Whole Wheat Date Bars Recipes

WHOLE WHEAT DATE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Add dates, nuts, and vanilla.
• Combine flour and baking powder and stir into date mixture until evenly blended.
• Pour into a well oiled 8 or 9 inch square pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until lightly browned on top. Cool in the pan. Cut into squares or bars to serve. Makes 16 (2-inch) squares, or 32 bars, 2 x 1 inches.
• NOTE: To double, use 3 eggs, double remaining ingredients, and bake in a 9 x 13 inch pan.
• To cut sticky dried dates, dip scissors or knife in flour first.
• Nikki & David Goldbeck's American Wholefoods Cuisine.

OLD-FASHIONED DATE BAR RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Prepare a 9 x 13" baking pan by spraying with cooking spray and/or lightly but thoroughly flouring the bottom (if needed - my pan doesn't need this).
• In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until thoroughly combined.
• In a second medium bowl, combine sugar and butter until butter is completely incorporated into the sugar. The mixture will be crumbly, similar to wet sand. (I find it's easiest to do this with my hands, rubbing the butter into the sugar with my fingers, but you can also use an electric mixer.) Add eggs, water, and vanilla, and stir until thoroughly combined. Add the dates and walnuts and stir again to distribute evenly.
• Lightly dump the dry ingredients (flour mixture) over top of the wet ingredients (sugar mixture) and stir just until thoroughly combined. The dough will be very thick and sticky.
• Using a rubber scraper, spread the dough into the pan, pushing it and flattening it until it's an even thickness (dough will only thinly cover the entire pan).
• Bake for about 20-22 minutes, until lightly golden brown.
• Let cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack before cutting. Cut into 39 sticks that are 1 inch wide and 3 inches long.
• Place at least 1/4 cup of powdered sugar in a wide bowl. Roll each bar in the sugar to coat, tapping gently to remove any excess, loose sugar. (You should actually use only about 1 tablespoon of the sugar to thinly coat the bars, but it makes it much easier to work with them if there is plenty of extra sugar in the bowl. You can discard the excess.)

BEST DATE SQUARES EVER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9x11-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper.
• Heat dates, orange juice, and lemon juice in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring often, until dates are soft, about 6 minutes.
• Stir whole wheat flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl; stir in melted butter. Press half of the oat mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
• Spread date mixture evenly over oat mixture; sprinkle remaining oat mixture evenly over date mixture and press down lightly.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate until chilled before cutting into squares, about 1 hour.

DATE BARS

Steps:

• In 2-quart saucepan, cook filling ingredients over low heat about 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened. Cool 5 minutes.
• Heat oven to 400°F. Grease bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with shortening.
• In large bowl, stir brown sugar and butter until well mixed. Stir in flour, oats, baking soda and salt until crumbly. Press half of the crumb mixture evenly in bottom of pan. Spread with filling. Top with remaining crumb mixture; press lightly.
• Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until light brown. Cool 5 minutes in pan on cooling rack. Cut into 6 rows by 6 rows while warm.

OATMEAL BARS WITH DATES AND WALNUTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Finely grind 1 1/4 cups oats in a food processor. Stir together ground oats, 1 cup whole oats, the whole wheat fl our, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in a large bowl.
• With an electric mixer beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; mix in oat mixture until just combined. Mix in walnuts and dates.
• Coat a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Using an offset spatula, spread batter evenly in dish. Scatter remaining 1/2 cup whole oats over top. Bake, rotating dish halfway through, until golden and a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool completely in dish on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.