A few years ago one of my colleagues brought this book to work, she is gluten intolerant and is an excellent baker and recipe developer. We were all skeptical at first and then one by one we caved and bought the book. I do not stick to a low carb diet as you can see from my Instagram page and most of these recipes (lol) but when I do bake I try to incorporate the same  ideas of low carb living into my baking. We all ended up adapting this recipe to suit our preferences but the key ingredients remain the same. I have written the adapted version of this recipe but the original can be found in Ine Reynierse’s book Low Carb is Lekker, found here on Takealot. She has since come out with a second book, which I still need to get my hands on.

Booster Bars

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup pitted dates
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1.5 cups nut meal (see tips)
• 1 cup fine desiccated coconut
• 1 cup coconut flakes (see tips)
• 2 Tb cocoa powder
• 2 Tsp baking powder
• 1 heaped tsp coffee
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice (see tips)
• handful chocolate chips (see tips)

Method:

1. Soak the dates in boiling water for a few minutes to soften, then strain. In a blender place the dates, melted butter and eggs and blend.
2. Combine all the other dry ingredients and mix together with the date mixture.
3. Spray and cook a square 23cm pan and spread the mixture out evenly.
4. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 20 – 25 minutes until it springs back but is not dry.
5. Cut into squares or finger shapes and enjoy!

Tips:

While these are refined sugar and gluten free, the dates are high on the glycemic index and should be eaten sparingly. One square a day at tea time is usually enough as a snack to get me through to lunch.

You can use any nut meal for the 1.5 cups. I usually use sunflower seeds as it is the cheapest but if you’re feeling flashy use almond, pumpkin seed etc. I don’t react well to flaxseeds but those are good too. You can even use a mixture of whatever you have at home.

Instead of coconut flakes I often use two different types of coconut (medium & fine). I find the coconut flakes can be difficult to cut and I don’t get a nice shape.

You can add dark chocolate pieces, ground ginger, cranberries, chocolate chips or anything else that you feel like adding. Just don’t add too much or your mixture will be dry. I usually keep the chocolate chips to a handful.

You want your bars to still be moist inside so don’t bake them for too long!