Spiced Rum Sweet Potato Oat Bars

Spiced Rum Sweet Potato Oat Bars are on the menu today because I have too many sweet potatoes. I also have extra spiced rum because it’s my son’s favourite and he won’t be visiting for a while. Alex also loves rum balls and I use spiced rum in those.

The sweet potatoes allow me to add more veggies into our diet. They are sweet, creamy and have the texture of pumpkin; and so, let’s get baking with them. Now you can roast them for baking, but I dice them into small chunks and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Then I take my blender and create this versatile sweet paste.

I never saw a sweet potato until I started dating my husband; they weren’t part of the Italian immigrant experience. Although, I did read somewhere that Columbus brought it back to Italy. Well, maybe not Southern Italy. LOL I loved this recipe and I hope to experiment more with this new found mash.

Oats are also a staple in my kitchen. They are readily available and their whole grain goodness is not just for breakfast. I use oats in sweet and savoury dishes. The health benefits are many: https://www.everydayhealth.com/columns/bonnie-taub-dix-nutrition-intuition/reasons-why-you-should-eat-oatmeal-every-day/

My family loves date bars and these are better hands down because they are healthier and no chance of finding pits.

Ingredients

The Crust

2 cups instant oats
1 1/2 cups all- purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter cubed
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla

The filling

3/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
3 tbsp spiced rum
2 cups mashed sweet potatoes ( I used 3 medium)
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon

The topping

I cup of the crust mixture
1 cup chopped walnuts

The Process

Preheat the oven to 375 F and grease a 9 X 13 pan with butter. Mix the 2 cups oats with the flour and take away 2/3 of a cup.

Add the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt to the remaining flour mixture. Place in a blender and pulse until crumbly.

Take away one cup of this mixture and add it to the chopped walnuts.

In the bowl with the walnuts. This is the topping

Place the rest of the crumbly mixture from the blender into the 9 X 13 pan. Press to make a crust. Put into the oven for 15 minutes.

Peel the potatoes and cube into small chunks. Put into a microwave safe dish, add 1/4 cup water and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Remove and let cool. Drain the water and puree. Let cool.

Mix the sweet potato, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and reserved 2/3 cup flour mixture. Mix well. Beat the eggs with the spiced rum and pour into the sweet potato mixture.