These five-ingredient Frozen Turtle Bars are a simple, easy to make dessert and are perfect to have on hand for an after dinner treat!
Hi friends!
As I promised yesterday when I shared a tutorial about How To Make Date Paste, I’m back with a delicious recipe for you to make after you whip up your first batch!
These are my new favorite post-dinner treat and I love having a batch on hand in the freezer! They also got the seal of approval from the hubby, who isn’t a big dessert person…so that’s how you know they’re good!
Like I mentioned yesterday, today is Recipe Redux day and this month’s theme was new ingredient for a new year. I picked date caramel as my new ingredient. Even though I often use dates to make energy balls, etc…i’ve been seeing this date paste/date caramel around for a while and had yet to make it myself or try it in a recipe…so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity!
So here’s the deal. I’m calling these Freezer Turtle Bars. Here’s what I know about turtle desserts: not a lot. I know they’re usually made with some combo of caramel, chocolate and pecans. That’s about it. Since I rarely have actual caramel on hand, I thought it’d be fun to experiment that a dessert that uses caramel and sub my date caramel!
Here’s how it breaks down:
- The base layer is just Rice Chex cereal mixed with peanut butter.
- The middle layer is date caramel.
- And you top it all off with chocolate and pecans!
Think you can handle it? Here are the directions:
Print5 Ingredient Frozen Turtle Bars
These five-ingredient Frozen Turtle Bars are a simple, easy to make dessert and are perfect to have on hand for an after dinner treat!
Ingredients
- 3 cups Rice Chex cereal, crushed
- 1/2 cup nut butter
- 2/3 cup date caramel
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Combine chex and nut butter in a bowl and mix until well coated.
- Press into the bottom of a foil-lined loaf pan.
- Top with a layer of date caramel.
- Freeze for 20 minutes.
- Melt chocolate chips, spread over caramel layer, top with pecans and press down lightly with your hands to make sure the pecans stick.
- Store in the freezer.
Notes
I’d recommend freezing for 2 hours or so, then removing, cutting into pieces and then storing in the freezer so it’s easy to just grab one and enjoy! They can be a little difficult to cut when fully frozen.
In case you missed it, here’s my tutorial on How To Make Date Caramel.
Be sure to pin these for later so you remember to make them! I cut mine into bite-sized pieces so I can sneak 2-3 from the freezer each night 🙂
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
For more recipes using new ingredients, check out the linkup below!
These look SO good! I love making date caramel, and have been looking for new ways to use it. Thanks for sharing!
yay! let me know if you try these out!
I LOVE making date caramel, it’s so easy and tastes like the real thing. I can’t believe these bars only have 5 ingredients and are wayyyy healthier than the original version, pinned!
thanks Rachel!
Been waiting for this recipe- can’t wait to make them!! Pinning and sharing 🙂 PS thanks for your tips on the date paste a couple weeks ago!
you’re so welcome! enjoy!
YASSSS! These are a beautiful creation!! Date caramel holds a special place in my heart. As does cereal, peanut butter, chocolate, and turtles. So I think I kind of need these!!
sounds like a must try for sure!
I need these in my life right now. Like, for breakfast.
totally appropriate for breakfast!
Looks and sounds delicious.
Pinned! These look awesome 🙂
oh my gosh these look and sound amazing! please stock my freezer with these NOW!!!!
wish i could send you some!
LOVE date caramel! I use it in my “milkshakes” and raw brownies. So addicting! These frozen turtle bars sound incredible!
oooh yes it’s perfect in brownies!
These look so good! Pinning it for later.
thanks Marie!
I have a hug tub of dates waiting to be made into this delish dessert. I have never tried date caramel, but that will be changing this weekend 🙂
woohoo! have fun making it! and eating it 🙂
So creative! I love it! Nice work Lindsay! I’m totally trying these!
thanks sara! let me know how they turn out!
Oh my yummy! We don’t get a lot of turtles in these parts either – so I’m not too familiar with the chocolate, caramel and pecan thing either. But I do believe you’ve nailed it, My Dear! (That last ‘my dear’ would be a riff on the Southern belle Scarlett O’Hara) HeHe! I’ll be making these for sure….and cutting them in bite sized pieces just for me!
no need to share 🙂 enjoy!
Look fantastic!!!!!
AHH I LOVEE making caramel from dates! I make an apple pie smoothie with it and oh myyy. These look DELICIOUS. Thanks for reminding me to make it again 🙂
xo,
Sarah Grace
oooh that sounds delish!
Oh my! That date paste sounds awesome and then to put it in these bars. It’s totally happening as soon as I get my hands on some dates :-). Yum!
happy blending 🙂
What a coincidence! I just posted a recipe using date caramel after getting into making it the past weeks, too, . Nature’s candy indeed and your idea of merging rice crispy treats with the caramel and chocolate is plain genius.
oooh off to check out your recipe!
oh em geeee these look incredible! I love using date paste for treats. I recently just discovered it and its amazing. This recipe looks so easy!
i know! can’t believe it took me so long ot try it out!
Seriously this is so simple! I love turtles and date caramel makes me so happy!
double win!
Well these just look like pure perfection.
thanks nicole 🙂
I’ve never made caramel from dates, but that needs to change! These look amazing, Lindsay!
let me know what you think if you try it!
I LOVE caramel so I must try the date version and these bars look divine!!
yes! def try and let me know what you think. not perfect but it’s a pretty good sub!
Date caramel… oh the possibilities! Thanks for the recipe!
right?! the wheels are turning!
my grandma loves turtle candies. I’m definitely going to have to make these for her as a healthier treat!
yay! hope she loves them just as much!
sold! i love the idea of date paste and i cant wait to whip that up…and follow up with these bars.
hope you enjoy!
Ok um WHAT?! You made these amazing things out of just a few ingredients?! I am SO sold. Date paste is my fav. Best dessert recipe I’ve seen this month. HANDS DOWN!
aww thanks girl! can’t believe i waited so long to try date paste!
Such a yummy looking recipe. I want one right now w/ a cup of tea!
You are the Queen of Energy Bars. These turtles look and sound amazing. Love that you made the date caramel (pinned that one too)!
I made these tonight. Followed the recipe to the letter. The date caramel doesn’t really freeze. It turns almost like mushy ice. And, if I made these again, I would recommend crushing the Chex cereal or food processing them. I moved them from a loaf pan to an 8 x 8 as well because it didn’t all fit in the loaf pan. If I left them in the loaf pan, the bars would have been really high and would look nothing like your photos.
The date caramel was much tastier freshly blended than frozen.
Thanks for your feedback! I agree the chex should be crushed. i’ll make a note of them. Sorry they didn’t fit in your loaf pan, maybe mine was bigger? I agree that the caramel doesn’t freeze all the way but I liked it that way. Good news is there are lots of other things you can make with the paste itself if you liked it!
i found these difficult to cut, all the frozen chocolate crumbled and cracked unevenly… should i cut before freezing them?
hmmm sorry about that. Yeah it may help to cut before freezing.