Vegan Date Squares Food

GLUTEN-FREE VEGAN DATE SQUARES

Steps:

• Soak the pitted dates in hot water for 20 minutes. After soaking, drain well.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place 1.75 cups of oats in a food processor or high-speed blender and blend them into a fine flour. If you're using store-bought or previously prepared oat flour, use 175 g.
• Add the oat flour and the rest of the crust ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir to combine into a crumbly mixture.
• Spray a 7-8 inch square baking pan with non-sticking cooking spray (or grease with a touch of coconut oil).
• Firmly press about 2 cups of the oat mixture into the bottom of the pan.
• Add the drained dates to a food processor with the salt and mix into a paste. It's ok if it's a little chunky. You can also just squeeze the dates into a paste using your hands, that way you don't have to clean out the food processor!
• Evenly spread the dates mixture over the crust layer in the pan.
• Top the date layer with the rest of the oat mixture. Press the oat mixture down over the dates with a little pressure to help meld the 3 layers together.
• Bake for 40 minutes then let them cool for at least 2 hours in the pan. You can put them in the fridge to speed up the process. This is an important step. I know it's hard to wait but if you slice them too early they'll be crumbly. Once they cool they'll be completely firm and hold together in squares.
• Once they're cool, slice into 16 squares and serve right away or store in the fridge for up to 1 week or freezer for up to 3 months.

VEGAN DATE SQUARES (DATE CRUMBLE SLICE)

Steps:

• Option 1: Soak the dates in a large bowl, fully submerged in water, until soft (at least 4 hours, but overnight is best). Once soaked, drain away the soaking liquid and puree your dates in a food processor. I like a mostly smooth texture with a few smaller pieces of date throughout, but puree to your desired consistency.
• Option 2: If you don't have a food processor or time to wait for dry dates to soak, you can cook the dates in a small pot. This waters down the flavor of the dates, but you may enjoy a slightly less sweet filling anyway.For this option, add dates to a pot with water. Cook over low heat until the dates are soft and you can mash with a fork (press dates into the side of the pot to mash). This option also creates a more textured filling because the dates won't be pureed.
• To make the crumble, add rolled oats, lightly packed brown sugar and whole wheat flour. Stir until well combined.
• Add vegan butter or margarine to the dry mixture and use a fork or your hand to mix the butter throughout, creating a crumbly mixture.
• Grease a 9x13" baking dish (with extra vegan butter/ margarine or cooking spray).
• Pour about ⅔ of the crumble mixture into the bottom of your baking dish and press down firmly, creating an evenly packed layer.
• Spread the dates evenly over your pressed crumble. It's best to scoop small amounts of date puree all over the base layer to make it easier to spread.
• Sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture over your layer of dates and lightly press down.
• Bake in an oven preheated to 350 °F for 30-35 minutes, until the top is slightly golden brown and the bottom is fully golden brown (if you have a glass baking dish you can look at the bottom).
• Cool completely before you slice into squares or slices and serve at room temperature.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days on the counter or a week in the fridge. You can also freeze this recipe.

DECADENT (VEGAN!) DATE SQUARES

Steps:

• For the date filling, combine dates, water, and vanilla in a small saucepan and simmer until liquid is absorbed (approx. 15 minutes). Set aside to cool slightly.
• For the crust, in a large bowl, stir together rice flour, tapioca flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
• Add in canola oil and apple sauce and stir until well mixed.
• Pat oat mixture evenly into a lightly oiled 8x8 baking pan.
• Spoon date mixture evenly over the oat mixture.
• For the topping, in a small bowl, combine oats, rice flour, sugar and apple sauce and stir until it is a crumbly consistency.
• Sprinkle topping mixture over the date layer evenly.
• Bake at 350F for 20 - 25 minutes.

DATE & APPLE SQUARES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Grease an 18cm square tin and line with baking parchment.
• Tip the apples into a pan with 2 tbsp water. Bring to the boil and simmer on a low heat for 5 mins until tender and slightly pulpy. Add the dates and 50g of the sugar, and cook for a further 5 mins. Take off the heat and break the apples down with the back of a spoon until smooth and well mixed with the dates. Set aside.
• Gently melt the butter in a saucepan. Mix the flour, bicarb, oats and remaining sugar in a bowl. Pour in the melted butter and stir well until oats are coated.
• Press half the mixture firmly into the tin, spread the apple mix on top and smooth over. Cover with the remaining oat mixture and press down. Bake for 30-35 mins until golden and firm. Cool in the tin before cutting into squares.

VEGAN DATE SQUARES

Steps:

• soak dates in 1 cup of water(optional) and then heat until water evaporates(here you can add lemon juice, rind, or extracts if it pleases you).
• combine dry ingredients.
• combine wet ingredients.
• mix both mixtures.
• spread half of mixture into 8" pan.
• spread date puree.
• add the other half of mixture.
• bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned-approx 25-30mins.