Waioli Date Bars
Brown sugar, chopped dates, nuts and oatmeal crust, these gooey and delicious old-fashioned date bar cookies are rich and jammy, but not too sweet. They are perfection! The oatmeal crust sandwiches the date filling and they can easily be made gluten-free and dairy-free, by substituting Earth Balance and gluten-free flour.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour or substitute a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups quick oats
- 3/4 cup toasted walnuts and or pecans, chopped *optional, but highly recommended!
- 1 cup melted butter or use a dairy-free substitute such as Earth Balance
Filling
- 2 cups pitted dates
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup of water
- 1 tablespoon flour or 1:1 gluten-free baking flour
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
Filling
- Grease or spray an 8-inch square baking pan. Preheat oven to 350⁰ F.
Crust
- Place flour, baking powder, salt, nuts, and oats in a mixing bowl and mix well with a fork or wooden spoon.
- Pour melted butter (or Earth Balance) over the dries and mix well, until all butter is absorbed and the dries are coated.
- Separate out about 1/3 of the mixture for the topping and pat the remaining crust mixture. Mix crust ingredients together and press into the bottom of a greased, 8-inch square baking dish. Set aside.
Filling
- Combine all of the filling ingredients in a medium saucepot. Bring to a boil and then cook over medium heat about five minutes, stirring frequently. Filling will thicken.
- Pour filling over crust and spread evenly. Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture over the top of the filling.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven, cool completely, and cut into squares. Refrigerating the cookies in the pan before cutting makes cutting a little bit neater and easier.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- We made these for our very first Cookie Connection giveaway and used this cute little holly decoration for a fun holiday version!
