Go Back

Date Bars

These eggless date bars are perfect for Ramadan round the corner. With an oat biscuit base and a walnut crumble they are simple and easy to bake up.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 33 minutes
Chill Time 2 hours
Course Appetizer, Breakfast, cookie, Dessert, Finger food, High Tea, Iftar, Snack, Suhoor, Sweet tooth, tea time
Cuisine American, Arabic, Middle Eastern
Servings 10 Bars

Equipment

  • Large mixing bowl
  • Electric beater/Whisk
  • Spatula
  • Sauce pot
  • 9x13 inch Baking tin
  • Baking paper

Ingredients
  

Date filling

  • 3 cups dates
  • 1 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar

Biscuit base

  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 cup instant oats
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/4 cup walnuts
  • 2 tbsp sesame seeds

Garnish

  • Tahini

Instructions
 

To make the Date filling:

  • In a sauce pot add the dates, water, lemon juice and brown sugar. Cook the mixture on low to medium heat until completely softened and mushy. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Preheat the oven to 180℃ at this stage. Line your 9x13 inch tin with baking paper and set aside.

To make the Biscuit base:

  • Add the butter and sugar in a bowl, cream together until pale and fluffy using a whisk or electric beater.
  • Add the flour, oats, baking soda , salt and cinnamon powder into the mixture and using your spatula until combined.

Assembly:

  • Dump 3/4 of the biscuit mixture into the lined tin and level it using your fingers/spoon. Once it is even we add the date mixture on the top and spread it evenly.
  • In the remaining biscuit mixture filling we add the walnuts, sesame seeds and crumble the mixture over the date bars. Bake this for 30-33 mins until done.
  • Once the bars have been baked, they need to cool down completely before slicing or else they will fall apart. I like to garnish each bar with a little tahini drizzle on top.
  • If you cut them into bars, the recipe should yield 10 bars however if you are cutting it into squares you will get 20 pieces.
  • Serve it with tea, coffee or a glass of cold milk as well. They are great to wrap up as edible gifts for ramadan.

Notes

Make sure to cook the date filling mixture until the dates have broken down, the mixture is jammy and soft.
Do not over mixture the crumble mixture as it will look dry, this helps keep the biscuit tender and light once baked.
Let the bars cool completely before cutting or else they will fall apart.