No Bake Vegan Date Squares

Last night Patricio and I were craving a homemade "baked" good, but didn't want to use our precious last half cup of organic sugar. Thankfully I've gotten into the habit of "pinning" recipes that seem do-able, and quickly relocated the "5 Ingredient No Bake Vegan Date Square" recipe I read about on Oh She Glows last week, which requires no sugar!

We were lacking in raw whole almonds and Medjool dates, so we replaced them with sliced almonds and Parnoosh honey dates. I am sure that these would also taste amazing with pecans or other nuts mixed in.

These date squares are great for a healthy snack or - if you're not big on sweet foods, like me - a satisfying dessert.

No Bake Vegan Date Squares 
Adapted from Angela at Oh She Glows.

Ingredients:

Crust:
- 1 cup sliced or whole almonds
- 1.5 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 10 honey dates, pitted and chopped
- 1/4 cup coconut oil

Date filling:
- 1.5 cups honey dates, pitted and chopped
- 1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. Line a square pan with a piece of wax or parchment paper. In a food processor or blender (if you're like us and don't have a food processor at the moment) blend the almonds, salt, and oats until it become a fine powder. Add in the 10 dates and blend until it a crumble forms.

2. Melt the coconut oil, add to the mixture and process until fully blended. If you are using a blender, like we did, you can process partly in the blender, and then remove the mixture and break it up in a bowl with a spatula. Press the mixture into the pan until evenly spread. If you want you can save some of the mixture for later (to sprinkle on top of the date filling).

3. Put your pitted, chopped dates and water into the food processor or blender until a paste forms. Add more water if needed, however the paste should remain thick. Spread the date mixture onto the crust evenly.

4. If you saved some of your mixture, you can sprinkle it on top and flatten with your fingers or a spatula. Or you can toss some whole rolled oats on top, like we did. Refrigerate until firm, for at least an hour (we left ours in for a little over 2 hours). Cut into squares, and enjoy.

Drool.