Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Oatmeal Date Bars
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
Make the filling by boiling the dates with the water for about 5 minutes or until bubbly and soft. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice and nuts. (Alternatively, heat the date paste with the 3 tablespoons of margarine and nuts.)
Make the crust
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Cut in the margarine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Press 2/3 of the flour mixture in a 9" x 9" baking pan.
Assemble and bake
Spread the filling over it. Sprinkle the remaining flour mixture over the top. Very lightly press the top.
Bake in a 350°F oven for about 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden.
Cut into squares and serve warm or cool.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 9 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Oat | 1/2 cup dry (40g) | 154 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Date | 1 date (24g) medjool | 66 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Syrup | not in our table | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Nuts | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Dates + nutstop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together178 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Flour + nutstop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,180 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dates
- Cook down into a soft, sweet filling that sets the middle layer.
- White flour
- Provides the structure that holds the crumb layers together.
- Oatmeal
- Adds a chewy, hearty texture to the crumb layers.
- Butter or margarine
- Adds fat that binds the crumb and gives it a tender texture.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the top brown.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic lemon juice and dates to help the bars rise and brown.
The step that matters
Cooking the date filling. Boiling the dates with water until soft and bubbly breaks them into a spreadable paste. If they are undercooked, the filling stays lumpy and can make the bars crumbly when cut.
Swap the nuts
The recipe marks nuts as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, dates, lemon, date):
- Almondfits better
- Walnutfits better
- Pistachiofits better
- Nutsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, dates, lemon, date. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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