Jammy Date and Dark Chocolate Bars by Agatha Kulaga
I made a few tweaks to one of my favorite Ovenly recipes, our Montego Bay Bars, incorporating Just Date Sugar and Guittard Santé 72% Coconut Sugar baking chips for extra flavor and deliciousness!
Ingredients
Softened unsalted butter, to grease baking pan
3 cups dried, pitted dates, chopped into 1/4" disks
1½ cups water
3 oz Guittard Santé 72% Cacao made with Coconut Sugar
1/4 cup Just Date Organic Date Sugar
1½ cups spelt flour
1½ cups rolled oats
1/2 cup coarsely chopped raw pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts
2 tbsp black caraway seeds
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
10 tbsp / 5oz unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with softened butter.
In a medium-size saucepan, bring the dates, water, chocolate, and sugar to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and stir occasionally, until the mixture thickens and becomes a spreadable paste. Cool for 10 minutes.
Place spelt flour, oats, nuts, black caraway seeds, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or using a hand mixer, cream the butter and oil with the light and dark brown sugars until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Turn the machine off, add the flour mixture and mix on low until just combined.
Firmly press half of the dough into the bottom of the prepared baking pan, covering it completely from corner to corner, filling in any cracks with more dough. Using an offset spatula, spread the reserved date paste over the dough in an even layer. Crumble the remaining dough on top of the date paste and press down slightly so that it sticks.
Bake for 33-35 minutes, or until the crumble is lightly golden brown. Cool completely before cutting the bars into 15, approximately 3 x 2½-inch rectangles (or whatever size you prefer).
