Sandra's Cherry Pie Oat Squares

Cherry Pie Oat Squares
By Sandra Venneri, P.H.Ec.

This vegan dessert uses nature’s natural flavours and sweetness to highlight the Canadian cherry taste with a mingling of maple

INGREDIENTS

Filling

• 2 cups of pitted cherries, fresh or frozen
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup
• 1 tbsp of tapioca
• 1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp of ground ginger

Crust

• 2 cups of rolled or quick oats
• 1/2 cup of apple butter
• 2 tbsps of maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon and/or ginger (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Process, chop or mash cherries into small pieces.
3. Place all of the filling ingredients into a small saucepan and heat on medium-high heat until boiling.  Reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Prepare crust separately while simmering the cherry filling.
4. Combine crust ingredients in a bowl.  Mix with spoon at first, then crumble with hands.
5. Spoon 2/3 of the crust mixture into a 8 x 8 ” glass baking dish.  Press firmly into pan making sure to cover the bottom completely.
6. Pour warm filling mixture into pan on top of crust.
7. Sprinkle the rest of the crust mixture on top of the filling.  Crumble between your fingers to eliminate larger chunks.  Use as much or little of the leftover crust mix as you prefer for a topping.
8. Place baking pan into the oven for 20 minutes.
9. Remove from oven when crumble pieces on top start to become golden.
10. Cool to room temperature before slicing into squares.  Slice into a 3 x 3 grid to make 9 pieces, or a 3 x 4 grid to make 12 smaller pieces.

Servings Per Recipe: 9-12 squares
Tip:  Sweet or tart (sour) cherries may be used in this recipe.  Cherry filling recipe might need to be adjusted for tart cherries by increasing the maple syrup by 1 tbsp and simmering time by 2-3 minutes.
Substitutions:

• Cornstarch or wheat flour can be used in place of tapioca.
• Honey can be used in place of maple syrup. (Non-vegan)

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Sandra Venneri, B.Sc. (Hon), P.H.Ec.
Sandra Venneri is a registered Professional Home Economist specializing in nutrition education.  She is an entrepreneur & owner of Nutrition Bites Consulting which provides a wide-range of services to the public, farms and businesses, “helping them get healthier in little bites”.  Sandra’s passion for education, health and community is reflected in her career & additionally through volunteering.  She currently holds the position of Co-VP of Membership for the OHEA and is the London Home Economics Association Newsletter Editor.  To contact Sandra, visit her website at www.nutritionbites.ca. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram too.