- Yield: 1 pan
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 to 30 minutes
- Serving: For Family
Date Squares - Traditional Newfoundland
Hi and welcome to our website!
Date squares remind me of Christmas time, when your mom would be baking long before Christmas so there would be enough bake goods to last all Christmas long.
This is one of many recipe we loved making years ago. Big family's and at Christmas time you would see a lot of visitors and bake good.
So getting back to the date squares they are so delicious they would be the first to go on our family gatherings.
Easy to make and a lasting impression to anyone who ate them.
Check out this recipe for our Cherry Cake.
Traditional Newfoundland Cherry Cake
I also would like to share a link to my new cookbook and Cherry Cake is one of the recipe inside.
https://www.bonitaskitchen.com/cookbook
CONTINUE ON TO THESE DELICIOUS DATE SQARES RECIPE.
Ingredients
- Filling:
- Chopped dates - 1 - 500g pack
- Butter - 3 tbsp
- Brown sugar - 3 tbsp
- Vanilla - 1½ tbsp ( optional)
- Boiling or cold water - 2 cups
- Crumble crust:
- Roll oats - 2 cups
- Flour white or brown - 2 cups
- Unsweetened coconut - 1 cup
- Brown sugar - 1 cup
- Baking powder - 2 tsp
- Unsalted butter - 1½ cups, or less
Instructions
1 - Preheat oven to 350°, lightly grease your pans or line pan with parchment paper.
2 - Making your filling, in a medium pot add pack of chopped dates, 3 tbsp butter, 3 tbsp brown sugar, and 2 cups of water.
3 -Start the pot boiling on medium heat, stir occasionally for about 15 minutes or until filling is thickened, then remove from heat.
4 - Making your crumble, in a large bowl add 2 cups roll oats, 2 cups white or brown flour, 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup unsweetened coconut, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 1/2 cups of cubed unsalted butter. Mix all ingredients together with your hand until all is evenly incorporate together.
5 - Layering your pans, in a 11 x 14 inch pan or 7 x 11 inch pan or both, start by sprinkling your crumble mixture on the bottom layer of your pans about 1/3 inch thick, press the crumble mixture down on this layer.
6 - Then take about 3 or four scoops of your date mixture and put on top of your crumbles, spread evenly over your crumble mixture.
7 - Next step sprinkle another layer of crumbles mixture over the top of the date mixture. Don't press this layer down just sprinkle over the dates, just pat down lightly.
8 - Bake your date squares in a pre-heated oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
9 -Remove from heat let cool then cut in 2 x 2 inch squares.
Never over bake your date squares check them part way through the baking time and if they look like they are almost golden brown turn oven off let rest for a couple of minutes then remove from oven. Remember ever oven is different when it comes to baking it's more important to check your baking then let it burn.
Allergens
The only time I make these delicious date squares are at Christmas Time!
Why!
They are so good.
Two weeks before Christmas I would start my baking and these delicious date squares are the top on my list.
Christmas Time is when I love making these delicious date squares but they are also good anytime of the year.
These date squares are so good and its hard to eat only one.
There is not a lot of work to making these and your house will smell so good.
Just look at how lovely these dates squares look in all the stages of making them.
When you start making date square it will be apart of your christmas baking every year.
Everyone loves baking for their families or baking with their families, this is a prefect recipe for that.
I’m going to share with you another recipe you will love to make.
Traditional Newfoundland Snowballs
Thank you for taking the time to visit my website and to read my blog.
I have so many delicious recipe on our website you may like to try. Please leave me a message before you go and I would love to help you find the prefect recipe.
” FROM OUR KITCHEN TO YOURS. ”
Very excellent date squares! Make them all the time! FYI my moms family from outport island & she made date squares lots when we’re young. People & family say these taste better? Only addiction is I add some cinnamon to the dry mix.
Hi Joe: Thank you for your message and for visiting our website, thank you for sharing your helpful hints about adding cinnamon to the dry mix, sounds lovely. We grow up with these lovely date squares but only had them at Christmas time. Enjoy Bonita
Hi Bonita, I was wondering, what if you left out the sugar from the dry mixture? I love date squares but generally find them too sweet. Does the dry mixture need the sugar in order for it to hold together? Ps, I used your cherry cake recipe for my sister’s birthday cake this summer and it was delicious! Thank you.
Hi Faye: Thank you so much for your message and I’m so glad you enjoyed the cherry cake recipe, thats ok if you leave the sugar out of the recipe or even if you put in 1 or 2 tbsp of brown sugar. The oat, coconut and butter will keep it together, thank you for leaving a message and enjoy to the fullest. 🙂 Bonita
lost my nfld cookbook of 40yrs i have turned the house upside down. i only use once a year for my xmas baking! Today i taught i
will try yahoo for nfld squares and there you are. tks so much for my favourite nfld square recipes. how can i get cookbook
with these receipes.
Hi Patricia: Thank you for your message and I’m so glad you found us and we have over 200+ recipes here for you to enjoy and make. Its so hard when you can’t find your recipe book that you use at christmas time. We have lemon square, pineapple squares, cherry cake, fruit cake, gumdrop cake and so much more. 🙂 Enjoy Bonita
,your bottom/top mixture looks much dryer than mine. I used 11/2cups of butter as the ingredient said, and double checked all other dry ingredients to make sure there was nothing missing, with proper portions, but it seems to be to much butter when all was combined .it is now baking but I feel uncomfortable with the amount of butter used.
Bonita, I just finished making your snowballs. Our children love them. Thank you for your recipes. Date squares will be next. We are living in Vancouver and are grateful for technology.
Hi Marg, I’m so glad you made and enjoyed our snowball recipe, thank you for letting us know and enjoy to the fullest. Merry Christmas 🙂 Bonita
Hi Bonita. Ididn’t know Date Squares were a Newfoundland speciality. That is so interesting. One of these days I really want to visit. I’m living on the West Coast. Your recipe is great. Just finished making it, even if it isn’t Christmas ?. I didn’t have any coconut so I combined cashews, almonds and some Granola girl (west coast) Granola that has coconut to substitute. Also, I only used about 3 tablespoons of brown sugar in the base/top. It turned out great.
Thanks again!
Hi Kelly and welcome, I’m so glad you made and enjoyed our date square recipe. Years ago here in Newfoundland and Labrador these tasty little treats were only made at Christmas time. Of course I make them anytime I need a date fix 🙂 my Mom is still eating the ones I gave her for Christmas, she keeps them in the freezer and just takes out a few each day for a snack. That sounds wonderful you substituted the coconut and even if you left it out they would be lovely. Stop by anytime and thank you for your message….enjoy your date squares. 🙂 Bonita
Hello Bonita, I made your date crumble recipe exactly as written and they turned out perfectly in my opinion. Some people thought the date layer was too thick. Question : If I reduced the amount of dates from the 500 grams, would I have to reduce the amount of water as well? Thanks.
Hi Dana: Thank you so much for your message and for making our date squares recipe. If you use less dates you will use less water, but you can also add just a little water at a time and to the consistency you would like. I always would say if you like the filling thick or thiner for your date squares.
Enjoy
Bonita
my crumble did not turn out as crumbly despite using exact same ingredient amounts. the crumble was more solid.
Sorry about that Roger! Anytime that happens in the future use more rolled oats to loosen the mixture. You can also use less butter. But that haven’t happened to me before so I’m not sure what happened. I hope they still taste good and thank you for stopping by and making our recipe.Happy New Year!!
Bonita