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My kids love Date Bars and these turned out so good that they ask me to make them all the time. Easy to make with wholesome and good-for-you ingredients. Perfect to enjoy as a snack, breakfast, or dessert.
You will also love my no-bake peanut butter bars and my no-bake chocolate-filled oat bars. They are so good too.
I love date bars because I could have them with my coffee in the morning, or enjoy them as snack or dessert. My kids love them too and one of my boys came up with the idea of making the date filling taste like chocolate! I thought it was a great idea and so the recipe was created! But, if you are one of those that do not want to overpower the taste of the date with cocoa powder, you could skip it and just add in some nuts instead. They have also been obsessed with the Viral Dubai Chocolate Bar.
These oatmeal date bars are one of my favorite dessert recipes to make. I always have a sweet tooth and they come in so handy. I also love these Cranberry oat bars and my Chocolate protein baked oats. Make sure to save them and make them later.
Recipe summary
- Enjoy for breakfast, snack, or dessert without any guilt.
- Made with clean, wholesome, and good for you ingredients.
- They are so good and great lunch boxes.
Ingredients you will need
- Quick oats: rolled oats will work too but i prefer quick oats for this recipe
- Melted coconut oil: or melted butter
- Water
- Coconut sugar: brown sugar also works
- Whole wheat flour: or any other flour
- Vanilla extract
- Cinnamon powder
- Pitted Medjool dates: go for the soft ones
- Maple syrup: or honey would work
- Cocoa powder
Full measurements are listed further down below.
How to make Date Bars
Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper.
Step 1: In a large bowl, combine the oats, coconut oil, coconut sugar, flour,
cinnamon and vanilla extract. Pour over the water and using your hands mix
well until it resembles a sticky cookie dough. If the mixture seems too dry,
add a bit more water.
Step 2: Add half of this mixture into your prepared pan; spread and gently press to
evenly cover the base of the pan.
Step 3: Add the filling ingredients to a saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir
until it forms a thick chunky filling.
Step 4: Spread it over the base in the baking pan.
Step 5: Sprinkle with the remaining oat mixture, and pat to adhere
Step 6: Bake for 30-35 minutes, then allow it to completely cool before slicing.
Recipe Notes and Tips
- If you do not have quick oats you can gently blend some rolled oats to make quick oats. Or you can use rolled oats to make this recipe. The texture will change slightly.
- Consider adding in some chopped walnuts, almonds, or pecans with the dates.
- Allow the bars to cool completely before cutting.
- You can skip the cocoa powder if you do not like chocolate flavor.
- Coconut sugar can be swapped with light brown sugar or cane sugar.
- These date bars are vegan if made with the ingredients listed.
Common Questions
Yes. You may use rolled oats instead of quick oats if that’s all you have. The texture will change slightly.
You can certainly add some chopped nuts to these date bars. Consider adding chopped pecans or walnuts with the date filling.
You can leave the date bars in a container on your kitchen counter for 2-3 days. After that, I recommend you store them in the fridge for up to 10 days.
Yes, you can use any flour you have on hand in a plate of wheat flour to make these date bars.
You can freeze your date bars for up to 3 months. Wrap them or store them well in a freezer safe container first.
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Healthy Date Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups Quick oats
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 cup coconut sugar, or brown sugar
- 1 cup whole wheat flour, or any other flour
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
Filling:
- 1 1/2 cups pitted Medjool dates
- 1/4 cup maple syrup, or honey
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder, could be optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the oats, coconut oil, coconut sugar, flour, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Pour over the water and using your hands mix well until it resembles a sticky cookie dough. If the mixture seems too dry, add a bit more water.
- Add half of this mixture into your prepared pan; spread and gently press to evenly cover the base of the pan.
- Add the filling ingredients to a saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir for 3-5 minutes until it forms a thick chunky filling. Spread it over the base in the baking pan.
- Sprinkle with the remaining oat mixture, and pat to adhere.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, then allow it to completely cool before slicing.
Video
Notes
- You do not have to add the cocoa powder to give the dates a chocolate flavor. You can skip and add some chopped walnuts or pecans instead. About 1/3 cup
- Use soft dates instead of hard dry ones.
- You may use gluten-free flour and oats if needed.
- Allow it to cool before cutting into squares
- Store them in a container in the fridge for up to 10 days.
- You may be able to cut these into 12 smaller bars
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Do you chop the dates or food process them?
I chopped them with a knife, But you want to use the food processor to roughly chop it you can.
Does it need to be quick oats? Can you use regular
yes you can use regular rolled oats
Date are one of my favorite even my kids love it