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Vegan Date Squares

VEGAN DATE SQUARES

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Cooling Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 9 servings
Author Véronique - adashofwholesome.com

Ingredients

For the date layer:

  • 2 1/2 cups Medjool dates , pitted
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1/4 tsp. Himalayan pink salt , or sea salt
  • 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice , about 2 to 3 large oranges

For the crust and crumble:

  • 2 cups rolled oats , divided
  • 3/4 cup spelt flour
  • 1/4 cup ground flaxseeds
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. Himalayan pink salt , or sea salt
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 3/4 cup coconut oil , cold

Instructions

For the date layer:

  1. Coarsely chop the dates.

  2. In a medium sauce pan, combine the dates, the water, the Himalayan pink salt and the freshly squeezed orange juice. 

  3. Let cook over medium heat, stirring very often, until the dates are broken down and form a thick puree. This should take about 10 minutes.  Keep an eye on the mixture while it cooks since the high level of natural sugar in the dates can cause the mixture to burn very quickly. 
  4. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. I like to transfer the date puree into a different bowl and place it in the refrigerator while I make the crust and crumble.

For the crust and crumble:

  1. Place the coconut oil on a plate and refrigerate for about 15 minutes or until very solid.
  2. In a small blender or food processor, place 1 ½ cups of rolled oats. 
  3. Blend until the oats become a coarse flour.
  4. In a large bowl, add your freshly made oat flour, the ½ cup of whole rolled oats, the spelt flour, ground flaxseeds, baking soda and Himalayan pink salt. Stir to combine the dry ingredients. 
  5. Add in the maple syrup and cold coconut oil. 
  6. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the coconut oil. You are looking to have very fine pieces of coconut oil throughout the dry ingredients. I don’t really recommend using your hands for this part since the coconut oil can melt quite quickly. 

The assembly:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.

  2. Spray an 8x8 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and line it with a piece of parchment paper. I like to leave a bit of overhang as this will make it easier to remove the dates squares from the pan once they are cooked.

  3. Scoop out 1 ¼ cup of the crumble mixture and set aside. It will be used for the crumble topping.
  4. Press the rest of the mixture firmly in the bottom of your prepared pan. 
  5. Spread the date mixture evenly over the crust. 
  6. Crumble the reserved crust mixture over the date layer. Give the topping a very light press so the topping sticks to the dates.
  7. Place in your preheated oven and baked for 40-50 minutes. You are looking for the top to be a light golden color. 
  8. Remove from the oven at let cool completely. They will be easier to slice if they are room temperature. 
  9. Using the parchment overhang, remove the date squares from the pan. 
  10. Cut into squares, serve and enjoy!