These are so good! As recipes go, this one is the simplest on the list. No beaters or major mixing equipment needed.
Dates are very sweet and as much as there are date lovers, there are also those who cannot stand the sweet stickiness of this fruit. These fingers offer the perfect solution courtesy of the juice and zest of an orange. The citrus tang balances out the sweetness and provides a very pleasant sweet-sour taste. Combined with the crunchy crumble base and topping, this heavenly slab is the perfect teatime treat or lunchbox delight.
Ingredients for Bars
- finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
- 50 g Medjool dates
- 25 g seedless raisins
- 100 g oats
- 40 g cake flour
- 40 g brown sugar
- 75 g butter
Method to make Bars
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
- Grease and line a 17.5 cm square (7 incn) pan and allow the baking paper to hang over the sides of the pan. This creates an overhang which acts as a sling to remove crumble bars off the pan.
- Remove stones from the dates and finely chop the flesh.
- Add chopped dates and raisins to a small saucepan.
- Zest the orange and set aside before juicing the orange into a measuring jug.
- Top up the jug of orange juice with water till there is 150 ml of liquid and add to the saucepan.
- Cook the date and juice mixture on a gentle heat until it becomes thick and soft. This takes about 10 minutes. Be sure to stir the mixture while it cooks.
- Once done, turn the date mixture into a bowl and allow to cool.
- In another bowl, measure out the oats, flour and sugar. Add the orange zest and rub in the butter to form a crumbly mixture.
- Press half the mixture into the greased and lined tin. The crumble mixture can be quite sticky to handle. Use damp hands and press mixture into pan.
- Cover crumble base with the cooked fruit.
- Sprinkle remaining crumble over date mixture. Press down lightly.
- Bake for 40 minutes till crumble is deeply golden and crispy at the edges.
- Leave to cool in pan for about 10 minutes.
- Lift date bars off the pan using the overhang and cut into bars.
