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Date Bars with a hint of cinnamon and plenty of wholesome oats!
Soft and chewy, sweet and delicious – enjoy our favorite Date Bar Recipe!
This post is about cookie date bars … not finding dates in bars. I thought it’d be important to get that straight, right up front. Sorry if you’re looking for something more than a recipe 🙂 I’ve been out of the single life for a long… long time. I got nothing (hehe)
Personally I love a good date whether it’s a night out with my husband or a date of the medjool variety. Both are naturally sweet – OK, enough with the lame date jokes!
I still remember however, that most guys like a good home baked goodie just like mom used to make. And, as you may know, there’s something pretty amazing about a man that can cook and bake. So, if you are looking to impress that someone special whether guy or girl, perhaps these will do the trick.
You’ve probably heard of I Want to Marry You Cookies. We can’t promise these Date Bars will get you down the aisle, but you might at least have some fun!
We had out of town company recently so I wanted to make something easy and sweet to have on hand. I think these were just the right match.com. Sorry that’s the last one! Seriously though, I’ve been making Date Bars since I was a young baker. This recipe, adapted from Taste of Home, is one of my favorites.
Ingredients you’ll need to make Date Bars:
For the filling:
- pitted dates – we use Medjool dates for this recipe which are easily found in your local grocery store.
- granulated sugar
- water
For the crust:
- all-purpose flour
- brown sugar
- ground cinnamon
- salt
- baking soda
- unsalted butter
- quick cooking oats
- water
We’re pretty crazy about soft Medjool dates. They’re loaded with fiber and a variety of vitamins and minerals and are naturally sweet making them great for snacking. Dates are actually a fresh fruit, not dried like raisins. Pack some in your lunch for a healthy dessert or enjoy a few for an afternoon snack. These are the best carbs!
There’s so many great recipes that include the versatile date. Pecan Pumpkin Spice Date Rolls are one of our favorite seasonal snacks made with only three ingredients. To elevate your everyday spinach salad, simply add a few chopped dates. The little bite of sweetness plays beautifully with sliced onions and crunchy almonds.
Date Bars are easy to make!
1. First, make the date filling:
Combine the chopped, pitted dates, sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the mixture is thick and the liquid is absorbed. This takes about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool while preparing the crust.
2. Next, prepare the crust:
The crust does double duty as the bottom layer, as well as the crumbly top. You can either make the crust by hand, or in a food processor.
- In a food processor combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add cold butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Pour the flour mixture into a large bowl and add the oats. Blend until combined.
- To make the crust by hand, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until blended. Add the oats and proceed with the rest of the recipe.
3. Finally, assemble and bake:
Date Bars travel well and freeze beautifully.
To store, layer Date Bars between wax paper and seal in an airtight container. They’ll keep well at room temperature for 3 or 4 days, or refrigerated for 5 or 6.
Cut the date bars before freezing so you can remove one or two at a time, as needed. These cookie bars thaw in about an hour at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator.
These old-fashioned Date Bars are soft and are best to cut into small squares or bars. They’re just a little bit crumbly, but that’s part of the appeal. It’s all good.
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Date Bars
Equipment
- 13x9-inch baking pan
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 2 ½ cups pitted dates chopped
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups water
For the crust:
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces (4 oz or 113g)
- 1 ½ cups quick cooking oats
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
To prepare the filling:
- Place the dates, granulated sugar and water to a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
To prepare the crust:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 13x9-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
- Pour the flour mixture into a large bowl and add the oats. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of water over the mixture then blend until combined. Press half the oat mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
- Spread the date mixture over the partially baked crust. Sprinkle the remaining oats over the dates and press lightly to compact. Bake until golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes.
- Cool completely and cut into bars or squares.
Recipe Notes
- Recipe adapted from Taste of Home
Nutrition
Originally published June 2011, updated September 2020
Sharon
My mother in law gave me dried date pieces and I am trying to find something to do with them. Would they work for this recipe or do you have an idea on how to make them work?
Tricia Buice
Hi Sharon. I’m afraid they might be too dry. I would use these for a homemade granola or stir them into an oatmeal cookie recipes like these: https://www.savingdessert.com/oatmeal-raisin-cookies/ Enjoy!
Katie
How many dates per bar do you guess there are? Want to make these in third trimester.
Tricia Buice
Hi Katie. I’m not sure as I’ve never counted the dates in the package. You should be able to calculate how many dates are in the bag then divide by the number of bars you cut. That should give you some idea. Enjoy and congratulations!
Monica
I halved the recipe and used an 8 x 8 pan. I substituted a small amount of almond flour for some of the all-purpose flour just because I had it. Otherwise, I followed the recipe pretty closely. They came out great. Thank you.
Tricia Buice
Sounds terrific Monica. Love the addition of almond flour. Thanks for commenting!
