Sugar free Dates & Nuts Rolls

Desserts are always so much fun to prepare and enjoy with family especially during festive season. But it also comes with some guilt of consuming all the unwanted sugar! Hence, sometimes I try to sneak in some healthy desserts on my list that can be indulged guilt free. :) So here I am today with sugar free, gluten free, butter free Dates & Nuts Rolls. 

These rolls are made with just a few simple and natural ingredients. It is a breeze to make these Dates & Nuts Rolls as they can be prepared within few minutes. Just chop your choice of nuts, add seeds, dates & ghee, settle the mixture in fridge for an hour and voila you are ready to cut the delicious rolls into pieces. Sometimes, I like to make laddoos instead of roll if I don't want to wait for it to set in the fridge. You can really try various ways to present this dessert, depending on the occasion. The flavors come from the roasted nuts and sweetness comes from the dates. If you like nuts then you are definitely going to love these nutty sweet delights. These rolls are a wonderful delight for those who are trying to watch their sugar, weight or just trying to eat or feed healthy to their family. 

Nutritional Value

Nuts (Dry fruits) - I have used almonds, walnuts, pistachios and cashews to make this dessert. Nuts are considered one of the healthiest snack and are an excellent source of healthy fats, protein, vitamins (especially vitamin B & E) and minerals (mainly Magnesium). In fact according to Healthline.com, almonds, walnuts, pistachios and cashews are among the top 9 nuts to eat for better health.

Dates - Dates are one of the super foods and are packed with nutrition. They are a great source of fibers, vitamins and minerals including but not limited to potassium, magnesium, copper and vitamin B. Dates are a natural sweetener and also full of antioxidants. Here are some of the known health benefits of Dates - help improve digestion, bone health and skin health; also help lower cholesterol. 

You can also call them Energy rolls as they are packed with bunch of nutrients. Here is a quick video to help you get started followed by detailed recipe...

Yields 10 -12 pieces

Prepare time 15 minutes 

Cook time 10 minutes 

Ingredients

1/3 Cup chopped almonds

1/3 Cup chopped walnuts

1/3 Cup chopped cashew

1/4 Cup chopped pistachio

1/4 Cup Pumpkin seeds

1 Tbsp khas-khas/ poppy seeds

1 1/4 Cup pitted dates

1 Tbsp ghee/ clarified butter

Instructions 

Start by roughly chopping all the nuts by knife as chopping in food processor will yield into more fine powder than chunks. Next, coarsely grind pitted dates in the food processor or blender. Just make sure to not blend the dates into puree. 

Now heat up a sauce pan on a low-medium flame and add ghee/ clarified butter. Next as ghee starts to melt, add poppy seeds/ khas-khas to the pan along with pumpkin seeds. Roast them for about a minute until poppy seeds start turning slight brown. 

Now add coarsely ground or crushed dates to the pan. Mix them well with the seeds by smashing and stirring for another minute. 

Further add all the chopped nuts including almonds, walnuts, cashews and half of the pistachios. Incorporate the nuts with the crushed dates mixture so that dates are evenly coating the nuts. 

Continuously stir the mixture for another 2-3 minutes or until everything starts coming together as a dough. Turn off the flame and allow the mixture to cool for about 5 minutes.

Now roll the mixture to form a log. I made 2 logs and joined them at the end which turned out to be easier and faster rather than trying to form one big log. 

Tightly wrap the logs in a parchment paper or foil and refrigerate for an hour to settle. After an hour, take the log out and unwrap. 

Now spread some ghee and sprinkle over some finely chopped pistachios and poppy seeds. Roll the dates and nuts log over it to evenly coat poppy seeds and pistachios. This step is optional but will beautify your rolls for more attractive presentation. 

Lastly, cut the log into thick slices (about 1/4" thick) and the delicious Sugar free Dates & Nuts rolls are ready to relish. 

Additional Notes/ Tips

Any combination of nuts and seeds can be used to make this delicious dessert. 

I have used less dates and more nuts in my recipe as I just love the nutty flavor and my family likes less sweeter taste. Feel free to increase amount of dates to 1 1/2 cup to have sweeter taste and fudgy texture.