Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

This holiday season, I bring you a healthy, gluten-free and vegan dessert. And it uses far more natural ingredients than most of the other desserts out there during this festive time of year! These Buckeye cookies are packed with peanut butter flavor and dipped in vegan chocolate. The result? Little bites of vegan heaven. They are sweetened with nature's candy-- Medjool dates which are large and chewy. They are specifically used in this recipe to add natural sweetness to it.

Ingredients:

1 cup of Medjool dates

3 tbsp. peanut butter

2 tbsp. of water

1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips (use vegan chocolate)

Directions:

Step 1: Firstly, remove pits from the dates and then place them in the food processor. Process them until they are crushed. Now, add peanut butter (3 tbsp.) and process again. While the processor is on, add water (2 tbsp.) and continue processing until it becomes smooth. In between, you have to stop the processor and grate the mixture.

Step 2: After your mixture is ready, it’s time to get little messy. You can actually avoid this by applying some oil to your hands. This will prevent from the mixture sticking to your hands. You simply have to roll the mixture into small balls. Then, place these balls on the cookie sheet which is topped with wax paper. You will get about 30 to 40 balls. Refrigerate them until you're finished.

Step 3: The next step is to melt the chocolate. Take a large frying pan and fill it with half of the water. Boil the water up to the boiling point. Then take 1 cup of chocolate chips and place them in a heat safe bowl. Once the water reaches the boiling point, turn off the heat and place the bowl of chocolate chips in the water. Stir continually, until melted. You can also use a double boiler to melt the chocolate.

Step 4: Take the balls out of the refrigerator. Using a toothpick, dip them halfway into the melted chocolate and place them on the cookie sheet to set and cool. Refrigerate until time to serve.

Enjoy!

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