Nannas Chinese Chews Recipes

CHINESE CHEWS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300° F. Grease and flour an 8 x 12-inch pan - if you use a smaller pan, the baking time will be longer. Note: If you grease the pan, but don't flour it, the squares will stick to the pan and be difficult to remove after baking.
• Combine flour, sugar (not confectioners sugar), baking powder and salt. Sift with a sifter or fine mesh sieve into a medium sized mixing bowl. If you don't have a sifter, whisk dry ingredients together well to combine.
• Stir the dates, nuts and well-beaten eggs (I beat the eggs separately with a hand mixer for about 1 minute until fluffy before adding them), into the dry ingredients. It is not necessary to beat the eggs with a mixer, you can beat them by hand with a fork. Make sure ingredients are well combined - the batter will be sticky.
• Spread the batter out as thinly as possible into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 30 minutes, or until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean.
• Let cool completely, and cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch squares. Note: Many recipes call for cutting the squares while still warm. In my experience, they are much easier to cut after they've cooled.
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar, using sifter or sieve, as desired. Links: The Hunt for "Chinese Chews" Chinese Chews from She Wears Many Hats

CHINESE CHEWS RECIPE (DATE-NUT BARS)

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare an 8x8 pan by lining it with parchment paper and folding it over the edges of the pan to make for easy removal and cleanup. (If you don't have parchment paper, use foil and grease it well.)
• Cut up the dates into small pieces with kitchen scissors. (They're really sticky to chop with a knife and don't do well in a food processor or blender.) It's best to cut a pitted date in half the long way, then cut those pieces in half the long way again. Then, snip each strip into pieces.
• If starting with walnut halves, chop them until you have one cup.
• In a glass bowl or other microwave-safe bowl, melt your butter in the microwave, covering it with wax paper to prevent splashing. Stir in the sugar.
• Add the eggs and vanilla to your bowl and mix with a spoon until blended. Add the flour and salt and stir. Stir in the dates and nuts until blended.
• Pour the batter into your baking pan and use a spatula to even it out. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. A toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center should come out clean.
• Let the pan cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Then lift out the Chinese Chews by grasping the parchment paper and transferring everything to a cutting board. Cut into squares (I did 16 large ones, but smaller squares work well, since they are rich tasting.)
• If you're not planning to freeze them, dust with confectioner's sugar. Transfer the bars to a rack to finish cooling. They taste best when completely cooled.
• Store at room temperature in an airtight container. You can freeze them without the confectioner's sugar and add the sugar when they are thawed.

DONNA'S CHINESE CHEWS

Steps:

• Mix flour, sugar, dates, salt and nuts together. Add 2 eggs and mix throughly. Spread into an 8x8 inch greased pan.
• Bake at 325* for 40 minute
• When cooled make into balls and roll in sugar.