DATE & WALNUT OAT BARS

This recipe happened when I was doing one of my pantry purges. I had no flour (like most people when we were in locked down) but had lots of oats. I first tried these as cookies but they bake better as bars.

The secret ingredient is orange blossom water, it gives these bars a lovely floral scent and makes them unique.

DATE & WALNUT OAT BARS

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Course Snack

Servings 16 bars

Equipment

8 inch square baking dish

Ingredients

2 cups oats
1 orange zested
1 cup pitted dates chopped
⅔ cup walnuts chopped
⅔ cup grapeseed oil
⅔ cup sugar
⅔ cup honey
1 tbsp orange blossom water
cooking spray

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a large bowl, add the oats and orange zest.
Chop the dates and walnuts and add the the bowl. If the dates are sticking together, break up with your fingers and move them through the oats.
In a small saucepan on medium heat, add sugar, oil, and honey in that order. Doing the sugar first as it's dry, then the oil, and then the homey will come out of the measuring cup easily because it's coated with oil.
Stir until all ingredients are combined and bring to a boil. It will start bubbling and will rise in a foam. Caution! This is very hot and can burn you.
Once it's bubbling, turn off heat and add the orange blossom water.
Carefully add the syrup to the oats and mix carefully with a spatula. This will be hot.
Line a 8 inch baking dish with parchment paper and spray the sides with cooking spray.
Pour the mixture into the pan and press down with a spatula making an even layer. Do not use your hands as it will still be hot from the syrup.
Bake for 30 minutes until golden all over.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
Once cooled, remove from the pan and cut into bars.
Store in an airtight container.