"healthier", Easier Chocolate Diet Snack

These are still a great snack if you are on a diet, because they are sweet and nutty and chocolatey BUT you can't eat more than a couple at a time because of the results (dates are a natural laxative). By adding a range of nuts instead of just almonds, using already roasted nuts and using the microwave to melt the chocolate I think I've made this healthy and easy.

Step 1: Ingredients

dates
roasted unsalted mixed nuts (no peanuts)
good dark cooking chocolate
rolling pin
tea towel
knife
spoon

Step 2: Nuts

I had planned to just fold the teatowel into 3 before hitting the nuts with the rolling pin, but the nuts flew out of the ends. So I folded the ends in before hitting it again.

Step 3: Cut and Fill

I cut the dates and filled them with the nuts, I didn't need the spoon and filled the dates by hand.

Step 4: Chocolate

I have recently read that melting chocolate in the microwave is better than over steam because there is no chance of water getting in. When I melted it I made sure the chocolate was broken into similar size bits, then melted it at half power for 1 minute; because you sometimes can't tell when it is melted I took it out and checked it. It wasn't melted so I put it back in for 10 sec intervals, testing it every time.

Step 5: Chocolate and More Nuts

dip the dates into chocolate and then into the nuts

Step 6: Finished

I took them to dinner and they were decorated beautifully by Jess.

Step 7: Finished More

They were delicious but didn't look quite chocolatey enough - and there was chocolate left over, so I redipped a couple.

Comments

[grannyjones]

If you like cinnamon, try Saigon cinnamon. Yum.

[suayres]

And you know, I think your recipe would be even more awesome with the addition of spice--cardamom would be sublime. So would cinnamon and/or allspice.

[alialexander]

aaah cinnamon - the sneaky spice. I find it sneaks into many things, but the way I like it (kind of the only way I like it) is Cinnamon Toast, and now I realise that I will have to do an instructable on my version of Cinnamon Toast.

[flyingpuppy]

Healthier? Easy? Chocolate? I'm in!

[suayres]

They look and sound yummy! An alternate marriage is dates, chopped nuts, and the sharpest cheddar cheese you can find. When my hub & I were 1st married, his folks said they always had stuffed dates for Xmas. I decided to make some, but didn't have a recioe, so I came up with the aforementioned mix. When I brought them, they were really surprised, because they alway stuffed them with fondqnt (I thought that would be WAY too sweet). Everyone like them so much, they became the ne family tradition!

[scoochmaroo]

Lovely! I think the "decorated by Jess" picture would make a more eye-catching main image.