Delicious Maple Date Bars Recipe

Maple Date Bars are a gooey, yummy dessert made with healthy dates and maple syrup. Baked in a wonderfully satisfying crumble of oats and whole wheat flour, it is a divine treat during the holiday season. Dates provide a naturally sweet and texturally indulgent ingredient to include in your baking. They are full of vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants which will give you a treat that sustains and nourishes you.

These healthy oatmeal date bars can be made ahead for the perfect party dessert. They slice and serve easily which make them wonderful finger food for an event or holiday family gathering. Sweetened with pure organic maple syrup and organic brown sugar for the crumble, they are a healthier option to offer your guests.

Can you bake with dates?

Dates were a mainstay sweetener in the kitchen back in the World War 2 era. Sugar was rationed at the time, and very expensive. Home cooks substituted dates in their recipes. Many cookbooks also published options for low sugar recipes, using dates as a naturally sweet ingredient.

Although dates are not as popular to use in baked goods as they used to be, they are still a wonderful ingredients to incorporate whenever and however you can! They are healthy, satisfyingly sweet, and provide an indulgent soft and chewy texture. These maple date bars give a tasty treat without loads of refined and processed flours and sugars.

According to this article by from the Grapevine.com, dates make an excellent sweetener and will replace granulated sugar in many recipes just fine.

Baking with coconut oil

This recipe also uses coconut oil in the oat crumble. If you have been around our blog for a while you know that we love using organic coconut oil as a cooking and baking oil. It is high heat safe and provides a delicious flavor to baked goods that really deepens the experience.

Of course, you can use a refined coconut oil that won’t add that slight coconut flavor if you prefer. Coconut oil keeps baked goods like these maple date bars moist and fluffy, while not sacrificing health like many of the over processed market cooking oils do.

Making the oat crumble

These healthy date bars stand out because of the delicious oat crumble. Crumbles are popular in the baking world and loved by many because they provide such a satisfying treat. The texture and flavor of crumbles is unmatched, and they are a sustaining and tasty treat to enjoy with a hot beverage on a chilly afternoon.

We use whole wheat flour and oatmeal to bring some structure to the maple date bars. Because the filling is so delicate and almost jelly like, the crumb adds a chewable texture and depth of flavor.

How to make the maple date bars crumble topping

This is a simple crumb topping that comes together quickly and bakes to a wonderful golden finish.

• Begin by stirring together the brown sugar with the melted coconut oil
• Add the dry ingredients and mix well until the oats are fully coated
• Spoon half of the crumb into the bottom of a prepared 8×8 baking dish and press down
• Gently spread the filling over the bottom crumb
• Spoon the rest of the crumb over the top and bake date bars

Nutrition of dates:

These wonderfully delicious fruits are very good for you! Among the health benefits listed by NutritionandYou .com are the following:

• high fiber content
• excellent source of iron, and other minerals like calcium, manganese, copper, and magnesium
• source of tannins and vitamins and carotenoids.
• much lower in calories than sugar when used as a sweetener

For more in depth reading on dates nutrition, follow the link.

This dessert is still high in carbs, and can’t be considered sugar free; but, it does provide a deliciously healthier option for those looking to avoid refined and processed ingredients in their diet.

Recipe notes for maple date bars

Bake Maple Date Bars a day or two ahead if you like, keep them wrapped in the fridge and cut them cold at serving time. A healthier, sweetly rich addition to your party tray, dessert board or snack plate. Or use this recipe as a last minute extra.

These bars are quick to make and can be cut as soon as they are cooled to room temperature, but, they will be gooey so we recommend allowing them to chill. Still very well received, but you will need a plate and fork and they will be tricky to cut! Definitely cool them completely to help reduce the crumbles and improve the ease of cutting them into cute bars.

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Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker.com