Date and oat bars

**This is not a gluten-free recipe and was posted before I eliminated gluten from my diet.**

It's wedding season, and that means endless parties (showers, bachelor/bachelorette parties, and actual weddings). Every year it seems that I have more and more weddings to attend, but I still love going. It's somewhat surprising that I would look forward to an occasion that requires dressing up (that's not my cup of tea), buying presents, and religious traditions, but somehow I always end up having a blast.

Last weekend I was attending a bachelorette party in Ann Arbor. I knew that we would be hanging out at the hotel for a good part of the night, so I wanted to bring something for us to have for late-night snacks. I didn't have a whole lot of time that day, so I had to make something quick with things that I already had around.

Date and oat bars (adapted from Karen Barkie's "Sweet and Sugarfree")

2 eggs

1/2 stick butter, softened

1 1/2 cups apple juice

1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup whole white wheat flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups chopped dates, divided

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger

Beat eggs, butter, and apple juice together in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, combine oats, raisins, and walnuts. Beat 1 cup of oat mixture, flours, baking soda, baking powder, 1 cup of dates, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger into the egg mixture. Oil and flour a 9 x 13" pan, and pour batter into it. Top with remaining dates and oat mixture. Bake at 350 for 20 min, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool and cut into squares. Makes 24 small squares.

I enjoyed these, as did the rest of the girls. I'm still nervous making sweet things for people who aren't accustomed to my fruit-sweetened concoctions, but these seemed to go over well. One of them remarked that they had the perfect amount of sweetness that would work for a dessert or breakfast. Indeed, I had a couple for breakfast the next morning. This could be varied a ton based on the dried fruits and nuts that you like and have on hand. The only thing that I would suggest is to press down the toppings into the batter slightly so that they don't fall off as you're eating them.