Oat, Date and Apple Traybake

Name: Oat, Date and Apple Traybake
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 225 g butter, plus extra for greasing; 140 g peeled, cored and sliced apple; 140 g stoned dates, any kind, chopped; 280 g light soft brown sugar; 175 g plain flour; 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda; 100 g porridge oats, plus an extra 50g

Joanne @JoanneinBath

Bath, UK

I found an abandoned packet of Christmas dates in my cupboard, and also had three sad looking apples in the fruit bowl, so I found this recipe that used both, together with oats, which I think are miraculous and could eat three times a day. This is a super-easy traybake, and the date and apple filling cooks down into a toffee-like goo that completely fooled my 'I don't like dates' daughter:)

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Ingredients

225 gbutter, plus extra for greasing
140 gpeeled, cored and sliced apple
140 gstoned dates, any kind, chopped
280 glight soft brown sugar
175 gplain flour
1 tspbicarbonate of soda
100 gporridge oats, plus an extra 50g

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Steps

1

Heat the oven to 190C/Gas 5. Butter an 18cm square tin and line with baking parchment. Place the sliced apples into a pan with 2 tbsp water. Bring to a simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes until tender and slightly pulpy.
2

Add the chopped dates and 50g of the sugar, and cook for a further 5 minutes. Take off the heat and break the apples down with the back of a spoon until smooth and well mixed with the dates. Set aside.
3

Gently melt the butter in a separate pan. Mix the flour, bicarbonate, oats and remaining sugar in a bowl. Pour the dry mixture into the melted butter and stir well until oats are coated.
4

Evenly spread half the oat mixture into the tin and press down firmly to create a base, spread the date and apple mix on top and smooth over. Mix in an extra 25-50g oats to the oat mixture in the pan at this point (this wasn't in the recipe but I thought the mixture needed a bit of dryness to crumble nicely, and I was right).
5

Sprinkle over the remaining oat mixture to cover the date mixture. Bake for 30-35 mins until golden and firm. Cool in the tin before cutting into squares.

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Cooksnaps

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Joanne @JoanneinBath

on February 26, 2016 13:11

Bath, UK

I enjoy cooking mostly because I like eating, but also because it's a great way to relax at the end of the day. I work in book publishing and especially enjoy creating cookbooks written by cooks who love cooking and sharing food rather than creating show stopping dishes that take days to put together. As Nigel Slater would say; 'we are, after all, simply making ourselves something to eat'. I live with my lovely daughter Isobel who rarely pays any kind of compliment but will occasionally admit something I've cooked was quite nice, and our dog Piper, who will eat anything.