A healthy snack or quick breakfast! A great way to use up rhubarb from your garden without adding any extra sugar. The dates add all the sweetening needed.
Full of good stuff and very little added sugar! Easy to prepare and will last several days in the fridge. You can also freeze them!
INGREDIENTS & PREPARATION
This recipe makes two pans of roughly 8″ x 8″ of Date-Rhubarb Squares.
Filling
- 3 cups dates, whole or chopped
- 3 cups rhubarb, chopped up
- 3 cups boiling water
Add dates and rhubarb to boiling water and place on stove at just a bit above simmer.
Cook to 30 to 45 minutes, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes until dates and rhubarb are a thick and mushy mixture.
Important: You ‘may’ need to add a bit more water part way through the cooking process if the mixture gets too thick before it’s also mushy.
NOTE: If the mixture seems to wet to you, mix a tablespoon of corn starch in a couple of tablespoons of cold water and bring mixture to a boil and stir until it thickens to your satisfaction.
Base & Top
- 4 cups old fashioned oats
- 2 cups spelt, whole wheat, white or other flour of your choosing
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup pecans or walnuts, finely chopped (optional)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 1/4 cups butter, melted (or half butter and half olive oil)
- Combine dry ingredients together and mix thoroughly.
- Stir butter into the dry mixture. Combine thoroughly! (I use my hands to make sure the moisture is evenly spread throughout the mixture. Messy for your hands but effective.)
- Spread a little more than half of the dry mixture in the bottom of two 8″ x 8″ square baking dish and press down evenly.
- Spoon mushy date-rhubarb mixture over the entire surface and spread with a spoon. (Be careful … it’s easy to pull up the base with the dates.)
- Sprinkle remainder of dry ingredient over top of dates. Gently press down.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F, until golden brown.