Soak the Dates in warm water for 20 to 30 minutes. This makes them soft and much easier to process in the blender. If your dates are already very soft then skip this step. Drain and squeeze off the excess liquid. Roughly chop the soaked dates and set aside. Chopping dates with kitchen scissors makes it so much easier than using a knife.

Dry roast the mixed nuts on a pan for a few minutes. Once cooled, pulse them in the blender till they are in small chunks.

Add the chopped dates and blend just until the mixture starts to come together into a paste. If you do not have a food processor then you can blend the mixture in small parts. The mixture will be sticky.

Transfer the date-nut mixture to a parchment-lined loaf pan or a container and press into a single, even layer pressing into the sides of the pan as well.

Melt the dark chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, microwave in 20-30 second increments stirring it in between. The chocolate should be smooth and easy to stir with a spatula.

Pour the melted chocolate on top of the date nut mixture and spread evenly with a spatula or by gently tilting the loaf pan, front to back, side to side, to allow the chocolate to spread toward the edges.

Tap the pan on the counter to pop any air bubbles in the chocolate.

Sprinkle with more chopped nuts or seeds on top of the chocolate if desired.

Cover the pan with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate until the chocolate has firmed up enough to slice the sheet into bars.

To slice, lift the date-nut sheet up with the parchment paper and cut on a board into six long bars or 18 square bite-size pieces.