---
title: "Dates and Butter Dessert Bar"
url: https://www.cookingandme.com/dates-and-butter-dessert-bar/
date: 2010-02-22
modified: 2015-12-01
lang: en
author: "nags"
description: "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..."
categories:
  - "Brownies & Bars"
  - "Uncategorized"
image: https://www.cookingandme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/4315895036_f35a1c4a4d_o.jpg
word_count: 382
---

# Dates and Butter Dessert Bar

When I saw [this](http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/12/the-bar/), 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.

[![](https://www.cookingandme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/4315895036_f35a1c4a4d_o1.jpg)](https://www.cookingandme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/4315895036_f35a1c4a4d_o1.jpg)

[![](https://www.cookingandme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/4315157817_f91271e433_o.jpg)](https://www.cookingandme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/4315157817_f91271e433_o.jpg)

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.

[![](https://www.cookingandme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/4315895136_a6ca729e1b_o.jpg)](https://www.cookingandme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/4315895136_a6ca729e1b_o.jpg)

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.

[![](https://www.cookingandme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/4315157881_65d3e9390b_o.jpg)](https://www.cookingandme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/4315157881_65d3e9390b_o.jpg)

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.

[![](https://www.cookingandme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/4315895202_1aa6d20d87_o.jpg)](https://www.cookingandme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/4315895202_1aa6d20d87_o.jpg)

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