I am not really sure why, but I seem to have been amassing quite the collection of dates. I guess that every time I saw them on sale I picked some more up but I was not using them quickly enough. One of the reasons that I was collecting the dates was because they are naturally sweet and I enjoy baking with them, often replacing some of the sweetener with some dates. One of the dishes on the top of my to try list with dates was date crumb bars. The crumb bars are basically a filling, in this case dates, sandwiched between two layers of crumbs. Given that I was just thinking of dates as being naturally sweet, I decided to use very little sweetener in the date mixture and go with something natural like honey. The crumbs are made from flour, sugar, butter and rolled oats. Of course I took the opportunity to use a little whole wheat flour in the crumb mixture to make these bars just a little bit healthier. The date crumb bars were nice and easy to make and they turned out great! The last time that I made crumb bars they did not hold together too well so this time I made sure to pack the bottom layer of crumbs in really well and this time they held together nicely. The date and honey mixture was amazing! It was sweet without being too sweet and nice and moist and helped to hold the bars together. Now I am looking forward to making more things with all of the dates that I still have left!
Date Crumb Bars
ingredients
- 1 pound dates (pitted and chopped)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 3/4 cup flour
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup butter (melted)
directions
- Bring the dates, honey, water and butter to a boil, remove from the heat and let sit until they cool down to room temperature.
- Puree until smooth.
- Mix the rolled oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.
- Stir in the butter until it forms crumbs.
- Press half of the crumb mixture into the bottom of a greased 8 inch square baking pan.
- Spread the date mixture on and top with the remaining crumbs.
- Bake in a preheated 350F/180C oven for 25 minutes.
i’m not usually a dates guy, but this looks good!
I don’t usually cook or bake with dates but this looks really yummy!
Date squares ..are my all my life favorite squares..
These look so great! Every time I’ve attempted this kind of squares, they’ve miserably fallen apart on me. I’ll try this recipe and hopefully they’ll stay together 🙂
I also love dates, especially the Persian ones, which don’t have that syrup outside and which are so sweet and creamy, they just melt in your mouth. No need to chew!
Thanks for sharing!
There’s a place outside of Palm Springs, Hadley’s, that has Date Shakes. I love the banana version. So good! Other than that, I don’t really eat dates, though these bars sure have a pull….
Kevin – These do look good and similar to another recipe a Canadian friend of mine used to make all the time. She called them “matrimonial cakes.” Have you ever heard of them?
love the new header!! these sound fantastic, love me some dates 🙂
Kevin… I love dates and I am a huge fan of this bar. Wondering if you could send some from TO for me 🙂
zesty
I love dates, and I bet these are fantastic, Kevin! Heck, combined with oatmeal these are practically health food 🙂
These sound delicious Kevin, I love the topping!
Those look great!
What a great treat! The bars look fantastic!
I laughed when I read this sentence: “I am not really sure why, but I seem to have been amassing quite the collection of dates.”
What a fun opening line! The date bars look and sound fantastic too. Next time there are dates around town I’ll pick some up for these.
Mmm, looks like a good substitute for power bars!
WOW these look so wonderful – I have not cooked with Dates before – now would be a great time to try!
Yum! I love dates and have been looking for a good cookie/bar recipe. This sounds perfect — I can’t wait to try it!
these look delish! date squares are the perfect not-so-guilty sweet to have around. 🙂
A delightful treat!
Cheers,
Rosa
I loove dates! These look fantastic! I usually just eat them straight up with a little almond butter stuffed inside but after seeing your post I am now contemplating almond butter date bars…!
I always thought that I didn’t like dates until I tried my friends date and walnut cake and loved it. The bars look great and it’s always good to have a baked treat that is a little healthier than the rest.
I know the tasted of such bars!!! Heavenly!!!
One of my favorite squares/bars, they look wonderful.
These look gI’m rather a savory tooth so that a bit rich for me, I have no doubt these would be a success around me though 😉
Someone could win my heart over with a bar like this! Delish!
Kevin, you should have brought some of these in a tub as a palate cleanser!
Great to meet you yesterday…drinks soon!
this is the ONLY way I will eat dates. I could never eat them plain, but when I had them in a crumb-like cake oh man oh man.
So yeah, Kevin this is good, really good!
i love eating dates plain, and never really thought about baking with them. i’m definitely bookmarking this for later, thanks!
These look wonderful. I love the combination of oats with the dates. Yum!
Looks very good Kevin!
I do like baking with dates mainly I admit in a rich fruitcake. I just adore these date bars of yours Kevin…so bookmarked!
Rosie x
Hummmm. LOVE this!!!
I love dates and these bars look really nice. Probably my favorite way to eat dates is to pit them and stuff with walnuts. Yum!
I really like the stickiness of dates!
So healthy! Amazing snack:-) Wish I could bake:-( Is there any way I can make such bars without having to bake, like instant stuff that I could just mix and heat and cool and cut into bars or something?
These look lovely. I like that you add cinnamon but wonder how sweet they are. I find lemon juice keeps date squares from being cloying. Or do you like your desserts full on?
