Fruity Date Squares

A few weeks ago I went a little crazy at the grocery store and somehow thought I might "need" a big box of dates. Huh. Well it's all good dates are good in oatmeal. But I think deep down I had a craving for date squares. I love those. Plus you don't even need a recipe just some simple guidelines. I remember making them a lot when I was baking at that coffee shop in Whistler. It's super easy!
For these ones though I decided to make them a little more Christmas-sy and add candied fruit and apricots. And it worked really good!

Check this out.
First off, cook the fruit:

2 cups dates
1/2 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
1/2 cup candied fruit mix
1/2 cup raisins

Put them all in a sauce pan and cover 3/4 with orange juice, add a teaspoon or 2 of brown sugar if you like really sweet things...:



Let them turn into this:



Meanwhile do the "crust":

2 cups oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour (all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour...)
Spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, about 1/2 tsp each.
1/2 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
*you may need more butter, melt a little extra just in case...

For this part, just mix all the ingredients, butter last, and stir until it clumps together when you squeeze it:



If you feel like you need more butter or oats, adjust necessarily.
Oh and by the way, that mix can be used for fruit crumbles...so too much is no biggie..!
Oil-spray or butter a 8inch square pan and evenly press 2/3 of the crumb mix at the bottom. Spread the date mix (that has cooled a bit; really it takes about 10-15 minutes...watch it carefully though you don't want that sticky mess!!), evenly, and sprinkle the rest of the crumb mixture on top.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, until golden, and if need be turn on the broiler for a few minutes for extra crisp!



Let it cool completely on a rack, cut and enjoy!



p.s. don't be impatient like I was and eat a piece 5 minutes after it was out of the oven.....holy burn...

Wheat Germ and Oat Bread.

I finally got the AC installed in my appartment!! So turning on the oven is not a torture session anymore. And since today was a day off and I just ran out of bread... guess...yes, homemade loaf! The past couple of weeks I was able to bring home some bread from work, and even though it's bakery bread its not quite the same.
So I made up this loaf, that I might admit tastes phenomenal and turned out almost perfect! I don't have a lab at home where I can test howrich in fiber it is but I'm sure it's pretty high. The texture is dense but still light at the same time. And the crust is nice and, well, crusty, and flavorful!



3 1/2 cup bread flour
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP dry milk powder(optional)
1 TBSP sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup water

Mix all the ingredients appart from the egg, milk and water.
Heat up the milk and water until a thermometer reads about 110-130F.
Pour the liquid in the flour mix, stir with a fork, add egg, knead until it comes together, transfer to a flouredsurface and knead for 10 minutes until it becomes a smooth ball of dough.
Put it in an olied bowl and let it rise for about an hour, until it's doubled in size.
Shape in the desired form (here I just folded it and put in an oiled loaf pan),
proof for about 30-40 minutes, again until it's doubled.
Score 3 slits accross the dough, brush with egg whites and sprinkle some wheat germ on the top.
Bake at 400F for the first 5 minutes, then turn down the oven at 375 and continue baking for 20 minutes, then turn down at 350 for the last five minutes. When the bell rings(prviding you use the oven timing thing...), turn off the oven but leave the loaf in for another 5 minutes.
This should do it. If it's ready it'll sound hollow when tapped at the bottom.
Then cool on a rack(NOT in the pan!!) and congratulate yourself on a beautiful loaf of healthy bread!!



I'm sending this over to Yeastspotting!!

Unexpected Berry Crumble.

This is one of my favorite things to make when I have a craving for fancy dessert but it's too late to bake a cake. I had no plans of making this tonight but after a rather spicy stir fry I felt like having a sweet fruit dessert. It's super easy to make, and very easy to change from time to time. And also you can make it in individual baking ramekins so that way there's no temptation for seconds and you're not "stuck" to eat it for days afterwards...



The crumble mixture also is the easiest thing, it doesn't even have to be THAT precise, use more butter if you want a soft crust or more oats for a cruchier one. And it can stay in the fridge for a few days if you don't use it all. It can even make a good base for date squares. I don't remember where I got the recipe though. I think it was from a Food Network show, may have been Anna Olson's or Ina Garten's, I don't know... I scribbled it down on a piece of paper and kept it in one of the many baking books I own:

1 cup flour(i used whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter(about 8 tablespoons), cut into cubes
pinch salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix everything together with a fork or a pastry cutter until it ressembles coarse crumbs:



For the fruit underneath the possibilities are endless. Whatever you got is fine. For this one I used a mix of berries, frozen because it's not berry season yet. The only thing to remember here is to give the fruit a little boost! A little sugar, cinnamon, squeeze of lemon juice and a bit of flour to thicken the juice given by the fruit. If you like the crumble really juicy use veeeeery little flour or none at all(I omit the flour when cooking with apples, but frozen fruit always give out more liquid...) This is why I love making these: no need to measure!!

Bake it at 375F for about 25-30 minutes, until it becomes bubbly. Then what I do is turn on the broiler and let it brown a bit and crisp up...but if you do this don't walk away from the oven!!



Enjoy!!