Pack a Protein Punch – with a date!

I had a personal trainer once. Well in fact twice but the last time I had one was before Christmas in an attempt to strengthen my legs and core muscles to make me run for longer and with better form. Part of the session each week was to analyse my diet to make sure that I was fueling my training properly. The one thing that my trainer told me over and over was that I hadn’t nearly enough protein in my diet.

Ready to Run thanks to the Trainer!

Did you know that the first 30g of protein you put into your body each day goes to power your immune system? I was surprised and made a mental note to try to up my protein. Eggs for breakfast every day sounds lovely but isn’t really that practical when trying to rush out the door for work. As I am also a vegetarian I am conscious that I need to eat smarter to get my protein each day. And then I remembered that Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah) , the wonder grain of the aztecs packs a protein punch like no other! Also available as a flake as well as a grain, I decided that to help me up my protein, something sweet was the only way to go.

The following recipe for Date Bars has been adapted from Rachel Allen’s Bake book, which I keep going back to. As well as subbing out some of the oats for quinoa flakes, I have also reduced the butter and sugar to make it a little better for your waistlines!

You will need to grease and line an 8x8inch tin and preheat the oven to 180C.

250ml water, 200g dates pitted and chopped, 50g plain flour, 125g wholewheat flour, 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 80g soft dark sugar, 90g butter diced, 50g each of porridge oats and quinoa flakes, and a good pinch of salt.

Place the water and the dates in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes uncovered on a low heat until the mixture is thick and soft. Stir occasionally. Remove from the heat and allow to come to room temperature. Do not think that still fairly warm is okay. Be patient. Have a cup of tea before you start the next phase allowing some extra cooling time!

Next, sift the plain flour and the bicarb of soda into a large bowl and add the wholewheat flour, sugar, oats and quinoa flakes and salt and mix well. Add the diced butter and using your hands, rub in until moist clumps form.

Press half of the mixture into the base of the tin and firm in. Take the cooled date mixture and pour over the base of the tin. Loosely spread the rest of the flour and oat mixture onto the top of the dates and place into the middle of the preheated oven for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow to cool completely before gently cutting into 16 squares and serve.

The result of these bars is a nutty and crunchy topping, that gives way to a creamy and caramel like centre that screams MORE!!!

When eating, enjoy and know that you are helping your immune system and your muscles which will in turn make you a better runner – if that is your poison!

Enjoy,

Orls xx