These look great. I love dates!
I’m planning on making a chocolate banana bread with dates as a sweetener. I hope mine turns out as good as yours!
Date bars look so great,delicious and healthy recipe with dates.
I haven’t had dates in a long time… these look great!
Date bars take me straight back to my childhood. The store up the street from us made the tastiest date bars and it was always a treat to be able to buy one. Thank you for this recipe!
http://www.cookincanuck.com
We just tested a date tart this weekend, so it’s fun to see you have this ready on your site today. Dates are one of those things that have grown on us, so this looks really great.
I love dates but have never used them in my cooking. Looks so yummy!
I make a dessert similar to this, and it’s so delicious!
Gosh, those look amazing!
When I was young I made a lot of date crumb bars. It’s been ages since I have not made them. Looking at these I’m craving them again.
I like the ingredients in this recipe. Very healthy and I lately looking for healthy.
Those look fabulous Kevin! Date squares have long been a real favourite around here!
Your new asparagus-speared-blog title inspired me to do things to mine as well…come and take a look!
Wow, I usually do not care for dates, but this one looks fantastic. Have to try it.
I LOVE dates. I discovered that I did when I made some chorizo stuffed, bacon wrapped dates for a party. They were sweet, chewy, and moist. Your bars look lovely, and I think they would make a darn tasty breakfast!
I’ve never really like dates because I thought of them of being too sickly sweet. But your bars could change my mind. 🙂
Not really fond of dates, but that really looks delicious it makes me want to eat one now
I LOVE dates! I have been using them a lot more in baking too, and I even used dates to make my own Lara bars. Your crumb bars look super tasty!
I haven’t had date crumb bars before – they look and sound tasty.
Ah, look at that topping! So yummy.
These look heavenly!
Your photos are so clean and good-looking. Those crumb bars look really yummy!
I love dates! This is the perfect recipe for me!
i like these bars. i def love any sort of bar with loads of dried fruit and nuts and that crumb topping looks like it’ll give a good crunch to it. perfection!
Christie’s Corner: I quite liked them and I did not find them to sweet. I like the sound of the hint of citrus that the lemon would add though and I will have to try that next time.
unconfidential cook: I like the sound of using dates in a shake.
Ciao Chow Linda: This is the first that I have heard of matrimonial cakes. You learn something new every day. 🙂 The recipes for them look pretty similar to this one.
Kelly: Chorizo stuffed, bacon wrapped dates sound so good! What a great combo of sweet, spicy and salty!
Shreya: I have not seen an unbaked version. These date crumb bars are really easy to bake though. You just pop the pan in the oven for 25 minutes and you are done.
The bed and breakfast I stayed in Toronto served date crumb bars at breakfast. I almost always saved a couple for a late night snack. Yum!
This might be really good, but date, coffee and walnut slice is where it’s at.
to Duo Dishes:
‘Dates are one of those things that have grown on us’
That must look quite odd 😉
This looks really yummy!
These look really, really good. You should make fig bars, if you havn’t already.
Yum, What a scrumptious treat!
Kevin this date Crumb bars look wonderful and yummy, really nice pic, Gloria
Kevin, these look absolutely delicious. I love date bars and haven’t had them in a long time!
I never use dates but this crumb bar looks fantastic!
Love dates! Definitely going to try this, probably this weekend.
This recipe is so awesome. I've made it 3-4 times already. At first, it was to make my husband happy. But I'm telling you–that warm mix of dates and honey that you make before you spread it on…ay chihuahua. It is great. Thanks for sharing!
(It has earned a plastic protective sleeve in my recipe book. hah.)
It looked very delicious. I have just made it and I am waiting to get it from the oven. I live in Kuwait and we have a lot of dates. I like the idea of dates bars.
THANKS.
Hi Kiven i tried ur date bar recipe 4 the second time and they asked me to bake it again cuz i put some addition 2 the dough like roasted walnut and some walnut to date filling in addition 2 some Cinnamon and heap teaspoon of cardamom it was nutty and delicious really yummy
I am a big fan of dates. I travel through the Gulf for work periodically where date shops are the equivalent of fine chocolatiers and display their wares accordingly. (Such a treat!) Anyway – I recently was introduced to fresh Mazafati dates from Iran. If you come across them, get yourself a box! Unreal. But it would be a shame to cook with them. Going make your recipe tonight! Looks great.
Just saying thanks for the recipe. This is in the oven at the moment, over here in NZ. I added nuts and dark brown sugar to the topping to make it more streusal-like. Smells wonderful 🙂
My Great aunt use to make these. Minus the honey and substitute of whole wheat flour this is a carbon copy of how she made them. Now all I need are some dates. 🙂
When I moved to BC back in the 70's, I was going to some kind of 'do', and a lady was raving because someone was going to be bringing 'matrimonial cakes'. Oh wow, thought I , something different. HA!!! I was so disappointed when I found out her matrimonial cakes were only date squares — a staple 'tray bake' from the Maritimes. AND — Did you know….dates are tres yummy when dipped in chocolate (but then again, what isn't, eh>)