Date Bars
- Total Time
- 45 minutes, plus cooling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:24 bars
- 1½cups medjool dates (about 12 ounces), pitted
- 1teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- 2teaspoons salt
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 2½cups/320 grams all-purpose flour
- 1teaspoon baking powder
- 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1cup/227 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½cup/146 grams firmly packed dark brown sugar
- ¼cup/90 grams honey
- 2large eggs
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
203 calories; 9 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 30 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 18 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 121 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
In a small saucepan, combine the dates with 1 cup water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Turn off the heat and let sit for 15 minutes. Strain the water from the dates, reserving the liquid. Add the dates to a food processor with the vanilla paste, 1 teaspoon of the salt and ¼ cup of the reserved date water. Process until smooth and the texture of a thick jam, adding 1 tablespoon of additional date water at a time if the mixture is too thick.
- Step 2
Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with parchment paper so the paper hangs over the long sides of the pan. (This will make it easy to lift the bars out of the pan once they’re baked.) Spray the parchment with the cooking spray.
- Step 3
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the butter, brown sugar and honey and mix on medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the mixer with a spatula as needed. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing until incorporated.
- Step 4
Turn off the mixer and add the flour mixture. Mix on low speed until the flour is fully incorporated, scraping down the sides with a spatula as needed. The dough will be soft. Place half of the dough in the prepared pan and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Carefully spread the date mixture evenly over the top of the dough in the pan. Place the pan in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Step 5
Heat the oven to 350 degrees and remove the pan from the freezer. Take the remaining half of the dough, place dollops of it over the top of the date mixture in the pan, and carefully spread it evenly over the date layer. Bake until the top is golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.
- Step 6
Using the parchment paper, lift the bars out of the pan and place on a wire rack to cool. Cut into 24 squares. Date bars will keep, covered, at room temperature, for up to 3 days.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
martha
delicious! Added finely chopped walnuts to the flour mixture.
Lisa
I have to look up my family recipe for these date cookies to see how it compares. I can tell you all that we use a date paste (found in middle eastern stores) and that the dough has a fair amount of butter and zest from a tangerine or clementine. When made well they are delicious!! Spreading the dates can be cumbersome, but using wet fingertips helps a lot.
Paula
Really tasty, many compliments. Next time will not use parchment paper as the dough is too thick to spread easily - the parchment slid all over.
Joyce
I had a similar experience as others with the sticky dough and difficulty spreading it. And there was not enough dough for a 9x13 pan. Will not make again.
Jody
The dough is so sticky. There may be some magic I missed, but there are less stressful ways of making bars.
M.Pook
Made these with half the sugar that was suggested, added walnuts to the date mixture and orange zest to the cookie dough. I used a 9x9 tray and baked them for 30 minutes ( though another minute or two wouldn't have hurt). They are spectacular! Very much like a fig newton and the cookie part is not too dry. I will let the rest sit for a couple of of days to age then wrap tightly and freeze until Christmas. That is, if I can keep my hands off them.
A
how did these fair frozen?
kiki
My feeling is that the date filling was delicious, but the crust part was extremely dry. To eat the rest of them I’ll have to whip up some whipped cream.
Yummy and worth the work...
delish but you have to juggle dough in and out of fridge to get it a bit firm to manage spreading it thin enough and an offset knife helps. 1/2 of dough did not fill full bottom of pan-does not make a difference. nothing spreads. use full amt or nearly all of filling as otherwise bars will be a bit dry... i also took handfuls of refrig. dough and flattened between my hands and laid that on top...be creative...they turned out great but would have been greater if I had used more filling..
Gloria
Dough was way too stiff to spoon easily although delicious. Will add more liquid next time
Chip Natarajan
I cut the recipe in half and added about 3/4 cup of toasted pecans/walnuts to the food processor with the dates. I also cut the down on the sugar/honey, using a total of 1/4 cup combined (for half the recipe). The dates made it plenty sweet - I may cut down even more next time. Delicious!
Lisa
I have to look up my family recipe for these date cookies to see how it compares. I can tell you all that we use a date paste (found in middle eastern stores) and that the dough has a fair amount of butter and zest from a tangerine or clementine. When made well they are delicious!! Spreading the dates can be cumbersome, but using wet fingertips helps a lot.
Kathy
As with others this was a royal pain. I doubt I will ever make again but if I did I’d refrigerate the dough and roll it out. No need for parchment and cooking spray—just use parchment. The dough didn’t stick. And I agree with everyone that they are way too salty. Plus the recipe should note that the salt is divided. I had to throw away the first batch of dates because I used the whole 2 tsp. I thought it was too much but wasn’t paying attention. 2nd time used 1/2 tsp—still too much
Wills
Wow these are a pain. They are in the freezer now. Spreading out the dough was one of the most comical baking experiences in my long life. I gave up with the spreading bit and then sprayed a large piece of parchment folded in half, rolled the sticky dough out to size. Then laid in pan, spread the filling. I'm doing the same with the top half. Wish me luck. These better be good, I'll never make them again.
NECook
Seriously delicious. My husband has celiac, so he made these using gluten-free flour.
D.
Two days from baking, and I think they are even better. Very much like a date newton. Excellent with coffee. Will happily make again.
Peggy
Had way too little batter for a 9x13-inch pan, so transferred to a 9x9 and used about 90% of the batter. Wasn't sure how long to bake, so they came out a little dry. Given the amount of sugar and the dates, I thought these would overly sweet, but they were a little bland. Not overly salty as some have commented.
SC
If you butter/spray your pan FIRST, then the parchment will stick to the pan and spreading the batter will be easier. We followed the recipe as is and all the salt levels were just fine for us. The only thing I did after reading the comments was freeze the first layer a little bit before spreading the date layer. Yes, it's sticky/annoyingly difficult/time-consuming, but the results are delicious! We loved the texture and flavor; this is one of those recipes where simple ingredients sing.
Kate Lombardi
Can you make these with a hand held mixer?
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