Newfoundland Date Slice Recipe
This Date Slice Recipe is like a big hug from Grandma. They are sweet, comfort food treats that bring back memories of childhood for me. Soft chewy dates macerated down with brown sugar and vanilla and then sandwiched between two buttery flaky layers of oatmeal crumble.
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While I would like to say this is my Grandma’s recipe I, unfortunately, can’t. This is one recipe of hers I have to track down. The recipe for the date filling is actually from our church cookbook. The entire church was asked to submit their favorite recipes and the cookbook was used to raise funds for some local charities.
One of the best purchases ever!
This cookbook I cherish is filled with one heirloom recipe after the other including these irresistable squares made with peanut butter and cripsy rice and a tasty sweet and sour chicken recipe I can’t live without. Classic recipes that never go out of style, and this Date Squares recipe is from Bishop Bergie’s contribution, with a few modifications because I like a thicker more crumbly crumble. But his recipe for the filling is … the best!
Star Ingredients
- Dates – Any pitted date will do, but I recommend using Medjool dates because they are the sweetest and my favorite. The dried pitted dates from the bulk store are fine. No need for fresh. When you add them to the water to boil, they will soften.
- Rolled oats – I prefer the old-fashioned kind because the oats themselves are much larger, and I think they add more texture to the oatmeal crumb topping. Gluten-free or regular rolled oats still work, but the texture of rolled oats is best.
Step-By-Step Made Simple
- The filling is super easy to make. Simply add pitted dates to a large saucepan with 1 cup of water, vanilla, and white sugar and simmer to soften and break down the dates.
- Once softened, macerate, aka mush up the dates in the saucepan with the back of a spoon and simmer until thickened and until the water has been absorbed. They will still look a little soggy, but you don’t want them runny. I find that once you mash the dates up, the liquid gets absorbed pretty quickly, so try and do this as soon as the dates are soft enough to mash up with the spoon.
- Set the dates aside to let them cool.
- Then, in a large bowl, add the butter and brown sugar and use a hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar together until light and creamy.
- Add in the oats and flour, and then sprinkle the cinnamon and salt all over so that it doesn’t form a big lump of seasoning somewhere.
- Then use a spoon to mix the butter and dry ingredients together to form a crumble. Don’t over-mix because if you do, you will lose the light and crumbly texture you are going to form and end up with more of a firm crust vs crumble. Or if you are up for it, you can also mix this up with your hands. This is a fun thing for the little ones to help with because they can get their hand dirty and feel part of the fun with little risk of hurting themselves or messing the recipe up. Just make sure all hands are washed first, of course. No need for extra flavor!
- Line an 8″ X 8″ dish with parchment paper. To help hold the parchment paper down, I like to lightly grease my pan first. I find it holds the parchment paper in place, which helps make it easier to add the filling.
- Lightly press down half of the oatmeal crumble in the bottom of the pan. Use the back of a spoon to smooth it out and make it even and push it into the corners of the dish.
- Next, evenly spoon in the filling and again, using the back of a spoon,n spread the filling around evenly and into the corners.
- Top it with the rest of the oatmeal crumble and spread evenly. For the topping, though, I don’t recommend spreading it with a spoon. Instead, crumble over the top and only gently press down to seal it together. The goal is to have a crumbly top so if you press down too much, you get more of a crust.
- Bake the Date squares for 25-30 minutes or until the top begins to turn a light golden brown on the edges.
- Remove the dish from the oven and let it cool completely before cutting it into oatmeal date bars or squares.
If You Don’t Eat Them All…
This Date Slice recipe will store well in an airtight container on the counter for about 3-4 days or in the fridge for a week.
They also freeze well in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw them on the counter before serving, or if you want just one, pop it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. They are also usually soft enough to eat right out of the freezer, to my demise.
Date Squares
Ingredients
- 16 oz chopped pitted dates
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract or maple syrup
- ½ cup unsalted Butter softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- In a large saucepan combine dates, white sugar, water and vanilla. Mix well and simmer until dates soften and thicken. Use the back of a large spoon to break down the dates when they soften to create a thickened smooth mixture. Do this before all the liquid is absorbed.
- Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In a large bowl cream together butter and brown sugar until smooth and light.
- In a medium bowl add oats, flour, cinnamon and salt and mix well to combine.
- Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and mix only until combined. You want the crust a little flakey and crumbly so don’t over mix.
- Grease an 8 X 8 baking dish and line with parchment paper. Add half of the oatmeal mixture and press lightly and evenly into bottom of pan.