Alik
This looks amazing! Do you think I can add date molasses to the oat mixture to make it sticky and less crumbly?
Tricia Buice
Hi Alik. I really don’t know what this would be like. Maybe it wouldn’t even hold together if it was too sticky. It seems like that would be a dramatic change to the texture. Did you make it already and want something more dense?
Cindy
So easy and yummy! Thanks for posting. Will be making these again, and again!
Tricia Buice
Thank you Cindy! How awesome 🙂
Rachel
I didn’t quite have enough dates so I topped off with raisins, which definitely don’t melt the way dates do, but the flavors work together. And my oats are rolled. But otherwise I made the recipe. I think they’re pretty good; they don’t put me over the moon, personally, but they’re good. Then I realized my husband was leaving the last one in the box because he didn’t want the date bars to be over, so I told him I had more in the freezer. His face lit up. “More date bars?” he asked, excitedly drawn into the kitchen. “I’ve been saving them. Now I can eat the last one. I love them so much.”
So I guess I’ll be making them again.
Tricia Buice
Thanks for the feedback Rachel. So glad your husband enjoyed them!
Pandora1230
These remind me of bars I make using various Bonne Maman preserves as the filling. My mom and I just bought a rather large package of dates and this sounds like the perfect recipe to try. Stupid question, you measure out the dates and then chop them up? Otherwise, you would’ve said 2.5 cups chopped dates, right? Either way, I’m making them as soon as I can! Thank you!!!!!
Tricia Buice
Hi Pandora! No stupid questions here! Measure 2 1/2 cups of dates, then chop. Easy peasy 😉 Enjoy!
LACEY AUER
Hi, can you freeze these? Xx
Tricia Buice
Hi Lacey. Yes you can. I cut them first and layer between sheets of wax paper. Enjoy!
Lyndsay
Delicious! I changed a few things up to suit my diet, but nothing drastic. They turned out so so good, best date bars I’ve made!
Tricia Buice
Thanks Lyndsay!
Barbara
I would like to see this recipe without flour or brown sugar. I want the taste of the dates to dominate. Dates are very sweet and I prefer not to have additional (brown) sugar.
Just oats and butter and salt with date paste in middle. Bake! What texture would this be? I don’t want a doughy texture nor crispy.
Your thoughts?
Tricia Buice
Have you made this recipe as written Barbara or gave it 3-stars based on a guess? I know dates are sweet but these bars are not. Sounds like you might have a whole new recipe in mind – good luck!
Lyndsay
Hi Barbara! I did this recipe without flour and it was amazing. What I did instead was grind 1 1/4 cup of oats into a flour, so the consistency was the same for the recipe. I also omitted the granulated sugar from the dates as they are sweet enough and reduced the brown sugar to 1/2 a cup. They turned out perfect! Hope that helps!
Anna DuDash
These sound wonderful and I’m all set to make them but only have regular oats, do you think that will make much of a difference?
Tricia Buice
Hi Anna. I would pulse part of the oats in a food processor if you have one. The bars may have a harder time holding together with all larger, whole oats. But you can always eat them with a fork because they’ll be just as tasty. Great question. Hope they turn out for you.
Jan
Where do you add the 1T of water?
Tricia Buice
Hi Jan. Sorry about that! Add the water after the oats. I corrected the recipe – thanks for catching that!
Sunny
Love Love Love your receipes! THANK YOU!
Tricia Buice
Thank you Sunny! I love, love, love readers like you 😉
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers
I love date bars, so I can’t wait to try these ones! They look perfect 🙂
Tricia Buice
Thank you Jennifer. I forget about how much I love these bars until I make them again. So tasty!
Julie G
These look delicious and have my name written all over them! I never thought of making date bars. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
My husband and I met online from a site for 50’s and older….he refers to it as “old-timers.com”. I have a cute refrigerator magnet with 2 stick figures flanking a spider-web and it reads “we met on the web”. Lol. Life is good, isn’t it?!
Tricia Buice
I love your refrigerator magnet Julie! That’s adorable 🙂 My husband and I met at a press conference where he was a reporter cover a story. Life is good!!! Hope you get the chance to try these cookies. I love the flavor combination and the terrific texture. Enjoy and thanks for commenting!
Nienke
I made these yesterday. They are sooo delicious. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe. I even posted a blog about it on my website http://the-northernsky.blogspot.com/<br />I'll keep following your blog and trying out as much recipes as I can. The pies look so yummy!<br />Best wishes, <br />Nienke
thecompletecookbook
Your date bars look heavenly. I usually make date balls, but think your bars must be even nicer.<br />:-) Mandy
sheila @ Elements
What a wonderful recipe! They look so good, and with the dates and oats i could eat these and feel like I'm eating a healthy dessert! 🙂