Oatmeal date squares

August 23, 2012  •  Category: , ,

 

My daughter is going to college full-time  and working (tutoring English in a remedial school here) and comes home famished; these oatmeal and date bars should help, don’t you think?


By the way, if you have a Middle-Eastern grocer nearby, they most likely stock date paste in a package, saving you the trouble of making your own.

Date paste:

  • 3 cups of dates
  • 3 tbsp of butter
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 3 tbsp of sugar
  • 1 tsp of rose water or vanilla

METHOD:

Place the dates, water and butter in a saucepan; stir from time to time over very gentle heat until the dates soften, for 20 minutes or so. Let the mixture cool then transfer to the bowl of a food processor and purée the mixture.

Oatmeal dough

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups of old-fashioned oatmeal 

• 1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

• 1/2 tsp of baking soda

• 1 tsp of baking powder

• dash of salt

• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp of cardamom

• 1/2 tsp of dukkat al-kaak (a mixture of fennel and anise and ginger)(optional)

• 1 large egg

• 4.5 oz of unsalted butter (125 g.)

• 1 packed cup of dark brown sugar (200 g.)

• 1/3 cup of tahini

• 1/4 cup of grape molasses (or honey)

Extra tahini to smear the pan

 

METHOD:

1. In a medium bowl, measure the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cardamom and dukkat al-kaak.Mix with a fork or a wire whisk to combine. Measure the 3 cups of oatmeal in another bowl and set aside.

2. In the bowl of a food processor or mixer, place the softened butter, tahini, egg, brown sugar and grape molasses; process into a smooth mixture, then add the flour then the oatmeal to combine into a dough. 

3. Smear the bottom and sides of a 9X9 inch pan and pat half the oatmeal dough into the pan. Slather the date paste over the bottom layer of dough. Spread the remaining dough onto a square piece of foil (to fit into the pan); holding the foil, flip it onto the top of the date paste to cover. Peel off the foil and tuck the oatmeal dough in place over the date paste, patching corners here and there with extra dough.

4. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for about 30 minutes or until the squares are puffed up a bit and dry. Serve at room temperature or warm with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

 NOTE: These can also be baked in a 9X13 pan and you would get thinner squares but more of them!

The American University in Beirut is the oldest American university ever outside the US (1864).

Comments

21 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Bo W says:

    Those look AMAZING! I’m doing to try them. Your daughter is very lucky to have these waiting on her when she gets home.

  2. velva says:

    Congrats to your daughter! I know her belly fully satisfied after a day of teaching. Cheers to these oatmeal date squares.

    Velva

  3. Oui, Chef says:

    These look gorgeous and sound delicious! Do they turn out chewy and sticky, or crisp and crunchy when cooked?

  4. Belinda @zomppa says:

    I dare say – these are perfect for a busy young woman!

  5. Christine says:

    What a lucky girl to be greeted by such a sweet and hearty snack after a long day’s work. That is a neat picture of the university.

  6. Angel of the North says:

    This is an interesting spin on the traditional Scottish date slices, which are generally done in a rectangular traybake pan.. We would use lemon, rather than rosewater with the dates, though. I love most Lebanese tastes apart from rosewater. Trying to figure out how to do the mixture without a food processor.

    • Joumana says:

      @Angel of the North: You can do it in a mixer, a mouli (that manual thing that the French use to make their mashed potatoes), or use an immersion blender.

  7. banana wonder says:

    Mmmm so good, can I be your daughter for a day?

  8. Tom Tall Clover Farm says:

    Joumana, this recipe is a keeper! (Like all your recipes.) I’m going to try it with dried figs as I have those on hand and then the next batch with medjool dates…um um good.

  9. Nadji says:

    Cela fait un petit moment que je n’ai pas cuisiné de pâte de dattes. Une recette bien gourmande.
    Tu me diras quand ton livre sur la cuisine irakienne paraîtra. Une cuisine qui m’intéresse beaucoup.
    A bientôt

  10. Alicia (foodycat) says:

    It astonishes me that you have grown-up children! Either that picture of you is quite old or your skin is absolutely amazing! These squares look like perfect sustaining energy food.

  11. Jacqueline says:

    Joumana !! les gateaux sont super bons !! les filles et moi nous disputons les dernières parts … bises

  12. Steve says:

    Made these this afternoon.

    My fussy daughter who doesn’t like dates
    took 1/2 the pan for her and her husband.

    Thanks for posting.

  13. Michael Kplus says:

    wow, these are lovely…I could have eaten the date paste on its own and I think this something I am gonna combine with other things, for example sandwich it between cookies.

    I especially like the combination of dried fruit and butter. I recently made some fig butter from Kim Boyces cookbook “Good to the Grain”, which used a similar method, however had red wine and port as a liquid to cook the figs in. The addition of butter made it simply divine.

    I think I am gonna try to make this again with chopped nuts in the dough.

    I have one question regarding the dukkat al-kaak. Is this a spice mix you made up or is it a traditional Lebanese spice mix? I used 1/3 of each ginger, fennel and anise.

    • Joumana says:

      @Michael: The dukkat al-kaak is a traditional mix; it is found in Middle-Eastern grocery stores in the US and Canada. It has also mahlab and a bit of mastic in it.

  14. domi says:

    Carrément gourmandes ces p’tites barres croustillantes à l’avoine….

  15. Gabriela says:

    Hello, i want to try this delicious oatmeal dates squares and i have a question, 1 cup how much would that be in gramm? Or how much ml shpul have that cup? Is it a small one? Medium or large? Thx so much, greetings from Germany, Gabriela

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