TikTok's Viral Date Bark Apparently Tastes Just Like A Snickers Bar
If you didn't know any better, you might think dates are a boring fruit with few uses. In reality, dates are a super sweet fruit with some truly remarkable health benefits. What's even better is that dates can be transformed into healthier versions of your favorite candies and treats, and there's a new recipe circulating that claims to transform dates into a bark that tastes just like a Snickers bar.
A now-viral TikTok video shows how to make the date bark, and people are eating it up. The video's creator starts by removing the pits from two dozen dates, but you can always buy pitted dates as well if you aren't feeling like pitting every single one. Then, she lines a sheet pan with parchment paper, adds the dates in a grid format, and uses the bottom of a glass cup to smush them down and together. Next comes melted peanut butter that she pours over the dates and then a sprinkling of chopped almonds to add an extra layer of crunch. The final steps are pouring melted chocolate over everything, spreading it out, adding some flaky sea salt, and placing the bark in the freezer for 30 minutes so that it can solidify. The result is a chewy, chocolatey, and crunchy bark that tastes like a Snickers, but is even better.
Why turn dates into candy?
What makes this hack better than just eating a Snickers bar? According to the Cleveland Clinic, dates bring many nutritional benefits to the table that your sugary Snickers bar cannot. One serving of dates contains many of the minerals and vitamins your body needs in high amounts — 23% of your recommended daily value of potassium, for example, whereas Snickers bars only have 4% of the recommendation per serving. Dates also have a high fiber content – which means good things for your gut health — and are filled with antioxidants that studies show fight free radicals that can cause chronic illnesses.
@feelgoodfoodie It you love datesnickers, you're going to love this date bark recipe! It's sweet and salty and all kinds of yummy! I saw this on @Nicole K. Modic's page and I had to try it. Recipe created by @lina 🙌 #datebark #snackideas
Like all good recipes, there are also lots of variations out there. The viral TikTok's description actually credits another creator named Lina with the recipe for the viral bark and Lina has posted numerous date bark recipes featuring different flavors, like crunchy date bark made with walnuts, and tahini halva date bark. Other variations across social media include sprinkling peanuts before the melted chocolate for an added layer of crunch and, in the spirit of fall, using pumpkin puree in place of peanut butter and sprinkling pumpkin spice on top. The possibilities are endless!