Lawrence West Dental - eNewsletter

Orange Apricot Fig-Date Squares

Choose these wholesome ingredients to make your delicious holiday cakes, cookies, squares, and pies this season:

Coconut oil and grapseed oil – These pure natural oils can be heated to high temperatures without denaturing their precious fats. They work great in a variety of recipes and are good for you too.

Sucanat, maple syrup, and dried fruit – These wholesome sweeteners can be used instead of sugar in any dessert recipe. Sucanat is dark and rich and a great substitute for brown sugar, especially for gingerbread and date squares. Maple syrup gives a nice smooth sweetness to cookies and cakes and dried fruit is a great natural way to add sweetness without sugar.

Spelt, kamut, or oat flour – All of these are great substitutes for both white and wheat flour. They are high in fiber, protein, and vitamins and can be substituted one-for-one in any baked recipe that calls for white flour.

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped apricots, or dates
1 cup chopped dried figs
Juice of 1 orange
½ cup water
½ cup coconut butter
½ cup sucanat, coconut or maple sugar
1 ¾ cup light spelt flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup rolled oats

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Combine dates, orange juice, and water in a saucepan. Cook, covered, on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a bowl, cream together the coconut oil and "sugar". Stir in the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add the oats and mix using your hands. The dough will be crumbly but will hold together when squeezed.
Press 2/3 of the dough onto an oiled 8 or 9-inch square baking pan. Stir the date mixture and spread it over the dough. Crumble the remaining dough on top.
Bake for 30 minutes. Cool in the pan and cut into squares.

This recipe was sourced from Fully Nourished by Marni Wasserman.