Here is another Breakfast Dessert recipe I think you and your kids will love! My mother’s original recipe for Date Raisin Bars has been one of my favorites and I am sharing it with you. I love to eat them for breakfast but mom also served them for dessert! It’s very easy and nutritious and tastes so sweet! I’ve converted it using gluten free flour! You can’t tell it’s gluten free. My husband said you gotta make these more – so you know they are good.
Breakfast Dessert Date or Raisin Bars
Since this recipe is my mom’s ORIGINAL recipe, it probably calls for more sugar than you may want. Just cut the sugar and don’t worry about replacing it with anything – it should be fine. We have always liked it really sweet. In fact this recipe I am sharing has LESS sugar than my mom’s original recipe. I cut the sugar back even from hers!
The original way to make these was to use raisins. Dates for used for very special occasions because they were so much more expensive than raisins! We have also made it with a mixture of both raisin and date or just date. Some back in the day also mixed very finely chopped nuts into the filling but I like the texture of the filling without the nuts. You can also substitute the butter or butter substitute with coconut oil. I tend to light the richness of more dates so I use a mixture most often that has a bit more dates. So play around with it and enjoy! The recipe I used is below.
I used the following Bob’s Red Mill products for making the Breakfast Dessert Raisin Bars – Organic Gluten Free Oats and their newer Gluten Free 1-1 Baking Flour made to be used to replace any flour cup for cup!
The recipe calls for cut raisins. My mom use to cut them with scissors believe it or not! But thank goodness for technology! I use the Cuisinart Mini Prep below to blend or chop so many things for baking! It’s a very handy tool to have in the kitchen. It chops about 2 cups easily at one time. I love it. You can get yours HERE.
Recipe for Breakfast Dessert Date Raisin Bars:
Breakfast Dessert Raisin Bars
Ingredients
Crumb Crust
- 2 cups Organic Gluten Free Oats
- 2 cups Gluten Free Flour
- 2 cups Brown Sugar
- 1 cup butter or butter substitute melted - I use Earth Balance Vegan Shortening
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
Filling
- 4 cups raisins chopped Or you can use dates chopped. OR you can use a mixture of both!
- 1/2 cup sugar organic
- 2 cup filtered water
- 3 Tablespoons corn starch
Instructions
- CRUMB MIXTURE: Mix all the Crumb Crust ingredients together in one bowl. I blend with a fork, then use my hand. The topping should be very crumbly but if you put some in palm of your hand, it should hold together when crunched. See the photo.
- FILLING: Put all the filling ingredients into a sauce pan and bring to boil. Continue to simmer until thickened. Remove from heat.
- Spread 1/2 the crumb mix into bottom of greased 9x13 baking pan. Spread with the cooked raisins and top with the other 1/2 crumb mixture.
- Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, remove and cool in pan. Cut into squares and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Looks great. About to make them now!
They are decadent Ashleigh!! Very sweet!
You won’t eat gluten and you won’t eat dairy, but you need a dessert for breakfast and you’ll eat something that has three cups of sugar and a cup of butter. Smh.
Hi Julie…you DID SEE my comment that is was my mom’s ORIGINAL recipe and much sweeter than most like? I also encouraged everyone to cut the sugar and it will be fine. I also encourage to change the recipe to your liking. I do not use this much sugar anymore in my baking…but this recipe is an ORIGINAL recipe from years ago.
Won’t or Can’t??? Some people can’t have gluten or dairy….if they could eat it, I’m sure they probably would!
I can’t Tjdi…for medical reasons. I get very sick and it messes with the absorption of Vitamin D for me.
Why would you question someone on what she will and won’t eat? If the recipe has too much sugar for you just move on. She didn’t claim it to be “sugar free”… just gluten and dairy free.
Thanks Lis. I have noted it is way over the sugar amount some may want…and tell them to just decrease the sugar. I grew up with date/raisin bars. Mom’s in the 50’s made things so much different than now!!
Way too much sugar. None would be good
Where is the recipe for the picture I clicked on?
I bet craisins would be a good substitute. I love raisins but my family doesnt care much for them. So maybe I will try it with the craisins. Thanks for the recipe!
I don’t do raisins but I think craisins (dried cranberries) would be a good substitute.
These sound so yummy!!! I can’t wait to try them. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
I am trying half raisin half figs. Next time maybe all figs, really miss fig newtons since being diagnosed celiac last year. Thanks for the recipe cant wait for them to come out of oven!!
OH Suzette I bet a mixture of figs and raisins will be delicious!
Kroger grocery store sells a gluten free fig bar and pomegranate bar in their organic section. Our daughter loves them. I think it is $3 a box for 8 packages of two fig bars.
Thought they were blueberries in original pic…could blueberries work ?
Hi B. For some reason Bob’s Red Mill used a different photo when they shared this recipe. No, Blueberries would not work with this recipe. It is made with a paste of either raisins or dates….or a mixture. Some people add nuts to the mixture as well. It is suppose to be the fruit paste in between ( not on top ) of the crumb crust.
I only recently bought Bob’s Red Mill all purpose baking flour that’s gluten free. The package says you can substitute for regular AP flour 1:1, but recommends using xanthan gum. Does the baking flour that doesn’t say all purpose not require that? Maybe it already has it…?
Hi Beth! Great Question. I am on vacation in Florida right now so don’t have all my flour blends with me. Bob’s Red Mill has a newer flour out now that is 1:1 substitution and can use it in place of flour in any of your normal recipes. But it has to say on the bag 1:1 substitution. Other flour blends from Bob’s Red Mill may or may not have Xanthan Gum. Check the bag ingredients . IF it doesn’t have it, I would use 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum. Some flour blends have it some don’t with other companies as well. It helps it “stick” together a bit better.
I am going to adapt it using blueberries.
How did it work out ?
I cut the brown sugar to half a cup, used no sugar with raisins and used 1/3 to 1/2 cup of organic coconut oil (as coconut has a sweet taste) and had a tasty, less sweet breakfast bar.
I bet that was very tasty Mary Ann!
Thank you for the sugar adjustments, Mary Ann. I wasn’t going to try this b/c of the crazy amount of sugar but this sounds great!
When I first saw the picture, I thought it was blueberries
Me too…did you try it with blueberries
I have saved this recipe and definitely want to try it. I am not a breakfast person and my kids and hubby are always after me to eat breakfast. Being diabetic, I know this is important but I just can’t’ bring myself to eat this important meal. Thank you for the recipe and Happy Holidays!
CAN’T WAIT TO TRY THIS MOUTH WATERING RAISIN BAR!!!
This breakfast recipe sounds absolutely delicious! I am definitely a huge fan of raisin bar cookies, but never tried making them myself before. Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
Yummo!! We adore raisins in this house so I bet this would go over so well!! Trying it!! We have almost everything in our cabinets already too!!
Oh let me know how it turned out Amber! We love this and my son still asks me to make it when he visits!
The only way to make this delicious desert any better would be to add fresh blueberries
This looks so good, I bet it would be great with dates or anything. Can’t wait to try, pinned so I could keep it on file. Thanks for sharing.
Love this recipe and pinned it to one of my boards! Simple and sounds wonderful!
OMG! this looks so good! I want to make this for breakfast asap!
I love recipes handed down! wow there was a raisin bar cookie that I always loved, brings back memories! I would love to try these! Raisins are much less expensive than dates, as I used to like date bars, too, but dates cost too much.