Vegan Date Squares (Date Crumble Slice)

Stack of four date and oat crumble slices on a wood board with white-grey marble background. Wood board has other date slices blurred behind the stack.

Vegan Date Squares (Date Crumble Slice)

This recipe for classic vegan date squares makes a delicious, easy dessert. Using oats and dates to create a crumbly slice, this is based off an old family recipe that’s been veganized!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Vegan

Keyword Date crumble slice, Vegan date squares

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 30

Total Time 55

Servings Medium squares

Calories 293kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

3 cups dried dates
1 cup water (optional; to boil dates)
2 cups rolled oats
1 ½ cups brown sugar , lightly packed
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 cup vegan butter (or margarine)

Instructions

Step 1: Prep Dates

Option 1: Soak the dates in a large bowl, fully submerged in water, until soft (at least 4 hours, but overnight is best). Once soaked, drain away the soaking liquid and puree your dates in a food processor. I like a mostly smooth texture with a few smaller pieces of date throughout, but puree to your desired consistency.
3 cups dried dates
Option 2: If you don’t have a food processor or time to wait for dry dates to soak, you can cook the dates in a small pot. This waters down the flavor of the dates, but you may enjoy a slightly less sweet filling anyway.
For this option, add dates to a pot with water. Cook over low heat until the dates are soft and you can mash with a fork (press dates into the side of the pot to mash). This option also creates a more textured filling because the dates won’t be pureed.
3 cups dried dates, 1 cup water

Step 2: Prep Crumble

To make the crumble, add rolled oats, lightly packed brown sugar and whole wheat flour. Stir until well combined.
2 cups rolled oats, 1 ½ cups brown sugar, 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
Add vegan butter or margarine to the dry mixture and use a fork or your hand to mix the butter throughout, creating a crumbly mixture.
1 cup vegan butter

Step 3: Assemble

Grease a 9x13" baking dish (with extra vegan butter/ margarine or cooking spray).
Pour about ⅔ of the crumble mixture into the bottom of your baking dish and press down firmly, creating an evenly packed layer.
Spread the dates evenly over your pressed crumble. It’s best to scoop small amounts of date puree all over the base layer to make it easier to spread.
Sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture over your layer of dates and lightly press down.

Step 4: Bake and Serve

Bake in an oven preheated to 350 °F for 30-35 minutes, until the top is slightly golden brown and the bottom is fully golden brown (if you have a glass baking dish you can look at the bottom).
Cool completely before you slice into squares or slices and serve at room temperature.
Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days on the counter or a week in the fridge. You can also freeze this recipe.

Notes

Accuracy of nutrition information cannot be guaranteed (certain ingredients may not have all nutrients listed in the database); amounts may vary (and will vary depending on brands of ingredients used); all nutrition fact values rounded to the nearest whole number.

Nutrition