Vegan Date Squares with Orange & Cardamom

Recipe Difficulty: Easy

Date Squares Recipe Notes

Date Squares are probably one of my favourite sweet treats ever, so after some trial and error, I'm glad I finally have a veganized recipe that I am happy with and can share with you! This is a classic date square with a twist. I added cardamom to the crumb mixture and the zest and juice of an orange into the date filling. These ingredients are totally optional, if you want to keep it plain just omit the cardamom and replace the orange juice with a bit more water. I happen to LOVE cardamom, of which orange is a good friend....though you could totally keep the cardamom in the recipe and ditch the orange part too. 

I don't add sugar to my date filling. My feeling on this is that dates are already sweet, it's not that a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar wouldn't be a good addition to the filling, I just don't feel the need to add extra to an already sweet treat. But if you want to, just add a bit to the date filling while you are cooking it. It will be good.

I also use 100% whole wheat flour in my date squares. I haven't tested it with white flour, but I can't see how it wouldn't be delicious. My theory is if I can make a treat that uses 100% whole wheat flour and still taste great, why wouldn't I do that? At least it has some extra fiber, and honestly whole wheat flour has a delicious nutty flavour that works really well in these date squares. If you don't typically have whole wheat flour on hand and feel like picking some up, just keep any unused portion in the freezer. Whole wheat flour tends to turn rancid fairly quickly compared to white flour so storing it in the freezer will preserve it.