Date Squares
When I was living in Toronto, I had an amazing group of friends. We were mostly all French Canadian from Québec and this alone bound us together even more. We were living about half an hour’s drive from each other so obviously we saw each other often.
We had dinner parties regularly and would take turns hosting them. When it was my turn, I was always trying new recipes like Coq au Vin, Chateaubriand, Paella, Beef Wellington, etc. I enjoyed taking risks (I still do…) and loved the challenge because in the back of my mind I was thinking that “if I screwed up and the food wasn’t good, I could always order a few pizzas…”
Carole, a friend from our group, had all of us over as it was her turn. That night I had a little bit too much wine and wasn’t in any condition to drive therefore I slept over. The next morning when I woke up, her husband Pierre was making breakfast. Carole on the other hand, was baking something in the oven. Before we were done with our first meal of the day, she pulled out her Date Squares from the oven. When I was ready to leave her place, she gave me some to take home.
I had never been a big fan of this dessert but, when I decided to try hers later on, it was OMG! I couldn’t believe how tasty her Date Squares were! I called her the same night and asked for her recipe. Since then, I’ve been making hers without any changes…
Besides being delicious, what I like about her Date Squares is they can be served as a dessert, as an after school snack or simply a mid-afternoon treat with a nice cup of coffee or tea. This easy recipe is definitely one you’ll want to be baking this season…
Bon Appétit!
Check out these other delicious dessert recipes…
– Caribbean Rum Mousse
– Apple Cheese Pie
– Cranberry Cream Cheese Crisp
– Chocolate Mint Nanaimo Bars
– Limoncello Crème Brûlée
– Tiramisu
and for even more dessert recipes, click on this link… Recipe Category • Dessert
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Date Squares
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Ingredients
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/8 tsp. ground Himalayan sea salt
- 3/4 cup butter, room temperature tips & tricks
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 3/4 cups rolled oats
- 1 1/2 cups dates such as Medjool, pitted
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Lightly butter an 8x8 baking dish and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add flour, baking soda and salt; whisk until blended.
- Add butter and using a pastry cutter, combine with the flour.
- Add brown sugar and rolled oats; stir until the mixture is crumbly (don’t over mix).
- Scoop half of the flour-oat mixture into the prepared baking dish and, with the back of a spoon compact it by pressing down gently; set aside.
- In a small saucepan, combine dates, water and vanilla extract. Stir and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and gently simmer until the dates are soft, stirring often - while cooking, mash them.
- Remove from the heat and cool off for about 5 minutes.
- Spoon the date mixture on the bottom crust and level it out with a spatula.
- Add the remaining oat mixture and press down gently.
- Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and cool completely before cutting into squares.
Don't forget to rate and comment on this recipe!
The coffee shop down the way stopped making date bars so I decided to try finding a recipe that looked like theirs in the picture. Made a double batch and, oh my, these are even better. So simple and amazingly moist. Thank you!
Hi Pam, thanks so much for your lovely comments. I’m happy you enjoyed the recipe. Have a fabulous day ☺