Apple Oat Date Bars
These Oat Date Bars are soft, chewy bars with the flavors of apple pie. With just 6 ingredients, they're gluten-free and vegan with no added sugar. Perfect for breakfast, snacks, or dessert!
Servings: 16
Calories: 174kcal
Ingredients
- 3 cups pitted dates soaked in warm water for 20 minutes, if they are dry, and drained
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats divided
- 1 cup raw, unsalted walnuts
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup diced apples
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper - let the ends hang over the dish so you can use them as handles later to easily pull the bars out of the pan. Set aside.
- In a food processor, pulse the dates, 1 cup of oats, walnuts, cinnamon, and ginger just until a pasty dough is formed. The mixture should be sticky, but still have texture. Don't over process.
- Add in the remaining 1 cup of oats and the apples and pulse a few times just to mix. You do NOT want to overmix. If the oats and apples don't incorporate easily, turn the dough out into a mixing bowl and mix everything with a wooden spoon (or your clean hands) just until incorporated.
- Slightly dampen your hands so the batter doesn't stick and press the batter into the prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 20 minutes until the mixture has turned about a shade darker.
- Let cool in the pan on a cooling rack before removing the whole square of bars from the pan. Cut into 16 small squares.
Notes
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- Check the dates for any pit fragments, even if you buy pitted dates. They often don't get them all out!
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- Pulse the mixture until a sticky dough forms, but some texture still remains. It should easily stick together when pressed with your fingers.
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- You may need to use your clean hands to mix in the diced apples and remaining oats, especially if your food processor is on the smaller side. It might seem like they won't mix well, but if you keep "kneading"/pressing the mixture in your hands, it will all come together.
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- Line the baking dish with parchment paper to easily remove the bars after baking. I like to spritz a light coating of cooking spray on the bottom of the pan before adding the parchment paper. This allows the parchment to "stick" to the pan so it doesn't move around when you press the batter in.
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- Press the mixture firmly into the prepared baking dish. The more compact you can press the mixture, the better the bars will hold together.
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- Allow the bars to cool completely before cutting into squares.
Nutrition
Calories: 174kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 5g | Sodium: 37mg | Potassium: 211mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 21g