1
["Heat the dates and water in a saucepan on low heat until the dates are soft and have absorbed the water.", "Allow to cool slightly.", "Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and prepare a 8"" square or round baking dish.", "Put the flour, oats, cinnamon, and baking powder in a bowl or food processor.", "If mixing by hand, combine the dry ingredients and stir the butter into the dates, then combine the two and add the vanilla.", "If using a food processor, put the dry ingredients, dates, butter and vanilla in together and mix.", "Spoon a little over half the mixture into the baking pan, pressing down with your hands or a spatula to cover the bottom of the pan.", "Spread on the fruit or jam of your choice.", "(Note: To use dried apricots, like the original calls for, chop about 280g dried apricots and put in a saucepan with 250ml water.", "Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat.", "Set aside to cool.", "When stirred and mashed a bit, this will turn out similar to the date mixture and makes a decadent filling.", ").", "If using nuts, stir them into the remaining dough.", "With or without nuts, drop the remaining dough by spoonfuls onto the fruit filling.", "If there is enough, pat down to form a top layer, or leave lumpy.", "Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is golden.", "Allow to cool well to firm up, then cut into bars or wedges."]
