Prunes?! Oh, wait. Jane loves prunes to combat pregnancy related uh…issues. Baby is now 1.5 inches and as long as a prune. I had to take one out of the package to see what that looked like. I decided on PRUNE BARS! Kind of like a Fig Newton, but using prunes instead. These were caramelized on the edges where the sugar hit the hot baking pans and it added a deeper note to an otherwise sweet treat.
Ingredients:
Filling:
8 oz of prunes
1 1/2 cups apple juice
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Crust:
1 ¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, softened
⅔ cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons water
Start by making the prune filling. Place the prunes, juice and lemon juice in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Let the prune mixture simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the prunes are very soft. Once cool, place the prunes into a food processor and puree until thick and jammy.
Whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate large bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until fluffy. Add in the oil, vanilla and water and beat again. Now add in the dry ingredients and mix until flour is just incorporated.
Reserve ~3/4 cup of the dough, wrap in plastic and place in the fridge until ready to use.
Take the other remaining dough and press it into a lined 8×8″ pan in an even layer. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.
Remove the crust from the oven and spread the prune mixture over the crust. For the remaining crust, it’s up to you! You can dollop the remaining dough onto the prune coating or, you can roll the remaining dough into a square, then place onto the prune mixture.
If you want to roll the dough, I place the dough between parchment paper and trim the edges, moving dough as needed to make a square. It doesn’t need to be perfect!
