Spiced Cocoa Nibbles

These are hearty and spiced snacks that I saw in Saveur's TasteSpace.She had made these simple nibbles or snack bars from Eat Me Delicious and had added mint leaves to make them heartier and more refreshing.I started making the same when I read about the flavour variations she had suggested.Without wasting anytime,I added pepper and chilli flakes along with cloves and cinnamon and it was very hearty.

Ingredients:
Almonds: 1/2 cup coarsely chopped
Dates: chopped: 1 and 1/4 cup
Cocoa Powder : 1 tbsp
Cinnamon Powder
Clove powder
Chilli flakes
Pepper
Vanilla

Preparation:

Blend together chopped dates and almonds along with the cocoa,spices and vanilla.If the dates are dry then you can add little water while blending.Blend to a fine paste that sticks together when pressed and the dough rolls along the edges of the blender.Mine looked like...

Pour the dough in a clean plastic wrap and with your hands shape the dough into a dense log making sure to squeeze out the airspace.Wrap the log in plastic and roll few more times.

Refrigerate the dough log for atleast 2 hours or overnight (much better).Slice it up and serve and enjoy the spiced nibbles.

The nibbles are excellent midnight or anytime snack I must say.I loved the spiced version, though adding any spice of your choice or spiceless is delectable as well.The cocoa powder has a sharp taste and if used more this will be prominent in the nibbles.You can also go for drinking chocolate powder or sweetned cocoa instead.The taste is that of dates and spices and we can say the almonds are hidden ingredient in the nibble.I am not sure mine came perfect as it was very slightly sticky -most probably I had added more water while blending.So make sure its as perfect as commercial ones.You can play around with spices and make these comfort nibbles as you like.They are oil free and filling snacks and give the perfect enrgy to go on with your work or satisy your craving for chocolate.Thanks Saveur for the keeper recipe.