Almond Date Breakfast Bars
- 1 cup (150 grams) chopped dried pitted dates
- 1¼ cups (110 grams) quick rolled oats
- 3 tablespoons (22 grams) barley or whole-wheat flour
- ⅓ cup (35 grams) wheat germ
- ½ cup (55 grams) thinly sliced almonds
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup (65 grams) almond butter
- ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
- ¼ cup (85 grams) honey
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions:
Breakfast bars are exactly the kind of thing that can be sketchy and/or, at least, overly sweet when purchased in a wrapper.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-by-8-by-2-inch pan in one direction with parchment paper, allowing the paper to go up the opposing sides. Do the same in the opposite direction. This parchment “sling” makes it easy to remove the bars from the pan in one piece.
- Stir together the dates, oats, flour, wheat germ, almonds, salt, and cinnamon in the bottom of a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond butter, olive oil, honey, orange zest, and almond extract until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry mixture, and stir them together until the dry ingredients are evenly coated. Spread the batter in the prepared pan, pressing the mixture firmly into the bottom, edges, and corners to ensure they are molded to the shape of the pan. I like to use a piece of plastic wrap to protect my hands as I do so.
- Bake the bars for 20 to 25 minutes, until they’re brown around the edges—don’t be afraid to get a little color on the tops too. They’ll still seem soft and almost underbaked when you press into the center of the pan, but do not worry—they’ll set once completely cool.
- Cool the bars in their pan placed on a cooling rack or in the fridge. (Alternatively, after about 20 minutes you can use your parchment “sling” to lift and remove the bars, and place them in their paper on the rack to cool the rest of the way. This can speed the process up.)
- Once they’re cool, use a serrated knife to cut the bars into squares. If bars seem crumbly, chill them further in the fridge for 30 minutes, which will fully set the “glue,” then cut them cold.