- Add cooled date mixture and spread evenly over bottom layer.
- With the remaining oatmeal mixture evenly drop spoonfuls on top of the date mixture. It will look like dumplings on top but don’t worry. Then place a piece of wax paper on top and use the back of a large spoon or bottom of a small glass to help spread the oat mixture out evenly across the top. Don’t press hard of the oat topping will sink in. Simply coax the oat mixture to spread out to form a thin crust as evenly as possible. When done remove the wax paper.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the oat mixture starts to turn a light golden brown.
- Remove from oven and cool completely. Once cooled completely you can easily lift the whole item out of the baking dish and cut into squares but to do this the dates squares must be completely cool. Store in a sealed container or freeze for up to 2 months.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Wish I had read the comments before baking. It still says 1 cup of butter in the recipe. Seemed like too much at the time- should have trusted my gut on this. Turned out greasy.
Good but…..
There’s a ridiculous amount of butter in this recipe, like 1/2 lb! I only had salted butter so I omitted the added salt in the recipe, and it worked out fine. But, the bars were so greasy it left your fingers oily. Also, way too many dates. I weighed them, but instead of 16oz, next time I’ll try 12oz. A good tip not mentioned is to chop up the dates before cooking, they will be easier to mash ( I used a potato masher).
I had to cook this for 40 min, not sure why.
The written instructions say to cook the dates with brown sugar. This is not correct, use white sugar, like in the picture.
Overall they were good though!
Hi Janie,
I am glad you enjoyed them and thank you for spotting some errors in this recipe that I have since corrected. And for those below that had greasy date bars my apologies it should be 1/2 a cup not 1/2 a lb (1 cup). I have updated the recipe to be correct and again apologized for these oversights. I hope you give the recipe a second try because they are a family favorite.
No worries! They reminded me of butter tarts actually. Hubby didn’t mind the extra butter and the bars went quickly. Going to try them again soon!
Did you forget baking soda? Mine came out mushy.
Hi Lyle, Sorry they turned out mushy for you but I suspect the dates needed to be boiled down further to get rid of almost all the liquid. The filling should be very thick almost like a paste.
Mine are mushy too! I suspect 1 cup of butter is way way too much.
Hi Kathy,
The crumb top and bottom should not be mushy if baked long enough. I have made this recipe for years and they have never been mushy. The date slices are not stiff either though they are meant to be soft in the centre but should not be wet or dripping. If this the case, then the filling needed to be cooked down longer to thicken.
Wanted to try this recipe but the amount of dates is ambiguous. 16oz? Is this by volume or weight? The rest of the items are by volume, so 16 oz. sounds like 2 cups (1c = 8oz bv)… But if it was by weight, would be ~3 cups. Could you pls clarify, Thx
Hi Johnny, I totally get that it seems like a mash up of measurements. It is a really Canadian thing to do but there is a reason for this when it comes to the dates. Some dates are bought whole and can be bigger or smaller so it is really hard to count them out which is why I use weight vs cups for this ingredient. I also do this because here in Canada we can also buy the dates in bricks and they tend to be a little squished together so the quantity looks smaller than it actual is if they were loose. But you really can’t go wrong. If the measurement is a little more or less they will still taste great. The amount of filling will be thicker or thinner is all. Not to worry they will still be delicious!
Added Grand Marnier and some orange zest to the date mixture 🙏🏻
Sound delish!
I have an old recipe. Generations old. Have given copies to others in the family. It’s unfortunate you can’t find the family recipe.
I know but I have lots of others that my grandma gave me. Check out the gingersnap recipe. It is over 100 years old and the recipe everyone asks for over and over.
I have a recipe that has been in our family for a few generations. Easy to follow. Leave date pieces and no vanilla. A hit every time I make it . I usually make at least 3 double batches at Christmas time for gifts.
These make a great gift!
Great recipe!
I added some of my sourdough discard to the sugar & butter mixture… not for really any reason, just to do it.
Turned out great!
This is a confusing recipe. First one adds the sugar to the dates in a saucepan but also the sugar gets creamed with the butter?? White sugar with the dates? White sugar with the butter? Both sugars with the dates? I have started to make this recipe following the instructions ‘ combine dates, sugar, water and vanilla ‘ and may need to start again.
Hi Susan, My apologies. White sugar goes with the dates, brown sugar creamed into butter. I should have been more clear distinguishing them in the instructions. I will update the recipe now and thank you for bringing this to my attention.