I love baking healthy treats... More importantly, I love eating healthy treats! As some of you may know, I am leading a challenge called Know Sugar November where we dramatically reduce our sugar intake to improve our health and likely our moods. Anyways, it can sometimes be a challenge to eat tasty food, especially baked goods, without adding any sugar. Here's a recipe I found (and tweaked a little to make it even healthier) that won't send your blood sugar levels through the roof! I hope you like it!!
Ingredients:
Filling:
- 2 1/2 cups dates- chopped
- 1/2 cup goji berries
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup coconut oil (optional)
Crust:
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose gluten free flour
- 1 1/2 cups gluten free oats
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 2/3 cup oil (sunflower, safflower, or coconut)
- 1 Tbls. baking powder
- 1 egg beaten into 1/4 cup water.
*If you don't eat eggs, mix 1 tbs of ground chia seeds with 3 tbs. warm water, let sit for a few minutes to form a chia egg!
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Mix dates, goji berries, and water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until liquid is absorbed. Add vanilla extract and oil let cool.
For crust: Mix flour, oats, salt and baking powder. Add oil and egg and mix together. Layer half of crust in 8 X 8 pan, add date mixture, add remaining crust on top and bake at 375 for 25 minutes.
Serving Size: Makes 12 squares
**Please note, while wheat-free oats are gluten-free, they have a protein composite similar to gluten which some people with gluten sensitivities may react to. If that's the case or you'd like to play it safe, try substituting the wheat free oats for quinoa flakes and let me know how it goes!
~Enjoy!