Minoo decided to have a theme of baked goods at the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen. It is the time of the year where there will be numerous potlucks to attend and baked goods make a good potluck item. Making baked goods as a gift during this holiday season is so much more personal and thoughtful than buying store bought gifts.
The first recipe is a Dates and Prunes Squares. This is a crumbly square but it is so good with the natural sweetness from the dates and prunes and it’s rich in fiber.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (375ml) chopped pitted dates
- 1 1/2 cups (375ml) chopped pitted prunes
- 1 cup (250ml) boiling water
- 3/4 teaspoon (4ml) ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon (1ml) ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 1/2 cups (375ml) large-flake rolled oats
- 1 1/4 cups (300ml) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon (2ml) salt
- 1/2 teaspoon (2ml) baking soda
- 2/3 cup (150ml) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons (25ml) cold water
- 1/2 cup (125ml) chopped almonds
Source: unknown via Minoo
Instructions
 In a bowl, combine dates, prunes and boiling water; cover and let stand for 20 minutes. |
 Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Mash with a fork until smooth. |
 In a food processor, pulse together oats, flour, sugar, salt and baking soda until oats are chopped, 5 to 10 pulses. |
 Pulse in butter until crumbly. |
 Pulse in cold water until mixture comes together. |
 Press two-thirds into a 13 x 9-inch (3.5 liter) parchment paper lined baking pan. |
 Spread on the dates and prunes mixture evenly. |
 Toss remaining oat mixture with chopped almonds and sprinkle over dates and prunes mixture, pressing lightly.
Bake in a 350F (180C) preheated oven until light golden, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack before cutting into squares. |
Can I substitute white granulated sugar instead of brown sugar to make these squares? if yes, how much should i need to add?
thanks
Hi Sanmita, you can substitute the brown sugar with white granulated sugar. Generally, the substitution is 1 to 1. We had actually reduced the amount of sugar from the original recipe.
thanks for your prompt reply