Easy Date Squares

Submitted by Baby Kato

"My MIL's easy, no fail date squares...Make an extra batch of the date jam its good on its own...over bagels or toast. If your date jam is a little thick. Add a little extra water to thin it out, until it is the consistency that you like. Becareful not to make it too thin."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Yields: 3 doz
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• Oatmeal Layer

• 1 1⁄2 cups flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup sugar, brown
• 1⁄2 cup walnuts (optional) or 1/2 cup pecans, chopped (optional)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 3⁄4 cup butter

• Date Jam

• 1 1⁄2 cups dates, pitted and chopped
• 1⁄4 cup sugar, brown
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Date Jam
3. Combine dates, sugar, water and vanilla in saucepan and bring to a boil.
4. Simmer 5 minutes, until mixture resembles a thick paste.
5. Cool completely
6. Oatmeal Layer
7. Combine flour, oats, sugar, nuts and salt in mixing bowl.
8. Cut in butter.
9. Reserve 2 cups of this mixture for topping.
10. Press remaining mixture into bottom of greased 9 x 9" pan.
11. Spread cooled date jam over the bottom layer and sprinkle reserved oatmeal mixture evenly over top.
12. Bake 25- 33 minute.
13. Cool completely then cut into squares.

Reviews

[northernmom]

I remember having tried date squares at a Christmas get together and looked forward to making this recipe. Baby K, you were right, the jam-like date mixture would be good on bagels. I came up with some difficulty when spreading it in my 9x13 pan. There just wasn't enough. I pushed everything over to one side and continued with the recipe. If you are considering making this lovely recipe I recommend using a 9x9 pan.

 

[COOKGIRl]

Oh my this was yummy! First the recipe was reduced to one dozen. Wanting more of a Middle Eastern taste to the squares, I replaced part of the vanilla extract with one teaspoon of rose water and added a pinch of ground cardamom. I used deglet noor and medjool dates. It was much easier to cut in the butter first before adding the nuts. I used a combination of pistachios, walnuts, pine nuts and almonds. I added a light touch of freshly ground nutmeg to the top before baking. This dessert took about thirty five minutes to bake and that's having cut the recipe by two thirds. Will definitely make again soon and may add grated coconut to the top. The jam itself is worth five stars! Reviewed for NA*ME tag/September. Thank you, Baby Kato!

 

[PaulaG]

I can well understand why this recipe has so many wonderful reviews and it was easy for me to convert to gluten free. I used gluten free rolled oats and a gluten free flour blend. The sugar in both the jam filling and the crust were cut by half to make this more "diabetic" friendly. The crust is so flaky that the squares cut much better after being well chilled. Made for Zaar Stars in Cooking Games with Friends.

 

[Boomette]

I love date squares but I've never made them. It was my first time and they were perfect. But I had trouble to spread the date mixture. Maybe it was too thick. I'm sure pecans would be great in that but I'm used to date squares without nuts. The oatmeal layer is very good. I used cold butter and had a hard time to cut in butter LOL I cooked the squares about 28 minutes. They're so yummy. Thanks baby kato :) Made for Holiday tag game

 

[cheyenne 2]

Date squares have always been a family christmas tradition.Every christmas my grandmother used to make these.She has passed away a few years ago so as I was feeling nostalgic I decided to make date squares of my own.This recipe was very simple and easy to make and equally easy to eat.Lots of thanks to Dreamer in ontario for giving me this recipe that brought back lots of good memories of christmas past!