Raisin Date Bars

So, my husband had a dream about these bars. Well, not exactly these bars. He dreamt of Date Squares, but instead of layering the oats and date filling he dreamt of mixing it all together. I had more raisins than dates in the pantry so went ahead and tried it like this. They turned out great and I can't wait to try his all date version! 

Ingredients:

1/2 lb raisins/dates

1/4 cup hot water

1/8 cup orange juice

2 tbsps brown sugar

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp orange zest

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup oats

1/3 cup brown sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 cup soft butter

Combine the raisins/dates, hot water, orange juice, 2 tbsps brown sugar, lemon juice and orange zest in a saucepan. I used just under 1 cup of raisins with about 8 chopped dates here. Simmer until the fruit is softened and the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and add the vanilla. In a bowl combine the flour, oats, 1/3 cup brown sugar and salt, then cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Combine this dry mix with the raisin/date mixture.

Line an 8 X 8" baking pan with parchment and spoon the dough in, pressing down to smooth the top.

Bake at 375°F for 30 minutes. Cool about 15 minutes then lift the parchment out of the pan and let cool completely before cutting into squares.

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