Date raisin square

The first time I tried this square in a café, I fell in love with it. The crunchy top with pleasant smell of oat and the creamy sweet with a little bit sour taste of date paste, no, I can not resist this.

I have quitted coffee for a long time, and this square becomes an ideal mate to my tea.

(1) In a blender, use "smooth" mode and blend 2 cup chopped pitted date, 1 cup raisin, 3 tbsp brown sugar, 1/4 cup orange juice and 1 1/2 cup water;

(2) Transfer the mixture to a sauce pan, bring to boil, stir and then reduce heat to medium-low, simmer and stir often, until the mixture is thick enough to mount on spoon; stir in 2 tsp lemon juice and let cool to room temperature;

(3) In a mixing bowl, mix 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 1/2 cup rolled oats and 3/4 cup brown sugar; combine 12 tbsp soft butter with dough blender until it becomes coarse crumbs;

(4) Butter a baking pan, transfer 1/2 of crumb mixture into prepared pan, press and flat;

(5) Spread date paste overthe crumb and then cover with the remaining crumbs;

(6) Preheat oven to 350F, bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown;

(7) Cool completely (very important) and then cut into squares.