Date Squares

  •  Date Squares

    I really had no idea that date squares were a Canadian thing.

    (Okay, I know that calling anything a square instead of a bar means it’s a little more Canuck-like than a Budweiser beer, but still.  I thought everyone loved dates.  Don’t dates transcend international boundaries?)

    Here’s the thing about dates: they are naturally sweet, so you don’t need to add a ton of extra sugar (for those of you who care about things like that).  And they’re really, really, very, very good- so good, in fact, that you’ll have to buy extra to make up for the ones you’ll eat as you pit & chop them for the date filling.  Another thing about dates… they make amazing appetizers- especially if you stuff them with a Marcona almond, then wrap it in proscuitto, then sear it on all sides, then serve it with reduced aged balsamic vinegar on top.  But I digress, because this is a sweets site.

    This dessert is dedicated to Tia, who used to eat a date square at the Second Cup in Toronto every time she crossed the border from the date-less US of A… I’m seeing her again after a long time and want to serve up a good old fashioned square for her.  Oh, and she was the one that told me about the date-almond-proscuitto package of heaven from Mercat a la Planxa restaurant in Chicago years ago.  It all comes together.  Dates.

    (Holy cow- I just realized one more thing.  A few years ago we created a contest at the Day Job where the winner would win a “Date with Tia”… [it was supposed to be kind of funny].  Now Tia gets Dates for Tia.  [Sorry, that was very lame.])

    DATE CENTER:

    3 cups pitted dates, chopped (Medjool dates, ideally)

    1 cup water

    1 tsp vanilla

    OATMEAL BASE & TOPPING:

    1 cup all-purpose flour

    2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

    1/2 teaspoon baking soda

    1/4 teaspoon salt

    Dash of ground cinnamon

    2 cups rolled oats (not instant)

    1 cup unsalted butter, cold & cubed

    1. Preheat oven to 350° and grease a foil-lined 8″ pan.
    2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine dates and water and allow to cook gently for about 8 – 10 minutes.  Stir every few minutes while heating, then remove from heat when most of the water has been absorbed into the dates.  Whirl in a food processor for about 30 seconds or mash with a fork until smooth.
    3. In a food processor, whirl flour with brown sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Whirl in oats briefly (so they don’t mulch up to unrecognizable bits).  Add butter to bowl of processor and pulse until course crumbs form (butter pieces should be the size of peas, and mixture will be crumbly and dry).
    4. Press 2/3 of crumb mixture over bottom of prepared pan to create bottom crust.  Spread date filling over oat base, then sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of the oat topping over date layer, gently pressing to consolidate.
    5. Bake for 35 – 45 minutes (until lightly browned on top); bake slightly less time if using a 9″ pan (25 – 30 minutes).  Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.  Chill before cutting into squares.

    Tips:

    • What size of pan to use… it’s a big question.  An 8″ pan makes thick bars.  A 9″ pan makes thinner ones.  Totally your call.  (I used an 8″ pan and actually saved some of the oat mixture & date filling to make a baby date bar-pie thing in one of those disposable tin containers, which proves that a 9″ pan is more than adequate for the volume made in this recipe.)
    • Medjool dates, eh?  Yes, they are special.  (Oh, and pricey.  The three cups’ worth cost about $12, but we all know it’s worth it to spend stupid amounts of money on desserts.  Like the Haute Chocolate recipe.)  No fancy Medjool going on for you?  Regular dates will still work nicely.  If they don’t taste pleasingly sweet, add a tablespoon of brown sugar to the cooking date/water mixture.
    • Butter.  This dessert reeks wonderfully of baking butter.  It’s glorious.  If you only have salted butter, then just skip the extra salt in the recipe.
    • Spice fiend?  Add a dash of nutmeg and cardamom to the four mixture if you like to live on the spice side of life.
    • Food processor timing:  Okay. I hate nothing more than cleaning the food processor bowl.  So whirl the dates after making the oat base & topping, okay?  Then you won’t have to clean out the bowl (since you can throw the dates into the bowl after the oat & butter mixture has been made without having to clean it first).
    • Freeze these puppies if you must.  (But just eat them and then you won’t need to worry about whether to freeze or not.)
    • Jouir!  (Enjoy in french.)

     

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    February 13th, 2013 | More Sweets Please | No Comments | Tags: ,

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