Date & apple squares

Date & apple squares

By Good Food
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(38 ratings)
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Prep: 20 mins Cook: 35 mins

Easy

Makes 8
A chewy, oaty tray bake with sticky dates and apples - bound to be a big hit.

Nutrition and extra info

Nutrition: per square

  • kcal513
  • fat24g
  • saturates15g
  • carbs68g
  • sugars47g
  • fibre4g
  • protein5g
  • salt0.8g
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Ingredients

  • 225g butter, plus a little extra for greasing
    Butter

    Butter

    butt-err

    Butter is made when lactic-acid producing bacteria are added to cream and churned to make an…

  • 140g cooking apple, peeled, cored and chopped
  • 140g stoned date, chopped
    Dates

    Date

    da-ate

    Dates are one of the oldest cultivated fruits - it's thought that they were a staple part of…

  • 280g light soft brown sugar
  • 175g plain flour
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
    Bicarbonate of soda

    Bicarbonate of soda

    Bicarbonate of soda, or baking soda, is an alkali which is used to raise soda breads and full-…

  • 100g porridge oat

Method

  1. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Grease an 18cm square tin and line with baking parchment.

  2. Tip the apples into a pan with 2 tbsp water. Bring to the boil and simmer on a low heat for 5 mins until tender and slightly pulpy. Add the dates and 50g of the sugar, and cook for a further 5 mins. Take off the heat and break the apples down with the back of a spoon until smooth and well mixed with the dates. Set aside.

  3. Gently melt the butter in a saucepan. Mix the flour, bicarb, oats and remaining sugar in a bowl. Pour in the melted butter and stir well until oats are coated.

  4. Press half the mixture firmly into the tin, spread the apple mix on top and smooth over. Cover with the remaining oat mixture and press down. Bake for 30-35 mins until golden and firm. Cool in the tin before cutting into squares.

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Comments, questions and tips

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sarahkdouglas
28th Jun, 2015
4.05
Really tasty if you reduce the butter and sugar as everyone says (180g butter and 200g sugar works well). Very easy to make, and delish as a pudding with cream/ice cream, or left to firm up and eat cold the next day. They're like a cross between a chewy flapjack and apple crumble. What's not to like about that?!
langleg
9th May, 2015
1.05
Far too much butter and sugar - wish I had looked at comments first! I ended up putting a lot in the bin - what a shame, can't believe these are the correct quantities!
StaceyVicWalker
18th Feb, 2015
5.05
These were amazing!! I also used 180g butter and 200g sugar and added mixed spice/cinnamon to the apple and date mixture. Apparently the only thing missing was a wrapper to package them up and sell to shops hehe. Anyway, went down a storm and have had requests for more since! Easy and delicious.
christabel
9th Feb, 2015
5.05
Just delicious! Was really good warm and even cold on the next day. Used less butter as suggested by others and only 100g sugar in the oats mix. Will be making it again soon!
rosemary Jacquet
18th Jan, 2015
I followed the comments and used 180g butter and 200g sugar. But I didn't read the recipe, just made them like flapjacks. I melted the butter and sugar, then mixed it all together with out first cooking the apples and dates. Result, delicious has anybody else tried it? Rosie
colite1990
24th Oct, 2014
5.05
I'm glad I read the comments before making this as I decided to try it with 180g butter and 200g light brown sugar and it turned out really well! It was great hot out of the oven and would have been good with custard as it's quite similar to apple crumble! I then left it in the fridge overnight and it was perfect for taking into work to eat cold as a snack as it had solidified by then. Very tasty and moreish, will definitely make this again!
1Nannyjane
7th Apr, 2014
Wish I'd read the comments before making this! Couldn't believe how sloppy this was when I took it out of the oven. I noticed that some people said it solidified overnight but having seen all that butter liquified in the tray I wouldn't have fancied eating it so put it straight in the bin. What a waste of ingredients! I also noticed that it rose quite a lot too.
Jen Connolly
18th Dec, 2013
I agree with most others; delicious, but too much butter. Next time I will use half, and try some olive oil as well to make up to three quarters total fat. Olive works as well as butter in flapjacks, I've found.
Ki
16th Dec, 2013
Made these squares twice now in the last week, and I've only managed to have one slice! They just get eaten too quickly. I found that leaving the apples and dates chunky works well, and that with all the butter, the flapjack part can be a bit greasy, but when I used 180g it was fine.
beanielulu
6th Dec, 2013
oops, meant 5 stars.

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