These Date Brownies taste like the popular brownie bites you love. You'd never believe they are made with no flour and are naturally sweetened with dates!
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease a mini muffin tin with spray oil, or your favorite oil, to help prevent sticking.
In a food processor fitted with an "S" blade, combine the dates and water and process until the dates have broken down into a paste. (They may turn into a ball in the processor, which is also okay.)
Add in the almond butter, ground flax, cacao powder, baking soda, vanilla, and vinegar and process again until a sticky, uniform dough is created. (If you need to add 1 more tablespoon of water to help it blend smoothly, that's okay.) The batter will be thick and sticky.
Use a tablespoon or 1-ounce cookie scoop to help you scoop the dough into the greased mini muffin tin. Use your fingers to gently flatten each mound of dough. Because the dough is very sticky, it helps to get your fingers wet with water before pressing each mound down so your fingers won't stick to the dough.
Bake until the tops look dry, about 12 to 15 minutes. (The centers will still feel slightly soft to the touch.) Remove from the oven and let the brownies cool completely, at least 30 minutes, before attempting to remove them from the pan. They firm up as they cool, but are very fragile when warm. Run a knife around the edge of each brownie to help loosen them to be removed, then serve immediately or store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
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Notes
Nutrition information is for 1 of 22 brownie bites. This information is automatically calculated, and is just an estimate, not a guarantee.• If you don't mind a bit of added sugar, you can add up to 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips into this recipe for a double chocolate brownie. • Update Note: This recipe was updated in January 2023. I decreased the vinegar and vanilla by 1 teaspoon each (the recipe used to call for 2 teaspoons of each) and swapped the cashew butter for almond butter, since brands can vary so much on cashew butter lately. I also started using 1/3 cup water instead of 1/4 cup as previously written, because I always had to add extra water. Feel free to use the original amounts, if you prefer it that way. • Any nut or seed butter will work with this recipe, but keep in mind that you will definitely be able to taste whichever option you use. So, if you use peanut butter you'll have a peanut butter-tasting brownie, and if you use sunflower butter, you'll have a (nut-free!) brownie that tastes like sunflower butter. So, make sure you love the flavor of whichever nut or seed butter that you choose to use.• If you'd prefer to use whole nuts instead of nut butter, I would double the amount called for (so 1/2 cup nut butter = 1 cup whole nuts) and I would grind them in the food processor first, before adding in the dates and water.