Pecan Almond Date Bars

   I finally got my packages of almond flour and coconut flour in the mail a few days ago so I decided to look up some of the recipe that I've bookmarked in that past to make. As soon as I saw Allie's post for Pecan Date Bars, I knew what I was baking first. I love dates and I add pecans to almost every baked good that I can so I thought this would be a good recipe to try my first recipe labeled Gluten-free & Paleo among many other labels!
  The Paleo diet is basically the diet of our ancestors with meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts, but doesn't include dairy, grains (gluten), or processed foods. I'm not saying that I'm going to switch to an all Paleo diet (at least not now), but I do like the idea of it and how many people that say that they feel so much better after being on it for a while. Here are a few good sites for learn more about Paleo: Multiply Delicious (I've bookmarked  & pinned so many of her recipes), here, and here.

  My bars may be lighter in color than the batch you make because of an error; Allie's recipe said 1tsp of vanilla, but the picture she had showed 1 Tbsp and I didn't realize that I probably should have used 1 Tbsp because my batch was a lot lighter until they were almost done baking. I looked up where she adapted her recipe from and it said 1 Tbsp so that's what I'm gonna write in the recipe. Allie commented later after I asked her which measurement was correct and she said 1 Tbsp.

  My dad even liked these bars which is a surprise since they are gluten free, dairy free, oil free, refined sugar free, and healthy, but I wasn't going to tell him that because he most likely would have stopped eating them and ask for a easy treat like brownies. He's a simple man who likes anything beef, brownies/cookies, and potatoes, but if you try to tell him about French macarons,Greek-style chicken with saffron rice, or red lentil dal, he will most likely say, "you can make that for you and mom, but I want something different for dinner." I'm thinking that the more variety of dishes I make and get him to try, the more likely he may actually like on and not just eat it because it's either eating that dish or having a sandwich.

I'm thinking I will also be baking a batch of these goodies soon.

Pecan Almond Date Bars

adapted from: Live Laugh Eat

1 cup almond flour/meal
1/2 cup oat flour (ground oats)*
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
1/4 cup natural (unsweetened) apple sauce**
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup Medjool dates, pitted and chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and spray a 8X8 pan with nonstick spray or coconut oil. You could line the bottom of the pan with parchment if you want to also.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the the flours, salt, baking soda, and mix.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, apple sauce, honey, and vanilla. Slowly add in the dry mix into the wet until all incorporated. Fold in the chopped nuts and dates.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 22-30 minutes.
Cool completely before cutting up pieces to serve.
You could even dust the pieces with powdered sugar if you wanted to.

Notes:
*Use Gluten-Free oats or sub in more almond flour if you want it GF or just use regular oats if not.
**I used 1/4 cup natural apple sauce instead of vegetable oil. You could even try heated coconut oil. I'm thinking I might even try using canned pumpkin instead of the apple sauce next time.
The original recipe that Allie based her recipe off of is from Elana's date walnut bars