Dark Chocolate Walnut Date Bar Recipes

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.)

DARK CHOCOLATE-WALNUT DATE BAR

Steps:

• Brush a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with oil and line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on long sides.
• In a food processor, pulse 1 1/2 cups walnuts, dates, peanut butter, vanilla, and kosher salt until finely chopped and mixture holds together. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and lightly knead to pack together; pat into an 8-inch square. Refrigerate until firm, 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt chocolate with oil. Halve nut mixture and press one part into loaf pan. Drizzle with half of chocolate. Refrigerate until chocolate just begins to set, 10 minutes.
• Press in remaining nut mixture and spread with remaining chocolate. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup walnuts and flaky salt. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. To serve, let stand at room temperature 10 minutes, then remove from pan using parchment before slicing.

DATE NUT BARS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, dates and nuts. Add the eggs, butter and vanilla; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be very stiff). , Spread in a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool bars on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar. ,

DATE-AND-WALNUT BARS

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 325, and line a 13-by-18-inch sheet pan with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until well mixed and no lumps remain. Tip about 1/2 cup of the flour mixture into a medium bowl; add the dates, and toss well to coat, breaking up the dates as you go. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with both sugars just until smoothly incorporated, about 2 minutes on medium speed. Add the eggs in 3 batches, mixing well each time and scraping down the sides of the bowl and the paddle between additions.
• Add the flour mixture and date mixture, and mix gently on low just until incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer, and use a spatula to fold in the walnuts. Transfer the mixture to the parchment-lined sheet pan, and use an offset spatula to spread it in an even layer, pushing it into the edges and corners and smoothing the surface. Bake until brown and set, about 45 minutes.
• Cool completely in the pan, then remove and cut into squares. Serve right away, or store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.