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Dessert

Date Bars

A sweet, crumbly bar made with dates, sugar, butter, and oats.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and flour 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 ↓

Date Bars

Oven400°F
Time25 to 30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the date filling

  1. Mix the dates, sugar, and water in a saucepan.

  2. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly for about 10 minutes or until thickened, then cool.

Make the crumble and line the pan

  1. Cream together the butter, shortening, and brown sugar in a separate container.

  2. Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, and oats into the crumble crust mix.

  3. Grease a 13x9-inch pan.

  4. Evenly press half of the crumble mixture into the bottom of the pan.

Assemble and bake

  1. Spread the date filling on top.

  2. Evenly place remaining crumble mixture into the pan, pressing lightly.

  3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 400°F, or until light brown.

  4. Cut into bars while still warm.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

826Calories
19 gProtein
15 gFat
153 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Oat1/2 cup dry (40g)154
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Date1 date (24g) medjool66
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

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.

  1. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  3. Dates + flourtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together675 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Sugar + datestop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together985 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

Butter and flour 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
Provide the sweet, thick filling that sets between the two crumble layers.
Flour
Gives the crumble its structure so it holds together when cut.
Butter and shortening
Add fat that makes the crumble tender and rich.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the crumble brown.
Oats
Add chewy texture and body to the crumble layers.
Baking soda
Helps the crumble lighten slightly and brown evenly in the oven.

The step that matters

Cook the date filling until thick. Dates cooked over low heat with constant stirring keep from scorching, and the filling must thicken enough to spread. Thin filling soaks into the crumble and makes the bars soggy and hard to cut.

Swap the dates

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, flour):

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Datesthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, flour. 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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