Recipes

[Sammijo10]

Thanks to everyone for their recipes! My weekend project!

[nomless]

Please let us know what you try and if DH liked them.

[DiamondGirly]

Here's a recipe for Date Bars that my Mother made while I was growing up. They are probably her very favorite!

Date Bars

2 eggs

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 Tbsp. shortening, melted

¼ cup sifted cake flour

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup chopped dates

1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat eggs until light. Add sugar and shortening. Blend well. Sift dry ingredients together. Add dates, nuts and vanilla. Blend well and pour into greased shallow cake pan. Bake in slow oven (325º F.) about 25 minutes. Cut into bars and roll in confectioners’ sugar.

Makes about 24 bars.

(This recipe is from The American Home Cookbook, a recipe book of my mom's, which she has had since 1948.)

[RespectLife]

WOW EVERYONE!! Thank you! I can't wait to try these recipes!

I have 2 boxes of dates that were suppose to turn into Cuccidati Cookies, but after looking at the recipe...that is one cookie I am going to have to mooch from other people!!

NaturalBornWoman, Not only do I have dates on hand....boy do I have rum! That is a fantastic suggestion!

Thanks so much!

[RedTop]

The date bar recipe from my 20th anniversary edition of United Methodist Ministers' Wives cookbook from 1955 is:

2 cups light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 3 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3/4 cup butter, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 cup chopped dates, 1 cup nuts, and 1/4 cup hot coffee.

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Dissolve baking soda in hot coffee. Blend in flour and salt. Add dates and nuts. Spread in 13x9 pan and bake @ 350 for 30 minutes.

[insomniac]

I also appreciate all these recipes. I remember using the Betty Crocker date bar mix in my younger days: they were so great!

I wonder when they disappeared? Strange how that happens: you get so used to something being available, but then one day it's gone.

[whitelinen]

On 4/30/2014 RedTop said:

The date bar recipe from my 20th anniversary edition of United Methodist Ministers' Wives cookbook from 1955 is:

2 cups light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 3 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3/4 cup butter, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 cup chopped dates, 1 cup nuts, and 1/4 cup hot coffee.

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Dissolve baking soda in hot coffee. Blend in flour and salt. Add dates and nuts. Spread in 13x9 pan and bake @ 350 for 30 minutes.

Thanks RedTop, I chose this one to copy. The UM Ministers Wives knew what they were doing in 1955!

[nomless]

This morning, I made the Betty Crocker classic date bar recipe and was thrilled that it's a dead ringer for the discontinued box mix we love and miss. It's very easy, and the result is great. The recipe is posted above in post #9. It's the last recipe in tkins' post.

[kjg]

I sure do remember these date bars from the mix. My Mom and Dad had 5 kids and my Grandma lived with us. My Mom made a dessert every day and we begged for these. My Dad would buy 10 boxes at a time and they would keep them in the freezer. I tried to find them after I had my own family and could not locate them at all. I remember my oldest brother thought they were his alone, and he could polish off the entire pan by himself, in a matter of hours.

[nomless]

Kjg, give the Betty Crocker ones a try. You'll be pleasantly surprised how spot on they are to the ones you remember. I used the dates that come in a box. They have sugar on them, so I reduced the amount of sugar I used when I cooked them. They break down as they cook. The texture ends up being just like it was in the box mix. The crumb crust / topping is also remarkably similar.