package of Medjool dates.

I didn’t search very far when I found a winner at Wholefully. It was the simplest recipe ever using dates, peanuts and salt whirled together to create a peanut butter flavored cookie ball of sorts. I modified the recipe slightly to ensure it did indeed taste like a peanut butter cookie by adding some actual peanut butter.

You can make this dish in 15 minutes or less, from start (processing the ingredients) to finish (rolling the ingredients into bites of dough). This snack is healthy, vegan and perfectly suitable to satisfy your sweet tooth.

ingredients.

½ lb pitted Medjool dates (about 17 dates)
1 c. unsalted roasted peanuts
pinch of Kosher salt
2 to 4 T. peanut butter (I used reduced fat but would have preferred a natural peanut butter)

directions.

Add dates, peanuts and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until peanuts are chopped finely. Add peanut butter one tablespoon at a time mixing thoroughly between each addition until you’ve reached your desired texture. You should be able to easily pinch the dough together to form a ball.
Using damp hands, form mixture into 1″ balls. Store in an airtight container in your refrigerator. Makes approximately 16 balls of healthy cookie dough.