Multigrain Crumble Bars

Method

For the Date Filling:

1. Put the dates, prunes, lemon juice and 125 ml of the water in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until thickened, about 5 min, then take off the heat. Dissolve the miso in the remaining 50 ml of water (warm from the tap). Pour the miso into the date filling and stir well until the two mixtures are fully combined. Cover and let cool completely.
   

For the Fruit Filling:

1. Put the berries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 min, to let some liquid evaporate, then turn the heat off and mash the fruit a bit. Add the chia seeds, stir well and let cool completely.

For the Crumble Bars:

1. Heat the oven to 180 °C. Line a 20x20 cm tin with baking parchment.
2. Melt the butter.
3. To make the crumble, combine oats, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add the melted butter and mix until you have a crumbly mixture that holds together when pressed.
4. Firmly press about ⅔ of this mixture into the prepared tin to form an even base. If you are making the fruit version, make sure that the base is well compacted to avoid the fruit leaking between any gaps and making the base soggy.
5. Spread the cooled filling evenly over the base. Sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture on top.
6. Bake for 30–35 mins, until golden on top and bubbling at the edges.
7. Cool completely in the tin before slicing. If you’re making the fruit filling you can further chill the bars in the fridge for 1-2 h, this will set the berry mixture and make it easier to cut neat bars.