Chocolate brownies are always a real treat to both make and eat, and these chocolate and date brownies are absolutely divine!
They came into being after I found a bag of dried dates, and thought these would work wonderfully in a chocolate brownie because of their lovely, fudgy flavour. And they did! The dates also meant I could use less sugar to sweeten the brownies, which is of course a bonus.
I don’t often share sweet recipes so I hope you will enjoy this one! It’s perfect with a cup of ginger tea on the side.
I made mine in muffin cases because I realised half way through making them that I didn’t have any greaseproof paper – you could of course make them the traditional way in a large tin, slicing them after they are cooked.
These will take you 30 minutes and will make 12 large brownies.
Ingredients, Substitutions and Variations
- Unsalted butter – you can use salted, but it will really up the sweetness of the recipe.
- Cooking chocolate – you can use either milk or dark.
- Pitted dates – any type will do. I like mejool.
- Brown sugar – this works really well in this recipe because it gives that fudgy flavour. You can use dark or light brown sugar.
- Baking powder – for the rise.
- Plain flour – use white flour.
- Eggs – three medium/large eggs is enough.
- Vanilla essence – try to use a natural one.
- Honeycomb – optional.
Top Tips
- Melting the chocolate and butter Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. This melts them gently and stops them from splitting.
- Stir well You want to make sure the brownie mixture is well combined – no lumps of flour in the mix! It is better to do it by hand rather than with a food processor though, because you don’t want to overwork it.
- Baking the chocolate and date brownies Because I made mine individually, they only needed 20 minutes of cooking time. If you make one large brownie, give it an extra 10 minutes to cook properly.
Chocolate and Date Brownies
Ingredients Â
- 140 g unsalted butter
- 160 g cooking chocolate
- 140 g dried pitted dates, chopped
- 90 g brown sugar
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 160 g plain flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Smashed honeycomb to sprinkle on top (optional)
InstructionsÂ
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
- Bring a pan of water to a simmer and place a mixing bowl on top. Gently melt the butter and chocolate in the bowl.
- Weigh out the sugar, flour and baking powder and place in a large bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat together.
- Mix the chopped dates into the chocolate and butter mix, then add it to the flour mix. Stir well to combine, then spit evenly between your muffin cases.
- Sprinkle each brownie with a little smashed honeycomb, then bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Allow to cool before tucking in.
More chocolate recipes to enjoy:
- Christmas Chocolate Brownies
- The Best Chocolate Tiffin
- Chocolate and Blackberry Brownies
- Chocolate and Date Brownies
- Chocolate Orange Cookies (No Butter)
- Cherry, Pecan and Dark Chocolate Baked Oats
Love chocolate and dates together!
I haven’t had brownies in so long! Love that these look tasty and have the natural sugars from dates to flavor them!
One word, YUM! These look gorgeous.
Oh yum, I like dates in brownies but haven’t tried it myself. Will have to give it a go. I also made brownies today but mine were a lot naughtier!
OOOO I love this idea! I have to try it as soon as I am back from Toronto!
These look delicious, I can’t wait for healthy January to be over and bake these.
These look lovely! I love ‘single-serve’ cakes and brownies – helps with portion control 🙂
Haha so true!
My mother used to bake a date chocolate cake, it was more like a brownie texture and I remember I loved it. She lost the recipe we’ve looked and looked without any luck. This will be a perfect replacement! 🙂
Hi Lety, that’s great! If you do make it, I’d love to hear if it’s similar to your mum’s recipe 🙂
I will for sure!!
Harriet, your photos are so enticing – I can almost taste the chocolate-y goodness! Funny, I went to the farmers market with my sister yesterday, & she bought honeycomb. I had no idea what to use it for, so clever!
Thanks Jeanne, that’s lovely to hear!
Looks like a wonderful treat on a rainy day!
Thanks Bernice 🙂
You have such perfect timing with this post! I had a brownie disaster last night and I am still searching for a really good brownie recipe!
Great! I hope you enjoy this one 🙂