Date with Chocolate!

So here we are, several days into our new reduced sugar plan and it is going pretty well. I would like to stress the "reduced" at this point. As a mother of 3 girls, now aged 8 and 11 years old (yikes!), it would be near impossible and (dare I agree?) "unfair" for me to believe that we could eradicate sugar completely. Instead, we are aiming for a 5:2 ratio of good to bad.
For my part, I am busily creating healthy, low sugar treats for weekday snacks and deserts to fulfil the '5' bit. They then contribute to the '2' bit, by tucking into chocolate, cake and ice cream at the weekend!

Despite the controversy surrounding the use of fructose (largely instigated by the findings of Dr Robert Lustig and the food industries use of high fructose corn syrup) I  favour the use of  whole, blended fruit (both fresh and dried) as my alternative sweetener. Unlike fructose syrup, the fibre and vitamins in fruit are definitely beneficial to the body and I like the extra flavour that they impart.

My Chocolate Date Squares were created with Marcus in mind and were a resounding success. To date (nice play on words there!) he has been pretty tricky to win over to the low sugar camp but these were consumed with surprising enthusiasm and earned an easy  5/5 Clean Plates score 

They have a rich chocolate flavour and a satisfyingly soft, dense texture. I hesitate to call them brownies as that creates an expectation that they may not meet but as a chocolate square they certainly stand proud.

I ended up making these twice this week and they were even well received by all the children that came round to play after school.

Chocolate Date Squares (Clean Plates 5/5 - they even pass the Marcus Test!)

2 Apples
60g Dates
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tsp Vanilla extract
1 Tsp Espresso Coffee
1/4 Tsp Salt
5 Tsp Agave Nectar
120g Plain Flour
40g Ground Almonds
1 Tsp Baking Powder
50g Cocoa Powder
2 Eggs

Pre-heat the oven to 170C/Gas 3 and line small baking tin (20cm x 20cm) with parchment.
Pop the dates into a cup or small bowl and cover with boiling water to soften. 
Peel, core and slice the apples. Place in a small sauce pan, cover with water, bring to a gentle simmer and stew until soft.
In a food processor blend together the dates and apple with 6 teaspoons of the water that the dates have been soaking in.
Once smooth add the vanilla extract, coffee, olive oil, salt and Agave Nectar and continue to blend until you have a fairly loose puree. If the puree seems rather thick add a little more of the date water.
In a mixing bowl whisk the eggs before adding the apple and date puree. Stir until everything is well combined.
Fold in the flour, almonds, cocoa and baking powder until you have a thick, chocolatey paste.
Scrape it into the tin and bake for 15 - 20 minutes until firm.
Cut into squares and enjoy!