22 February 2010

Dates and Butter Dessert Bar

When I saw this, I knew I had to make it. I mean, look at all that butter. And dates. Dates are meant to be baked. Oh and also to be pitted and the seed replaced with a whole cashewnut before eating. These are the only two ways dates are meant to be used, really.

I did some adjustments to the quantity of ingredients based on my taste. I also think I under-cooked the bar but that's fine. One can always increase the baking time by 5-10 next time, no reason to hate the recipe for that.

Here's what we need.

1 cup dates, pitted and chopped into small pieces
2 cups all purpose flour / maida
1.5 cups butter at room temperature
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (or just use white sugar again in case you don't have this)
4 eggs
1 cup chopped nuts of your choice (I used walnuts and about 2-3 tbsp of cashew nuts that I happened to have)
½ tsp Salt
¼ tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Here's how to make the bars:

1. Melt butter in a pan over very low heat or in the microwave, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

2. Chop up the dates and nuts and set aside.



3. Sift flour, salt and baking powder. Add about 1/4 cup of this into the chopped dates and nuts mixture and mix (dredge) well to coat the sticky parts of the dates. Set aside.


4. Mix butter and sugar and beat lightly for 2 mins until well incorporated. Add eggs one at a time and continue beating. Finally add the vanilla extract and mix well.

5. Fold in the flour-salt-baking powder mixture to the above gently until just mixed and no lumps remain. Then add the dredged dates and flour mixture continuing to fold in gently. This will form a thick batter.



6. Pour into a greased cake or brownie pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350F/180C for 35-40 mins. The original recipe says 30 mins but mine were a bit under-baked so adjust according to your oven.

Cut and serve warm with ice cream for an indulgent treat. I stored mine in the refrigerator for 4 days.


Here's an example of a pic where the white balance is all off :D

36 Comments:

Pari said...

Hi Dear.
A very healthy bar especially for moms like me who have growing up children.

Sonia said...

The piece in last pic is for me. :P
It's really rich and heavy bar. :) Look so soft and moist!

Tina said...

Wow its a new recipe dear...Really so tempting and mouthwatering....

Sharmila Ganguly said...

Awesome photography with a mouth watering high calorie dish.

Mriganayani said...

I think I know what to make for my next potluck as dessert! And I have some dates in the fridge..can it get better?! Look at all that butter in the picture...man this should taste great!

Sharmilee! :) said...

With dates anything is ok for me...luv it soo much...am sure these bars wud taste yum.Y only one pic of the bar?! And didnt understand the white balance off thing....So do u adjust white balance for most of ur pics? I usually use only auto mode and macro mode occassionally.

MaryMoh said...

Wow....looks delicious. I love dates. It gives a natural sweetness to the bar and healthy too. I love it. Thanks for sharing.

Happy Cook said...

I love her place too. Bars look so so yumm. I should make them as i read somewhere dates are full with iron and I need it as i am in short .

MeetaK said...

this looks quite interesting. i love dates too - perfect snack for lunchboxes and picnics!

notyet100 said...

this looks so healthy

Bergamot said...

love the combination of dates & walnuts... the bar looks just amazing

Asha said...

A piece of that yummy will also make a great breakfast too, looks wonderful. Good post Nags.

Parita said...

Wow thats something very different! I love dates in cakes!

Latha said...

Yummy and healthy bar.

A Homemakers Diary said...

am drooling...would try this with honey.

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

just too good...

simply.food said...

These look delicious and nice combination of dates and nuts.

Swathi said...

Nag,

power bar looks really yummy

bhagyashri said...

Ditto! I too like dates when they are baked, they lend their mild sweetness to anything that they are added to, which is hard to replicate with sugar or even honey!
This looks yummy!

RAKS KITCHEN said...

Superb! the combo is really nice with dates and nuts! Still I am preparing myself to buy an egg and bake something! I do eat cakes with egg,but not yet bought one :P

mallugirl said...

ah..rich and gooey. love it. dates take well to all kinds of cooking. what kind of dates do u get there?

vineetha said...

wow I liked this recipe very much..I like the way you present ur recipes in step by step method with pictures..It makes the post very interesting..Just like watching a cookery show..U r really taking a good effort :)

Nags said...

mallugirl, these dates are from Dubai, courtesy the brother :) he gets me two kinds each time we meet, one box of pitted dates where the seed is replaced with a cashewnut - for eating just like that and another box of these sticky dates that are better for baking and adding to desserts. i used the latter in this recipe.

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

dates cake would go great with tea or coffee. looks awesome.

radha said...

Some of these cakes when they are slightly under done taste better! Personal opinion. With ice cream it must have been fabulous.

Divya Kudua said...

I love baking with Dates too,with the Dates cake topping the list.Good to see the step by step recipe.

Psst..love the nailcolour:)

Tys on Ice said...

there u r!

when i went into your blog, the door was slammed shut on my face...something about only invited members...reminded me of those futile teenage attempts in trying to crash a pyjama party...

how u doing?

Tys on Ice said...

there u r!

when i went into your blog, the door was slammed shut on my face...something about only invited members...reminded me of those futile teenage attempts in trying to crash a pyjama party...

how u doing?

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

dates cake would go great with tea or coffee. looks awesome.

Parita said...

Wow thats something very different! I love dates in cakes!

Bergamot said...

love the combination of dates & walnuts... the bar looks just amazing

MeetaK said...

this looks quite interesting. i love dates too - perfect snack for lunchboxes and picnics!

MaryMoh said...

Wow....looks delicious. I love dates. It gives a natural sweetness to the bar and healthy too. I love it. Thanks for sharing.

Mriganayani said...

I think I know what to make for my next potluck as dessert! And I have some dates in the fridge..can it get better?! Look at all that butter in the picture...man this should taste great!

Tina said...

Wow its a new recipe dear...Really so tempting and mouthwatering....

Sonia said...

The piece in last pic is for me. :P
It's really rich and heavy bar. :) Look so soft and moist!

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments. I appreciate your thoughts and points of view.

All spam and mean comments will be deleted promptly.