for maman: date & raisin squares

When I was little, my mom had her standard dessert recipes. She made a really fantastic chocolate chip cake (always in a pretty bunt pan) for birthdays and every summer to make use of the pear bounty from our 2 trees, she made pear crisp. During the winter though, the date square ruled. It seemed healthy since it was full of oats and dates but with all that butter and sugar, this square isn't really fooling anyone. Despite the fact that I would have rather snacked on something chocolate, I really did love my mom's date squares. With a glass of cold milk and a crumbly still-slightly-warm square, it was the perfect treat.

My mom isn't doing very well health-wise and she's currently in the hospital. I wanted to do something extra special in my holiday package to my parents. Of course I packaged off my dad's favorite cookies along with trying to recreate her date square. Despite having only half the amount of dates needed and subbing in raisins for the balance, I think I surpassed her version. My friend who ate a square thought they were the most flavourful date bars she had ever eaten and some friends of Cornelius who lucked into a couple of squares immediately wanted the recipe. So here it is. Sweet, buttery, oaty goodness. Pure and simple. I know my mom will love them.

Oh, and please stop by the Canada's Food Network blog to read my latest post on my brunch experience at a new local neighbourhood restaurant, 2 Chefs and a Table.

date & raisin squares
oat mixture:
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 c butter, room temperature
1 c brown sugar
1 1/2 c rolled oats

filling:
1 c dates, cut up
1 c raisins, cut up
3 T brown sugar
1 T sour cherry jam
1 T amber rum
zest from 1 lemon & 1 orange
1 c orange juice
1 t lemon juice
1 t cornstarch mixed with a little bit of cold water to create a slurry (optional)

1. Add flour, baking powder , soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Mix in butter, sugar and oats and combine well. Press half of the mixture into a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.

2. To make filling, combine all ingredients except for the cornstarch in a small saucepan. Cook until thick and smooth. If it's not thick and smooth, add in the cornstarch slurry and cook for 3 more minutes until thick. Set aside and cool.

3. Pour cooled date mixture over the oats and spread evenly. Cover with remaining oat mixture and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cut into squares while still warm and cool in pan.

it's a cinch: oatmeal coconut pecan squares with chocolate chips

Summer seems to be fading here in the ol' Northwest. Grey skies, constant rain and cooler temperatures set up shop this morning and things don't seem to be letting up. I'm not impressed. At least I've got some heirloom tomatoes and some Rathtrevor cheese from yesterday's farmer's market to keep me company. But instead of holding onto fading memories, I decided to take this new direction out for a stroll and do a little baking. So I dug out some pantry staples and whipped up this little number. Easier to make than cookies and the results are sweet, chewy and dense. Did I mention good? Oh yeah, really good. The recipe exists in so many places online, that it's hard to find its lineage. With so many variations, I think it's safe to say that this recipe belongs to everyone. Here's my stab at it.


oatmeal coconut pecan squares with chocolate chips
1 c rolled oats
1/2 c flour
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c chocolate chips
1/2 c unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 c chopped pecans
1/4 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
5 T unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 egg
1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all the dry ingredients (oats through salt) in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix together the melted butter, egg and vanilla. Dump the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until well blended. Oil up an 8x8 pan and pour mixture in, patting the top flat with your hands while making sure the mixture gets into the corners. Bake for 25 minutes and cool. Cut into squares.

can't eat just one: peanut butter raisin bars

When I saw these squares on this blog, I wanted them in my belly, stat! But like all food porn, I knew I'd have to wait until I could make these myself. And boy, was it worth the wait. I wouldn't call these a bar cookie or a square, instead, they fit nicely in the brownie/blondie category. They reminded me of my most favorite stand-by brownie recipe in that everything is all mixed up in one pot. Chewy, dense and with a golden (almost flaky) top, these are a perfect snack. And I say snack for those of you who have restraint. Me, almost never. After one small square, I had to have another and another. I wasn't alone either....Cornelius kept heading back for seconds and thirds bits of peanut-buttery-raisiny-chocolate goodness. It's amazing that these lasted 4 days!


I made a few changes to Lynn's recipe but loved the results. I always use natural peanut butter instead of the processed stuff and this recipe didn't suffer for it one bit. I also reduced the raisins and subbed in some chocolate chips to make things a bit more decadent. Try them and see if you can resist a second piece. Be the better person...or not.

peanut butter raisin bars
1/2 c natural peanut butter
1/2 c unsalted butter
1 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 T vanilla
1 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
pinch of salt
1 c raisins
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized pot, combine peanut butter and butter on medium heat until melted. Remove from heat and add in sugar. Mix well and then add in vanilla and eggs. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt and combine. Add raisins and chocolate chips. Stir well.

2. Pour batter into a greased 9x9 square pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool.

sweet snacks

I've been on a healthy eating regimen as of late and sweets and I haven't been too friendly as of late. Well, on the weekend I broke down and decided that treats and I needed to be reaquainted with each other. I opened up my vegetarian Rebar cookbook and found that I basically had all the ingredients to make a sweet looking snack. The recipe called for raspberry jam (which I didn't have), so I subsituted some sour cherry jam. I also included some unsweetened coconut because I LOVE coconut and figured it would taste great in this recipe (it did). I wasn't too crazy about the squares on the first day (we had them still warmish)...but somehow in the following days, this bar recipe kept getting better and better! I'm so making this again....but not for a little while -- y'know, health benefits and all.

cherry oat bars
Recipe from Rebar cookbook

3/4 c unbleached flour
3/4 c whole wheat flour
2 c rolled oats
1 c chopped walnuts
1/2 c unsweetened flake coconut
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 c plus 2 T soft butter
1 1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 c cherry jam (insert your favorite jam here)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10" by 15" baking dish and set aside.

2. Place all ingredients, except the egg and the jam, into a mixer & mix throughly. Remove half of the misture and set aside. Blend the egg into the remaining mixture and press it into the prepared baking sheet. Bake until firm and lightly browned (about 10 minutes).

3. Remove the crust from the oven and spread the jam evenly over the surface. Sprinkle the top with the remaining crumbly mixture. Bake 10 minutes until golden brown. Cool and cut into bars.