Date filled oats peanut butter bites

I love apple pear crumble and they taste divine when had freshly baked. I haven't shared that recipe yet but this time round I made this date filled bites. I got dates in my kitchen and no one at home wanted to touch them. So I tried using them for all the sweetness in the recipe . This recipe can be tried with many variations but for now I kept in simple using handful of ingredients.

They are your on the go energy bars minus the empty calories and sugar. Also doubles up as a dessert! 

Ingredients:

2 cup rolled oats 

1 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons peanut butter

1 tablespoons cinnamon powder

1/2 tablespoons baking powder

1 cup dates (de seeded)

1/3 cup water

1 tablespoons brown sugar

Recipe:

We will prepare date filling first as that needs to be cooled down to use. Chop the dates finely. Hear water in a pan and add dates. Cook for about 5 minutes as they turn soft. Keep mashing with spoon while they ate hot so we wonr need to grind them. It will become like a paste but not very thin.

Let it cool , meanwhile cut butter into small pieces and add flour, oats, cinnamon powder, baking powder to it. Using hands crumble it together to mix everything together. It should be like crumble mixture now , so will add peanut butter. It will help to bind oats together and it will not fall apart after baking. Preheat oven to 180C . Brush oil on a square baking pan. Size of the pan should be as big as you can use to cover its bottom with 2 layers of oat mixture . 

I used 8x9 inches glass one and it was perfect for the above quantities. Divide the crumble mix into 2 parts. Spread first half onto pan and press using gamds or back of a spoon. Now spread the date filling evenly on top. Again top with another layer of oats mixture. Press lightly. This is important as otherwise we wont be able cut them later if its too loose. Bake for 25-30 minutes as top crust turns golden.

Let it cool for 10 minutes before cutting into squares. Leave to cool for some more time before taking out pieces.

Serve warm !