Date Nut Bars

These Date Nut Bars are an old fashioned treat that never go out of style. Rich and so yummy!

Course Cookies, Brownies and Bars

Cuisine American

Keyword christmas, cookie bars, dates, holiday, nuts

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Total Time 40

Servings Servings

Calories 335kcal

Author Barb

Ingredients

For the Date Filling

1 pound dates chopped. See Notes
¾ cup sugar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts toasted
1 cup coconut

For the Crust

1 ¾ cups oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
1 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup butter melted

Instructions

To Make the Filling

Boil dates, sugar, and water until thick, about 5-10 minutes. Add the butter, vanilla, walnuts and coconut and mix thoroughly.
Set aside to cool a bit.

To Make the Crust

Combine the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the melted butter and mix until thoroughly combined.
Firmly press half of the mixture into a lightly greased 13 x 9 pan.
Cover with filling mixture.
Top with remaining half of crust mixture. Press lightly.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes; watch carefully and do not overbake.
Cut into squares when cool and store in an airtight container.

Notes

Dates are a pain to chop so I used to buy the pre-chopped ones from the grocery store but they were always dry. I noticed that they were coated in sugar too and it hit me one day that this is how they kept them from sticking together. Duh.

So, I put my pitted dates into a food processor and combine the dates with the sugar and chopped until they were a uniform size. So easy and no sticking!

No food processor? Simply put sugar and dates on cutting board and keep mixing them together; it will help to keep them from sticking to your knife and to each other!

Nutrition