Fruit And Oat Bars

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 120 g dates
• 100 ml water
• 80 g butter
• 125 g flour
• 100 g rolled oats (porridge)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup jam (approx) or 1/4 cup preserves (approx)
• 50 g pecans (optional) or 50 g walnuts, finely chopped (optional)

Recipe

• 1 heat the dates and water in a saucepan on low heat until the dates are soft and have absorbed the water. allow to cool slightly.
• 2 preheat the oven to 180°c (350°f) and prepare a 8" square or round baking dish.
• 3 put the flour, oats, cinnamon, and baking powder in a bowl or food processor. if mixing by hand, combine the dry ingredients and stir the butter into the dates, then combine the two and add the vanilla. if using a food processor, put the dry ingredients, dates, butter and vanilla in together and mix.
• 4 spoon a little over half the mixture into the baking pan, pressing down with your hands or a spatula to cover the bottom of the pan.
• 5 spread on the fruit or jam of your choice. (note: to use dried apricots, like the original calls for, chop about 280g dried apricots and put in a saucepan with 250ml water. bring to a boil and then turn off the heat. set aside to cool. when stirred and mashed a bit, this will turn out similar to the date mixture and makes a decadent filling.).
• 6 if using nuts, stir them into the remaining dough. with or without nuts, drop the remaining dough by spoonfuls onto the fruit filling. if there is enough, pat down to form a top layer, or leave lumpy.
• 7 bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is golden. allow to cool well to firm up, then cut into bars or wedges.