If I had to name fruits that were old-fashioned, dates would be high on the list.   Growing up in America, dates don’t make me think of exotic middle eastern delicacies.  Instead, I think of 1950s cookbooks filled with date recipes.  In the 1950s dates were super trendy.  They were the bacon of the mid-century.

When I did happen to encounter a date recipe as a child, I always secretly hoped those brown bits were chocolate.  But they weren’t… they were fruit!  How disappointing.

I’d pretty much been successful in avoiding dates for most of my life.  I’m sure I ate them here or there, but I never actively sought them out or used them in my cooking.  Until recently.

And let me tell you, dates are delicious! Where have they been all of my life?!

Zak is a frequent traveler, so one of the perks is that I get interesting ingredients from around the world (ok, if I’m honest I usually request chocolate, but occasionally I get something more adventurous!).  On a recent trip to Kuwait, he brought me a pack of dates.  1 kilogram of dates!  And no idea what to do with it.

I decided to make two very different recipes.  The first is the classic date bar.  Buttery oatmeal crumble on top of smooth cooked dates.  If you are not a date fan, I highly recommend you try these, they are SO tasty!  (And I used some of the leftover filling as a topping for my morning oatmeal the next day – YUM!).

One note though … if you can find pre-pitted dates, buy those! Pitting dates is such a huge pain – the pit doesn’t come out cleanly, and you end up covered in a sticky mess.  The best method I found was just to dig into each one with my fingers and pry out the pit.  It’s a lot of effort.  Pre-pitted is the way to go!  Here’s a picture of my dates once they were painstakingly pitted by hand:

Old Fashioned Date Bars

Ingredients:

3/4 c. butter, soft

1c. brown sugar, packed

1 3/4 flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2c. rolled oats

2 Tb. Grand Marnier liqueur (optional, but tasty!)

3 c. chopped dates (pits removed)

1/4 c. white sugar

1 1/2 c. water

Method:

1) Make Date Filling: In a saucepan, add dates, white sugar and water.  Bring to boil, reduce to simmer.  Simmer 10 minutes or until thick.  Remove from heat.  Add Grand Marnier.  Let cool.

2) Preheat oven to 400F / 200C

3) Base/Crumble: Mix butter and brown sugar until blended.  Add flour, baking soda, salt and stir until combined.  Stir in oats.

4) Assemble: Press half of the mixture into the bottom of a greased 13×9 inch pan.  Spread date filling over top.  Sprinkle remainder of oat mixture over top as a crumble topping.  (If you have any date filling leftover, it is nice spread on toast, shortbread, or stirred into your morning oatmeal – yum!)

5) Bake: Bake for 30 minutes or until golden.

Do you love or hate dates?  What fruits & vegetables scream “old fashioned” to you?? Let me know in the comments.