It’s the weekend again, which means it’s time to make some healthy sweet treats! These healthy chocolate-raspberry fudge bars were soooo decadent and rich tasting. They are also 100% vegan, dairy-free, refined-sugar free, and made with only natural whole food ingredients. All of their sweetness comes from the banana, raspberries, and a handful of dates – that’s it. I’m finding out more and more that when it comes to healthy desserts all you really need is a small amount of fruit to make something taste sweet. So many dessert recipes call for added sugar, brown sugar, syrups, etc. I stay away from these ingredients at all cost. Instead, I favor the natural sugars found in fruit and (occasionally) maple syrup, to make delicious guilt-free treats.
It’s a proven fact that sugar has an addictive effect on the body. The more we have of it the more our body’s crave it. When you meet people who claim to have an overactive “sweet tooth” chances are sugar is just a very prominent part of their diet, and so they crave it often because it is there. Once I started detoxing on how much sugar I was eating I realized that my sweet tooth cravings went waaaaay way down. I simply didn’t feel like eating sweets as often, and when I did have something that was super sugary it either gave me a headache, stomachache, or both. Now the occasional sugars I get from fruit in my morning smoothies, or sweet treats like these healthy chocolate-raspberry fudge bars are all the sweets I need. No added sugar required!
So back to the recipe. If you’re looking to make an easy dessert this weekend that is chocolatey, rich, and healthy look no further!
Chocolate-Raspberry Fudge Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup pitted dates
- 1/2 cup almonds unsalted
- 1/4 cup walnuts unsalted
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1 cup of fresh or frozen raspberries
- 4 tbsp natural almond butter
Instructions
- Put dates in a bowl with warm water, allow dates to soak for 30 minutes, then drain.
- For the crust: Mix together dates, almonds, walnuts, and 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder in your blender/food processor and mix until well blended.
- Spread this mixture in a 9×5 baking pan (or 8×8) until evenly distributed – pressing down gently with a spoon or your fingers to cover the pan for your crust.
- For the filling: Mix together bananas, (thawed) raspberries, almond butter, and other 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder in your blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour this mixture over your crust layer until evenly distributed.
- Place in freezer for 2-4 hours or overnight.
Depending on how ‘firm’ you want your fudge bars to be you could leave them in the freezer for less time or more time. Once they’re ready cut them into squares and enjoy! I kept my squares in the freezer and just grabbed one when I wanted a treat throughout the week. And if you binged and ate a bunch of them at once, all you’ve really eaten is some nuts, banana, and raspberries.
Inspiration for this recipe came from Chocolate-covered Katie. If you try my recipe let me know how you like it! Healthy chocolate-raspberry fudge bars for the win. : )
