Crumbly part
- 2.25 cups rolled oats
- 2.25 cups flour
- 1.5 tablespoons baking powder
- 0.375 teaspoons salt. That’s ¼ times 1.5.
- 1.5 cups brown sugar
- 1.5 cups butter
Filling
- 1.5 pound of dates, cut
- 1.5 cups water
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla
Mix the dry ingredients of the crumbly part together, then melt the butter and mix it in. I do the initial mixing with a spoon then finish off with my hands.
Cut the dates up, into 2-5 pieces per date, depending on size. Try to get somewhat moist but not too moist dates. According to some internet converter, 1 pound of dates is 2.5 cups, so I do 3.75 cups of dates. Or so. I usually go a bit over, but that then means I need more water. Cook them in a pot on the stove at 4 with the water and vanilla until they are goopy and the individual dates have blended into a pasty mush. I suck at this part, so I usually get Mum to help.
Put half the crumbly part into a greased pan, then add the filling, then crumbly sprinkle the second half on top. Pat it down.
Bake in oven at 350 fahrenheit for 45 minutes in 10×13 pan. The recipe was originally for a 9×9 pan, but is adapted. It’s why some measurements look a bit odd.
Most recipes have horribly long life-stories behind them that are sort of but not really related to the recipe. I don’t have much to tell, I don’t have a lot of experiences with dates. Not that I’m willing to share, at least. I mean, no wait. I should stop now.
This is more or less what it should look like. Crispy golden top, and the date filling should be darker and thickerened but not crispy.
If you want the squares to taste more authentic, print out the recipe and then accidentally spill stuff on it.
Ian Weatherall 