Healthy Date Oat Squares (Oil-free No Added Sugar) (2024)

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A delicious treat made using better-for-you ingredients. These healthy date oat squares make the perfect lighter treat when you’re craving something sweet, but still want it to nourish your body.

Would you believe me if I said you can make a delicious date oat bar without any processed sugar or oil?

That’s exactly what I did to create these healthy date oat squares. I’m using whole dates only to sweeten and tahini as a healthier alternative to oil or butter.

This recipe is inspired by my favourite sweet treat growing up in Iraq called Kleicha – a date swirl cookie/pastry spiced with cinnamon and cardamom. They’re usually served during celebrations and the holy month of Ramadan.Since we’re already a week into Ramadan, I craved something nostalgic that would take me back to my childhood.

Dates are one of my favourite ingredients to use in healthier desserts. They add so much natural sweetness, meaning you don’t need to add as much sugar, or in the case of this recipe, you don’t need to add any additional sweetener at all!

I like using Medjool dates because they’re soft, gooey and have a lovely fudgy texture to them. I do appreciate they’re not the cheapest ingredient, so you can use other types of dates instead. You may need to add more water depending on how dry they are to help break them down into a spreadable paste.

These healthy date oat squares are so wholesome and easy to make. You definitely need to give them a go! They make a lovely lighter dessert when you’re craving something sweet, but nourish your body at the same time.

They’re a good source of fibre from the dates and oats. They also contain 5g of protein per serving!

What you need to make these healthy date oat squares:

Dates – Medjool dates or other soft varieties work best to create a smooth, spreadable paste. They add enough sweetness that you don’t need to use any extra sugar to make them taste good!

Oats – I’m using a mixture of oats and ground oats (aka oat flour). You can use gluten-free oats if you need the recipe to be gluten-free. I make my own oat flour by blending oats into a fine flour in a high-speed blender.

Tahini – This works as a replacement for butter/oil. Runny tahini works best as it makes it easier to mix everything together and help it hold. I like using Lebanese tahini, which you can get from ethnic/Asian shops or online.

Spices – I’m using cardamom and cinnamon – both work so well with dates! You can leave them out if you prefer, but I would highly recommend adding them.

These healthy date oat squares are:

Easy to make
Made using healthier ingredients
Sweetened with dates
A good source of fibre
Vegan
Gluten-free
Nut-free
Oil-free
Dairy-free
Made without refined sugars
Only call for a few ingredients
And so delicious!

Healthy Date Oat Squares

A delicious treat made using better-for-you ingredients. These healthy date oat squares make the perfect lighter treat when you're craving something sweet, but still want it to nourish your body.

4.88 from 8 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine middle eastern

Servings 10

Calories 207 kcal

Ingredients

For the date layer

250g Medjool dates* or soft dates
4-6 tbsp water**
Pinch of salt

For the oat layer

90g oat flour***
75g oats***
1/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
120ml tahini

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan/350F.
In a large bowl, mix together the oats, oat flour, spices, baking powder and a small pinch of salt.
Pour in the tahini and mix to combine. Set to the side while you prepare the date filling.
Add the dates, water and a pinch of salt to a pan and cook over a low/medium heat. Mash with the back of a wooden spoon until you have a smooth date paste.
Press 2/3 of the oat mixture into a lined loaf tin, then spread the date paste on top. (I used a 24cm x 15cm loaf tin).
Crumble the remaining 1/3 of the oat mixture to create the oat topping.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, then allow to cool completely before slicing. You can slice them into bars or squares.
Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Notes

*Medjool dates or other soft varieties work best to create a smooth, spreadable paste.

Nutrition

Calories: 207kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 5gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gSodium: 18mgPotassium: 291mgFiber: 4gSugar: 17gVitamin A: 46IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 49mgIron: 1mg

Keyword dairy-free dessert, date recipes, gluten-free dessert, healthy baking, healthy dessert, healthy snack, nut-free, ramadan dessert, tahini recipes, vegan, vegan dessert

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Nadia2023-04-03T14:16:09+01:00March 31, 2023|Bars, Dairy Free, Desserts, Gluten Free, Nut Free, snack, Vegan, Vegetarian|27 Comments

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27 Comments

SaraTMarch 31, 2023 at 9:02 pm - Reply
What if so don’t have tahini?
- NadiaApril 3, 2023 at 2:13 pm - Reply
  A runny nut butter like peanut butter or almond butter should also work 🙂
  - JassonApril 6, 2023 at 12:10 pm - Reply
    
    Very nice recipe chef ???. Really yummy ?. Thank you for your effort ??
    - NadiaApril 7, 2023 at 7:03 pm - Reply
      So glad you enjoyed Jasson 🙂
  - CherylMay 16, 2023 at 1:46 pm - Reply
    
