Date and Almond Bars March, 2020.

While I will always remain a chocoholic, there are times when other flavors can take precedence.

Of course, there’s nothing like serving a freshly baked dessert. Kind of an ego-trip!

For this bar, I use almonds, but pistachios or pecans are delicious alternatives. BTW, don’t worry about measuring chopped dates exactly. Get as close as you can to this amount.

• Ingredients
• Filling
• 1 ¾ cups pitted and roughly chopped dried dates
• ¾ cup freshly squeezed orange juice (1-2 oranges)
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup blanched sliced or slivered almonds
• Batter
• 1 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups quick-cooking oats (NOT instant)
• ½ cup tightly packed light brown sugar
• 12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into pieces

• Directions
• Grease a 9” square baking pan. Dust with flour and tap out the excess.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Making the filling
• Bring dates, orange juice, granulated sugar to a boil in a medium sized saucepan over high heat.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. The mixture should become thick.
• Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the almonds. Set aside.
• Making the batter
• Measure the flour and salt and sift into a large bowl.
• Stir in the oats, brown sugar. Add the butter pieces one at a time. Mix well.
• The batter will be crumbly. Finish mixing with clean hands until you have a smooth consistency.
•  
• Press half of the oat mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan.
• With a rubber spatula, spread the date mixture evenly on top of the oat batter.
• Sprinkle the rest of the oat batter on top of the date mixture.
• Use your hands. Press the oat batter gently down with a fork and no worries if a little uneven.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is light brown and the edges are brown and pulling away from the sides of the baking pan.
• Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for at least one hour. Cut just before serving.
• Makes 12 – 16 bars.