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Living Well Mom

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Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars {Grain-Free, Dairy-Free, Refined-Sugar Free}

By Erika in Christmas

Christmas Christmas Cookies Christmas recipes dairy-free gluten-free grain free refined sugar-freeThis post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free! this idea now...

A date bar isn’t the most glamorous of desserts, but if you’ve ever tried one, you know just how delicious they are. And if you haven’t? Then you need to try this super easy Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars recipe as soon as possible. Because they are amazing.

My mom used to make Raisin Date Bars every Christmas and it was one of her favorite cookie recipes. Admittedly, I wasn’t quite as impressed as a kid, then again when you get to pick two Christmas cookies what kid isn’t going to choose a frosted cut-out or chocolate buckeye over a date bar? But when I got a little older, I discovered just what a gem this recipe is. Even with less sugar than most Christmas cookies, Raisin Date Bars are incredibly tasty and make my top 5 Christmas Cookie list.

Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

This year, I was determined to create a Paleo version of Raisin Date Bars. The raisin and date part was easy – they’re already Paleo. Of course moderation is important here, just with any food, because raisins and dates are high in natural sugars. But the crust and topping was a bit more challenging given that the old version had oats as a primary ingredient.

Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

I experimented with at least six different varieties before settling on this perfect version. I am so happy with how well this recipe turned out. It’s everything I hoped for and then some!

Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

Instead of oatmeal, I substituted coconut flakes and instead of regular flour, I used coconut and almond flours. And there’s only a little bit of “sugar” in this Paleo-friendly recipe, just 1/4 cup of coconut sugar.
Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

Ready?

Here’s my step-by-step directions for how to make Raisin Date Bars:

Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

Related: Looking for more gluten-free Christmas cookies? Check out this list of 45+ to inspire you!

Raisin Date Bars recipe:

What You’ll Need:

  • 20 dates
  • ¾ cup raisins
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup walnuts, chopped
  • ⅓ cup palm shortening
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
  • ¼ cup coconut sugar
  • ½ cup almond flour
  • ½ cup coconut flour
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup coconut flakes, divided

Heat your oven to 400 degrees, then dice 20 dates (a little more than a cup) in your food processor.

Don’t buy the sweetened chopped dates, get regular Medjool dates. I prefer this brand because they’re not expensive and are pitted.

Ideally, you’ll want to soak the dates for about 20-30 minutes ahead of time because they’ll be easier to chop. But if you’re like me, you won’t remember to do that until you are ready to make the recipe NOW so go ahead and skip that step. You’ll just need to process a bit longer, maybe 1 or 2 minutes.

Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

Add the dates, 3/4 cups raisins, and 1 cup water to a small saucepan and stir.

Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

Heat to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

layout of printable recipe binder pages

Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

Turn the heat down to low and continue to cook until thickened, about 10 minutes.

Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

Add the chopped walnuts and stir.

Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

Turn the heat off and set the pan aside.

While your dates are cooking, you can make the crust and topping. It’s the same mixture, so it’s super easy.

Add the shortening, coconut oil, and coconut sugar to your food processor and pulse a few times.

Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

Scrape down the sides, then add the almond flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda, and ¾ cup of coconut flakes. Pulse a few times until mixed well.
Pulse again, scraping the side, and pulse one more time.
Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

Spoon 1/2 to 2/3 of the mixture into an 8×8″ baking dish. Press into the bottom of the pan. You should use just enough to cover the bottom.
Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

Spread the date mixture over the crust.
Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

Sprinkle this over the date filling and press down lightly. You might not have quite enough to cover the top completely and that’s fine.

Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

Bake for 12-15 minutes until the top is slightly browned. Watch carefully at the end as the topping will brown very quickly.
Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

You’re supposed to let the bars cool completely before digging in, but I can never wait that long. They are so so good!
Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!
Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

Print

Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars {Grain-Free, Dairy-Free, Refined-Sugar Free}

Print Recipe

★★★★★

4.7 from 3 reviews

Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

  • Author: Erika Bragdon at LivingWellMom.com
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 12 mins
  • Total Time: 27 mins
  • Yield: 18-20 bars 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 20 dates
  • 3/4 cup raisins
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1/3 cup palm shortening
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup coconut flakes, divided

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Dice the dates in your food processor. If you soak them first, it will be easier to dice, but if you’re like me, you’ll forget to do that ahead of time, so just go ahead and dice them. You may need to pulse for 1-2 minutes.
  3. Add the dates, raisins, and water to a saucepan on medium heat. Heat to a boil, stirring occasionally. Turn the heat to low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened (about 10 minutes.) Stir in the walnuts, then turn the heat off, and set aside.
  4. While the date mixture is cooking, add the shortening, coconut oil, and coconut sugar to your food processor and pulse. Scrape down the sides, then add the almond flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda, and 3/4 cup of coconut flakes. Pulse again, scraping the side, and pulse one more time.
  5. Spoon about 1/2 to 2/3 the mixture into a square 8×8″ baking dish. It should just cover the bottom. Pat down. Spread the date filling over the top.
  6. Add 1/4 cup of coconut flakes to the remaining crumb mixture and pulse again. Sprinkle over the top of the date mixture, pressing down lightly. Don’t worry about a few spots if you don’t have quite enough to cover the dates completely.
  7. Bake until the top is light brown about 12-15 minute. Watch carefully at the end as the topping will brown very quickly.
  8. Cool completely before enjoying (if you can wait that long!)

Old Fashioned Raisin Date Bars made Paleo style! This remade family favorite classic recipe is oh-so-good with a chewy date center and coconut flake almond flour crust and topping. You’ll never guess it’s grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!

 

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    Filed Under: Christmas, Desserts, Paleo, Recipes, Seasonal Tagged With: Christmas, Christmas Cookies, Christmas recipes, dairy-free, gluten-free, grain free, refined sugar-freePublished on December 14, 2015

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    About Erika

    Erika Bragdon is a second-generation homeschooling mom with 3 kids at home and 1 in college. She lives in the beautiful hills of New Hampshire on a small farm and loves writing, baking, nature, and sharing flower essences and more natural solutions with moms.

    Comments

    1. Ellen Christian says

      December 14, 2015 at 4:30 pm

      This sounds really good. I love that there is no refined sugar in the recipe!

      Reply
    2. Aubrey says

      December 15, 2015 at 12:41 am

      These look pretty good. Probably pretty healthy for you too. I’ll have to try them out.

      Reply
    3. Jennifer says

      December 15, 2015 at 8:58 am

      Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I always love a tasty snack that’s healthy and can power me when I’m on the go.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    4. Ladena says

      December 15, 2015 at 2:05 pm

      These look great! I bet my family would love them. I really like that your are using coconut flakes (and more) in this recipe!

      ★★★★

      Reply
    5. Scott says

      December 15, 2015 at 7:23 pm

      I’ve never been much into dates, but my wife loves them. Will have to show her how easy they are to make!

      Reply
    6. Christi says

      December 22, 2017 at 7:51 pm

      These are absolutely amazing! We all loved these. They are very close to the raisin date bars we grew up with nick named “bet you can’t eat just one” cookies. Thank you so much!!! You gave us an amazing Christmas Gift!

      ★★★★★

      Reply

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