Hannah always comes up with the most clever recipe names! These wholesome, crispy, Double Date Chocolate Chip Bars are definitely made for sharing, since they’re naturally dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, and soy-free. But the name actually comes from the sweeteners that she uses – date syrup and date sugar. These natural sweeteners provide a warm, mellow flavor that isn’t too sugary. If you don’t have them no hand, other natural sweeteners can be substituted. Recommended options are included in the recipe below.
Special Diet Notes: Double Date Chocolate Chip Bars
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, and vegetarian.
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1½ cups crispy brown rice cereal
- ½ cup wheat germ
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup date syrup (can sub ½ molasses and ½ maple syrup, or your liquid sweetener of choice)
- ¼ cup date sugar (can sub coconut sugar, maple sugar, or sucanat)
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
- Preheat your oven to 325°F and lightly grease a 9x9-inch baking pan.
- In a large bowl, stir together the oats, rice cereal, wheat germ, salt, and cinnamon.
- In a medium sauce pan, whisk together the date syrup, date sugar, and coconut oil, and place the pan over medium heat. Cool until the sugar has dissolved, and the mixture is just on the brink of boiling. Whisk in the vanilla, and quickly pour the hot syrup over the dry ingredients in your bowl. Mix gently but thoroughly to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips. (Adding them last helps to prevent them from melting, but if you’d prefer an all-over chocolate bar, go ahead and add them first to the syrup, let them sit for a moment to melt, and then stir everything together.)
- Scrape the mixture into your prepared pan, and use lightly greased hands or a non-stick spatula to firmly press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan.
- Bake for about 15 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Let cool completely in the pan before turning out onto a cutting board and slicing into bars.