    Can these be frozen?
- ChinelleApril 9, 2023 at 5:40 pm - Reply
  
  Hiya, just made these, and they are amazing! Super easy to make and could quite easily eat half a batch in one sitting! Would this work with other dried fruit, for example apricots or prunes?
  - NadiaApril 12, 2023 at 4:32 pm - Reply
    So glad you enjoyed them Chinelle 😀 Yes, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work with other dried fruit, you may need to add a little more water depending on how dry the fruit are. I need to give them a try myself – love the idea of an apricot version 😀
Parizad in AZApril 2, 2023 at 2:41 am - Reply

Hi 🙂 I made these exactly how recipe stated..except for the addition of 1/4 teaspoon vanilla in the date and water mixture & a bit more water..
It was very tasty! Thank you!
- NadiaApril 3, 2023 at 2:13 pm - Reply
  Yay so glad you enjoyed them 🙂 Thank you for your feedback x
RonjaApril 2, 2023 at 8:23 pm - Reply
Hi is it possible to replace the tahini with for example not butter? Looks amazing, best regards !
- NadiaApril 3, 2023 at 2:15 pm - Reply
  A runny nut butter will also work 🙂
  - RonjaApril 3, 2023 at 9:07 pm - Reply
    thank you! 🙂
SophieApril 5, 2023 at 9:45 am - Reply
Hi
Thank you will try them!
Can I bake then in an air fryer?
What settings you recommend?
Thank you
Sophie
- NadiaApril 5, 2023 at 11:13 am - Reply
  Hi Sophie 🙂 I haven’t tried baking them in the air-fryer, but they should work. Depends on your air-fryer setting – mine has a baking setting, so if I were to bake in my air-fryer I would set it to bake at 160C for 10-20 minutes. You would need to check on them regularly because I find the air-fryer bakes a lot quicker than the oven. Again I haven’t tried it myself so not 100% sure how they’ll turn out. Let me know if you try them 🙂
TeresaApril 8, 2023 at 8:41 am - Reply
Can I use ordinary flour?
- NadiaApril 9, 2023 at 2:21 pm - Reply
  HiTeresa 🙂 It should work, although I haven’t tried using plain flour to make this recipe, so I can’t be 100% sure the results will turn out the same
- SfgApril 27, 2023 at 9:33 pm - Reply
  I don’t need religion lessons when reading recipes, thanks.
  - NadiaApril 28, 2023 at 2:18 pm - Reply
    No one’s giving a religion lesson.
    - AmandaJune 15, 2023 at 9:20 pm - Reply
      So interesting to learn about other cultures and their foods. I find it very open minding to try things from all over the world. I will definitely try these today though I was thinking of adding some homemade raspberry sauce instead of water for the dates? Will see how it works.
  - MarciaJuly 13, 2023 at 11:31 pm - Reply
    Unnecessary comment about religion.
    Just go to another site if you don’t like it. ?
    - LexiFebruary 12, 2024 at 6:02 pm - Reply
      I read recipes all the time where people talk about their personal relationship with the recipe. In many cases people speak of the culture or celebration around the recipe as well. Christmas is a perfect example of this. I am surprise by the rudeness and intolerance of others to be open to learn of something relevant to many people and many cultures and even to different religious celebrations or traditions.
      You are right that if one doesn’t like it to go elsewhere instead of be rude and silence the sharing of the person who shared the recipe.
Anne CaidenJune 23, 2023 at 9:41 am - Reply
Thank you for this recipe. What flour would you recommend, if I wanted to make it low carb ?
- NadiaJune 23, 2023 at 1:56 pm - Reply
  Hi Anne 🙂 You could try almond flour, although I haven’t tried it myself and don’t have much experience with it, so I can’t say how it’ll turn out or if you will need to amend the quantities.
MyraSeptember 28, 2023 at 5:05 pm - Reply

Yum! Trying to find more ways to incorporate dates into my diet as I am getting close to birthing my baby! Studies show dates can help avoid a post term delivery. These turned out really good. I did add some honey to crust mixture and vanilla bean paste to date mixture.
KayeFebruary 14, 2024 at 4:33 pm - Reply

I’ve made this recipe several times (as written). Delicious. I usually double it and freeze half as it’s a great dessert to have on hand and serve with tea when unexpected guests drop by! It has the perfect amount of sweetness from the dates, too. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
LiliApril 4, 2024 at 3:25 pm - Reply

These are amazing! Love that you used tahini instead of oil. You’re the one who introduced me to tahini. I’d never used it in recipes before, certainly not desserts but now tahini desserts are my favourite!
AudreyApril 6, 2024 at 2:20 pm - Reply

They came out good. I would add Peanut butter for a little flavour or crushed nuts.