Date Squares

Dates are by far my favorite fruit.  I have trouble understanding why they aren’t everyone’s.  These date and oat bars are great as on the go breakfast or a delicious sugary snack.

Filling

1 cup dates, pitted and chopped

½ tbsp coconut oil

¼ cup water

1 tbsp orange juice

Layers

½ cup gluten free oats

1/3 cup buckwheat

1/3 cup coconut oil

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp date sugar or brown sugar

Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl and microwave 2 or 3 minutes, stirring intermittently.  Mash the date mush with a fork until somewhat smooth.

In another bowl, mix the oat crust ingredients.  Brown sugar is a nice touch, but if you have the time, I suggest making some date sugar. I mean at this point you already have dates and what’s the harm in having some extra unrefined sugar around the house?  To do this cut the dates in half and put them on a baking sheet in the oven at about 150°F for an hour or so, until they are rock hard and totally dehydrated.  In a powerful blender, turn the dates into dust! Sweet!

In a bread pan, spread half the oat mix across the bottom. Be sure to oil the pan well, the bottom layer has a tendency to burn.  Another alternative is to put parchment paper down if you have it.  It works best to use a fork to try to smash out the oats into a thin layer.  Using that same essential fork, spread the date filling evenly on top.  Finally add the remaining oats sprinkled across the top.

Bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes.  Let it cool for little while before trying to cut these, or it’s a mess!  This is another situation where parchment paper has proven somewhat useful, just pulling the whole thing out intact and leaving a clean pan below. So magical.