Date Bark With Pretzels
Date bark is a healthy sweet treat that tastes somewhere between a Take 5 candy bar and a snickers bar. It’s salty, sweet, chewy, and crunchy. This easy chocolate date bark recipe is dairy free and can easily be made gluten free.
Looking for more easy sweet treats? Try my peanut butter rice crispy treats with chocolate, 3 ingredient peanut butter cheerio bars, or edible cookie dough bites (no bake).
What You’ll Love About This Recipe
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this sweet and salty date bark:
- Chewy medjool dates – the perfect base for this healthy dessert. They have a chewy texture and a caramel-like flavor
- Crunchy or creamy peanut butter – the ingredients should only be peanuts and salt. I used creamy because it’s what I had on hand, but I typically prefer crunchy for more texture. Alternatively, you can make homemade peanut butter.
- Melted chocolate – I used dairy free chocolate chips.
- Refined coconut oil – a small amount helps achieve a glossier finish and also helps the chocolate harden.
- Salty pretzels – use gluten-free pretzels if needed. These add a delicious extra crunch.
How to Make Viral Date Bark: Step By Step
Here are some quick visual instructions. The full instructions and ingredient list will be in the printable recipe card below!
- Arrange dates. Flatten the pitted dates and place them side by side with the sticky side up on a piece of parchment paper. Use your fingers to squish them together so there’s no space in between, making a semi-rectangular shape.
- Roll out. Place another piece of parchment paper on top of the flattened dates then use a rolling pin to roll out the dates into one thin layer. Remove the top sheet of parchment paper.
- Add peanut butter. Spoon the peanut butter into a thin layer over the rolled out dates.
- Melt chocolate. Melt chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals, stirring in between until smooth. Pour the melted chocolate on top of the peanut butter layer and smooth into a thin layer.
- Add pretzels. Sprinkle crushed pretzels over the top of the chocolate.
- Chill. Place in the freezer to chill completely. The colder they are, the more easily you can remove the parchment paper and have one solid date bark sheet.
- Cut into squares. Use a sharp knife to cut the date chocolate bark into squares. Enjoy!
Helpful Tips
- Add the pretzels while the chocolate is still warm so they stick to chocolate layer.
- Store the date bark in the fridge, not the freezer. The dates become too hard if stored in the freezer for too long beyond the initial freezing stage.
- Use well-stirred peanut butter. Not the dry stuff at the bottom of the jar.
Quick Tip: If the dates aren’t squished together enough, they’ll stick to the top parchment paper, making it difficult to remove.
Storage
Store date bark in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to enjoy.
Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations
Please remember that recipes are just a starting point.
How can you make this easy date bark recipe using what you already have? Here are some ideas…
- No peanut butter? – can also use almond butter, cashew butter, hazelnut butter, pistachio butter, etc. Pistachio cream would also be ridiculously good.
- No coconut oil? – just leave it out.
- No pretzels? – you could also sprinkle salted roasted pumpkin seeds or crunchy nuts such as chopped peanuts, chopped pistachios, etc. or crushed salty crackers or chips over the top for a similar texture and salty flavor.
- Make it nut free – use sunflower seed butter or granola butter.
- Make date crunch bark – Mix the chocolate with crumbled rice cakes.
Frequently Asked Questions
For the best texture, I recommend storing it in the fridge. It becomes too soft when stored at room temperature and starts to stick together.
Date bark is a viral recipe that took social media by storm. It has a layer of pitted sweet medjool dates, nut butter, and melted chocolate with flaky sea salt on top.
More Easy Dessert Recipes
- Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats With Chocolate
- 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cheerio Bars
- Edible Cookie Dough Bites (No Bake)
- 3 Ingredient Date Snickers
I hope you love this Date Bark! If you make this recipe, please leave a comment & a star rating below. Thank you!
Date Bark With Pretzels
Ingredients
- 12 pitted medjool dates
- ¼ cup crunchy or creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup dairy free chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon refined coconut oil optional
- crushed salted pretzels use GF if needed
Instructions
- Arrange dates. Flatten the pitted dates and place them side by side with the sticky side up on a piece of parchment paper. Use your fingers to squish them together so there's no space in between, making a semi-rectangular shape.
- Roll out. Place another piece of parchment paper on top of the flattened dates then use a rolling pin to roll out the dates into one thin layer. Remove the top sheet of parchment paper.
- Add peanut butter. Spoon the peanut butter into a thin layer over the rolled out dates.
- Melt chocolate. Melt chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl with refined coconut oil in 30-second intervals, stirring in between until smooth. Pour the melted chocolate on top of the peanut butter layer and smooth into a thin layer.
- Add pretzels. Sprinkle crushed pretzels over the top of the chocolate.
- Chill. Place in the freezer to chill completely, about 30 minutes. The colder they are, the more easily you can remove the parchment paper and have one solid date bark sheet.
- Cut into squares. Use a sharp knife to cut the date chocolate bark into squares. Enjoy!