Pecan Pie Bars

Last Friday, I graduated from high school. It was a strange and anti-climactic experience to say the least, but I am glad it's over, I think. Starting the first week of AP exams, my classes have been over. I have been doing my Senior Project (working at home to prepare content for this site) for a week and a half, and now suddenly I am no longer in high school. I had already graduated mentally a while ago, but being in the actual ceremony was both frightening and totally boring.

I am more free now than I have been in a while, since I have virtually no school work to do and hardly any places to be. I don't have a whole lot of things planned for this summer, and that's really exciting for me. It's a true privilege to have graduated high school and be waiting to attend college and not have much else to worry about. I am super grateful for everything.

I am super grateful for the amount of food and supplies I have access to in my kitchen and in the stores nearby. Maybe that's why I value simple sets of ingredients and easy methods to make recipes. Nothing turns me away from a new recipe like an ingredient list that's super long or has stuff I can't easily buy.

I first made these Pecan Pie Bars a few weeks ago by accident, as is true for most of the recipes I share here. I combined dates and pecans and it had a subtle maple flavor that reminded me so much of the flavor of pecan pies  that I felt guilty eating it for breakfast. But the guilt wore away in a few minutes, so don't worry. The ingredients are super simple (two wholesome foods + water), and the result is even better than the dates and pecans separately.

I adore this recipe for its dark sweetness and lovely taste, but also for its super simple list of ingredients. No, dates and pecans are not cheap, but the amount of calories and nutrients you get from them is pretty good for the amount. But I justify buying these ingredients by telling myself that this recipe is a treat and not intended to be anyone's daily breakfast food. I could be spending my money on something that's worse for me and not as fun to prepare.

Pecan Pie Bars
(makes 12 bars)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of pecan pieces
• 8 dates (I used medjool dates.)
• 2 tablespoons of hot water

Directions: 

1. Cut the dates into little pieces, and place them in a bowl. Pour the hot water over the pieces and let it soak for 5 minutes.
2.  While the dates are soaking, grind the pecan pieces in a blender for just a few seconds. You want to have varying sizes of the ground pecans: some larger chunks and some fine, flour-like substance.
3. Drain the dates and stir them into the blender with the somewhat-ground pecan pieces. Blend it as much as you can into a dough-lied substance, but you might just have to stir it. My blender did not want to cooperate, so I ended up stirring it up with a spoon.
4. Prepare a tray or plate with a layer of apartment paper. Spread the dough evenly in a rectangular shape on the parchment paper.
5. Place the tray with the dough in the freezer for 2 or more hours.
6. Then remove the dough, cut it into 12 pieces, and enjoy! Store the bites in the freezer when you’re not eating them so they don’t lose their shape.
7. Note on the texture: The 'dough' can be formed into balls instead of bars, of course, but that's up to you. Additionally, you can change the ratio of dates to pecans for more crunch or pecan flavor, and you can leave out the water for firmer bars.
   

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