Walnut Date Burfi: Indian Fudge Bites
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 8 squares
Description
These bite-sized sweets come together in mere minutes and require no baking.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) Walnuts
- scant 1/4 cup (60 ml) flax seeds
- 3-4 good quality medjool dates, pitted
- 1 square, good quality fair trade 60-70% cacao bittersweet baking chocolate
- pumpkin seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Pulse flax seeds in a small jar grinder or spice grinder to a fine meal.
- Measure 1/4 cup flax-seed meal storing the rest for use later. Alternatively, you can start with 1/4 cup flax-seed meal.
- Add walnuts and pulse to a fine meal. Add pitted dates and dark chocolate and pulse until ground to a lump which can be molded easily.
To mold and decorate:
- Use a the lid of a rectangular tin or anything similar (ikea tins are quite handy). Grease the clean and dry lid with a dot of ghee or butter, fill it with the burfi mix and press tight. if needed, flatten the surface with a knife or spatula.
- Turn it over on to a plate and tap it gently to release the burfi and cut into small squares, garnish with pumpkin seeds.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Indian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 square
- Calories: 90
As opposed to traditional fudge, burfi does not need a stove, an oven, or a candy thermometer. It is Indian fudge, the dense, sweet squares stacked in trays of mithai (Indian sweets) at any Indian sweet shop, and this awesome version comes together in a food processor in under ten minutes.
Walnuts and pitted dates go in with a square of good dark chocolate, and the dates hold the mixture together, no syrup and no cooking involved. Pulse until you can press it into a lump between two fingers, then pack it into a small tin and push it down firm. Chill it for an hour, turn it out, and cut it into small squares. Scatter pumpkin seeds over the top before you slice and they will stick on their own.
There is ground flax seed folded in too, which in all honesty is more a personal habit than a burfi tradition: a spoonful of something good for you hidden inside a delicious sweet. Use soft, fresh Medjool dates if you can find them, because a dry date will not hold the mixture together the way a moist one does.
Keep the finished squares in an airtight container in the fridge, and they hold for two weeks (if they last that long). Warm one slightly before you eat it and the chocolate turns soft again. The texture is unique, kind of a truffle and kind of a granola bar, dense and a little chewy in the middle, with a crunch at the edge wherever a walnut piece landed.
Bring these to a potluck, pack a few into a lunchbox, or set them out on a plate at the end of a big dinner. They will disappear fast.
If You Liked This Recipe, You’ll Love These
- Delirious Over Chef Paul Hancock’s Date Shake
- Spiced Banana and Date Bread
- Cherry and Walnut Goat’s Milk Ice Cream
- Toffee and Walnut Tart
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to grind whole flax seeds, or can I start with flax meal?
Either works — I pulse whole flax seeds to a fine meal and then measure out 1/4 cup, but you can start with 1/4 cup of ready-made flax-seed meal instead.
What kind of dates work best for this burfi?
Use 3–4 good quality Medjool dates, pitted. Their natural moisture is what binds the walnuts, flax meal, and dark chocolate into a moldable mass without any added liquid or binder.
What type of chocolate does this recipe call for?
One square of good-quality, fair-trade 60–70% cacao bittersweet baking chocolate — the higher cacao percentage keeps the burfi from being overly sweet, balancing the natural sugars from the Medjool dates.
