This easy recipe for peppermint walnut brownie bites is perfect for your holiday cookie tray! They are made with simple ingredients like dates, walnuts, and cocoa powder and are a healthy no-bake alternative to rich brownies.

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Recipe Name: Peppermint Walnut Brownie Bites
Ready In: 30 minutes
Serves: 12 -14 bites
Main Ingredients: walnuts, dates, cocoa powder, peppermint extract, pinch of salt, water, chocolate chips, crushed candy canes
Why You'll Love It: This easy recipe for peppermint walnut brownie bites is perfect for your holiday cookie tray! They are made with simple ingredients like dates, walnuts, and cocoa powder and are a healthy no-bake alternative to rich brownies.

Tis the season for festive lights, wrapping presents, and holiday baking! The month of December is a fun one for many of us, especially when it involves everything that gets us into the holiday spirit.

I always look forward to the weekend where my mom and I clear our entire schedules to spend the whole day in the kitchen baking cookies. It’s my favorite holiday memory.

This year we are going to be adding these peppermint walnut brownie bites to the mix because they make any cookie tray look super festive and it doesn’t hurt that they are secretly a nutritious treat. Rich brownie bites made from only a handful of healthy ingredients are a perfect way to add some nutrients in between all of the cookies that will be eaten!

If you love the mint and chocolate combo, you should also bake my Double Chocolate Mint Paleo Cookies next!

Ingredients in peppermint walnut brownie bites

Walnuts
Dates
Cocoa powder
Peppermint extract
Salt
Water
Chocolate for covering (I used both dark and white)
Candy canes

How to make peppermint walnut brownie bites

The best part about these brownie bites is that they do not require any baking at all. This means that all you need is a food processor and about twenty minutes before you have yourself some healthy raw and minty brownie bites.

Since the base of our bites are dates and walnuts, we want to blend those together first. Do this by placing soaked dates (soak them in hot water for five minutes to make them soft!) and walnuts into a food processor.

Once this has turned into a paste, you’ll add the cocoa powder, mint extract, and salt and continue to blend, scraping down the sides as needed. Add a few tablespoons of water if you need the brownie base to come together more.

Roll your brownie ‘batter’ into balls and then freeze for about 15 minutes. While they are freezing melt your chocolate, I used dark chocolate to cover them and a drizzle of white chocolate on top, and then crush your candy canes for a fresh mint sprinkle!

Store in freezer or fridge.

Looking for more peppermint desserts? Try my Healthy White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies, Healthy Peppermint Brownies and Peppermint Cocoa Tahini Freezer Fudge too!

A few more facts about walnuts

Did you know that 99% of walnuts grown in the United States are actually grown in California? Hence the name, California Walnuts!

The health benefits of walnuts are probably one of my favorite parts about them. These little nuts pack a nutritious punch! They’re a good-fat food that supply a rich source of the plant-based Omega-3 ALA (2.5 grams per 1 ounce serving – that’s more than any other nut!). Walnuts are also naturally sodium and cholesterol free and are certified by the American Heart Association as a heart-healthy food.

They also are a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids and provide 4g of protein and 2g of fiber per one ounce. There is a lot of great information about walnuts on California Walnut's website, www.walnuts.org .

Plus, when you pair them with ingredients like dates and cocoa powder, you get a rich and fudgy treat that almost seems too decadent to be healthy!

This blog post was sponsored by California Walnuts and all opinions are my own. I am so thankful to work with wonderful partners who help to keep this blog afloat!

Erin Antoniak