Healthy Date and Walnut Cookies

These healthy date and walnut cookies aren't the prettiest cookies. They may actually be the UGLIEST Cookies I've ever made, but they are crazy delicious and packed with 9g of protein in each cookie (which is a pretty big deal)!

Healthy Date and Walnut Cookies

I'm always on the lookout for healthy snacks to pack in the kids and hubbies lunchboxes. And, of course, something snack-y I can enjoy with a hot cuppa after school drop off. So being nut lovers, these walnut cookies are perfect.

Flour free, dairy-free and with a prep time of less than 10 minutes and a total time of 30 mins, these are an easy, healthy win.

Pre Clean Eating days I would simply pop a store bought muesli bar in their bag, and I must admit it was so easy. I think I'd struggle to eat healthy if I didn't have a stash of easy recipes to make at home.

I definitely spend  more time in the kitchen than I used to. Which took a little getting used to at first. But over time, I've learned a few shortcuts like how important it is to Meal Prep Weekly, batch cook and keep some trusty recipes around that I can make in a few minutes. 

I prep all my snacks for the week in one session. Generally on a Sunday afternoon while I'm cooking dinner. This doesn't mean making up a ton of little snack bags. I'm not that organised.

Every week I make up a Meal plan and this includes my planned snacks. Obviously, things don't always go to plan (and the kids get carrot sticks three days in a row). But generally I like to prep two batches of easy snacks that I just pop into lunchboxes in the morning.

These Date and Nut Cookies are perfect for lunchbox prepping.

Keep them in an airtight container in the fridge and they will last all week. The only fussy thing about it is you will have to get out your food processor. I keep mine ready to go with the food processing blade (think that's what its called) in tact. I hardly ever use the other attachments.

Nut Cookie Ingredients

For these nut cookies I've used a mixture of nuts, dates and honey for natural sweetness. You could add a teaspoon vanilla extract if you like it. The basic cookie dough recipe (although it's not a regular cookie dough) can be added to. You could add some chocolate chips or even chopped apple to make them a little more chewy.

This is a forgiving recipe so play around with it!

Dates

I use pitted dates and have the processor break them up so there's no 'lumps'. That's important in this house! Their natural sweetness means I add very little honey as the dates provide this in bucket loads.

Occasionally i'll use Medjool dates if they're on offer and not too expensive. They tend to be sweeter and more caramel tasting than regular dates but they're usually super pricey too, so I don't buy them that often.

Use whatever you have, they all add that delicious kid friendly sweet hit :)

Nuts

The nuts you use doesn't matter at all. They'll all be processed in the same way so they're broken down. Some are more expensive than others and being a frugal cook I always look for the best value, so don't worry if you don't have or can't get hold of exactly what I have.

Pecans always feel special, so it's a treat if they go in, likewise Pistachios. Yum :)

Healthy Date and Walnut Cookies Recipe Notes

Step 1 Process the dates: So,  you've got your food processor ready to go. Pour in your dates and process until they are shredded into bits. They don't need to be smooth because theses cookies are all about chunky.

Step 2: Add Remaining Ingredients and Process to a chunky mix: Add your selection of nuts (200g in total), peanut butter, honey and eggs and process everything for a few seconds. Your mix should look like this picture below - not too smooth - you want to see your nuts:  

Step 3 Spoon onto baking tray : Spoon onto an oven tray lines with a baking sheet. It's a little sticky. Aim for a walnut sized ball. Feel free to flatten slightly if you want more of a cookie shape. 

Step 4: Bake at a medium heat 150'C / 300F for 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them in the final few minutes so that they don't over brown. Burnt nuts are NOT forgiving.

Allow to cool completely before storing. I keep mine in an airtight container in the fridge. These are my new favorite containers right now.

The best thing about these cookies (aside from tasting super yum!) are that they are big and satisfying with 9g of protein in each cookie! 

Storing Nut Cookies

Once these cookies have cooled down to room temperature I keep them in an airtight container for up to a week, in the fridge.

While cookies are not something I usually keep cold, these are a different kinda cookie and I find they keep their crunch better if they're allowed to stay cold. As long as they're airtight, they're fine to keep out of the fridge, try it out and see which you prefer.

How To Make Healthy Date and Walnut Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup Dried Dates pitted
• ¾ cup Peanut Butter 180g
• ¼ cup Peanuts 30g
• ¼ cup Hazelnuts 30g
• ¼ cup Almonds 30g
• ¼ cup Cashews 40g
• ¼ cup Pumpkin seeds 30g
• ¼ cup Sunflower seeds 30g
• 1 tablespoon Honey
• 2 Large eggs
• Pinch of salt optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 150C/300F
• Line a baking tray with parchment paper
• Process the dates for a few seconds to break them up. Doesn't need to be be smooth, unless your kids are fussy about date bits - in that case you can process to a paste.
• Add remaining ingredients (peanut butter, nuts, honey and eggs)and process to a chunky mix. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon mid way through if it's sticking to the sides to the processor bowl. See my image in the blog post above for idea on consistency)
• Spoon walnut size amounts onto the prepared baking sheet, or use a cookie scoop if you have one. Bake for 20 minutes @ 150C/300F. Keep an eye on the cookies in the final minutes of baking to prevent the nuts from over browning.
• Allow to cool completely before storing.

Notes

• The Recipe needs 1 and a half cups of nuts. You can use any combination of nuts.

Healthy Date and Walnut Cookie Recipe