Healthy Oats Squares with Coconut and Dates

by Chinmayie Bhat: Blogger, Love Food Eat

I have never had a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast EVER in my entire life! It might come as a surprise to some of you but I could never develop a taste for this very common breakfast staple. There is something about the texture of oatmeal which I can’t enjoy. Then again, I grew up eating hot Indian breakfast so there was no need for me to eat oatmeal.  Since I don’t eat oatmeal, I am constantly trying to bake with oats. I usually love Healthy muffins, cakes and cookies with lots of oats in it as my lite breakfast or snack with a mug of tea.

This time I baked these delicious oat squares with lots of coconut and dates. This cake is vegan, healthy and refined sugar free. I recently discovered baking with date puree/date syrup and I am totally loving it. These healthy squares are sweetened with date syrup and finely chopped dates which makes it definitely healthier than the ones with refined white sugar. Every bite of this cake is filled with generous amount of fresh coconut and few sweet pieces of dates. With oats there is also chickpea flour/gram flour in this, adding a good amount of protein. Flax seed meal replaces eggs and coconut oil replaces butter.

Healthy oat square is a fluffy, lite cake with a slightly crunchy oat topping. It’s not overly sweet and is wonderfully moist. This is a really easy and simple bake which is a great healthy snack. To me the sweetness in it is just right to actually make it my little dessert after lunch.  If you don’t have enough time to make a bowl of oatmeal on a weekday, you can grab a big square of this cake and call it breakfast ;)

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup chickpea flour
• ¾ cup instant oats
• ½ cup freshly grated /desiccated coconut
• ¼ cup finely chopped dates
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup date syrup
• 2 tbsp flax seed meal + 6 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp coconut oil

Topping:

• 1 cup instant oats
• 2 tbsp date syrup
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

Preparation:

1. Pre heat the oven at 180 degree Celsius.
2. Mix the flax seed meal with water, stir well and set it aside for a few minutes
3. In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix all the wet ingredients with the flax seed mixture. Mix both the dry and wet ingredients.
4. In a small bowl mix all the topping ingredients.
5. Fold the mixture into a greased pan and spread it well. Sprinkle the topping mixture evenly on top of the batter.
6. Bake for 20 minutes till the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the topping is golden and crisp. Take care not to burn the topping.
7. Cut small/big squares and enjoy as breakfast/snack/dessert.
   
   
   Source