Today, my first intention was to redo my regular date squares recipe. We were going to ski in the afternoon and I wanted the kids to have a nice healthy snack after doing some outdoor sport with a nice hot chocolate.

But it turned out a bit different when I decided to change a few ingredients, first by trying to find an alternative to the sugar I usually put in. I also add lemon juice, so I decided to modify that part by orange. I just took one orange and squeezed the juice out and after I took some zest of the skin. Then I reviewed all the ingredients and finally I ended up with something a bit different but really tasty and flavourful.

Something different too is the thickness. The original recipe call for a 8″x8″ square oven dish, but I did not have one in hand so I had to do with a 8″x4″ loaf pan. It was as good! (More filling! 🙂 )

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 55 minutes

• 2 1/2 cups (625ml) of organic chopped and pitted Mejdool dates
• 2/3 cup (166ml) of water
• 1/3 cup (83ml) of freshly pressed organic orange juice
• 1tbsp. (15ml) of organic orange zest
• 1 1/4 (312ml) of organic oatmeal
• 1/2 cup (125ml) of organic quinoa flakes
• 1/4 cup (62.5ml) of organic almond flour
• 3/4 cup (187.5ml) of organic millet flour
• 1/4 cup (62.5ml) of organic tapioca starch
• 1/2 cup (125ml) of finely chopped organic walnuts
• 1/4 tsp. (1.25ml) of baking powder
• 3/4 cup (187.5ml) of melted organic coconut oil

1. Preheat your oven to 350º.
2. In a small pot, put the dates, the orange juice, the water and the zest and cook for about 5 minutes or until it turns into puree, then let it cool.
3. In a small bowl, combine the oatmeal, the quinoa flakes, the millet flour, the almond flour, the tapioca starch, the walnuts and the baking powder.
4. Add the coconut oil to the oat mix.
5. Take an 8″x4″ oven dish and line it with parchment paper, it is very sticky and can be hard to remove.
6. Put half of the oatmeal mix at the bottom and press firmly to make it even.
7. Then add the date mix and spread evenly.
8. Finish with the balance of the oatmeal mix.
9. Put it in the oven for 55 minutes.
10. When you take it out of the oven, let it cool for at least 2 hrs before you remove it from it’s dish otherwise it won’t hold and it will only be good to add to your cereals (still good but not what you want).