This is a special recipe, it is the first recipe of my Nana’s that I am posting on My Nana’s Kitchen. Since I had been baking with her for so long, at one point she wrote down a bunch of her recipes for me, some from even her grandmother. As you can see in the image below, it’s hand written on a cue card in her unique handwriting, and is a recipe that I will always cherish.

On a completely unrelated note, this recipe is also special to me because I am obsessed with ancient cultures, and I recently discovered that I like dates, which makes me even more fond of them because they’re one of the foods that people ate in ancient times. Enjoy!

Nana’s Date Squares

Ingredients

• 1 lb pitted dates (I used Natural Delights Medjool Dates)
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup oats
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup canola oil (or other oil of your choosing)
• ½ cup sugar

Directions

Combine dates, sugar, and water in a small pot. Cook down on medium until thick and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350^oF. Whisk together flour, oats and baking soda. Add oil and sugar, mix well.

Scoop half of batter into 8 x 8 inch pan (Pyrex or glass works best so you can see the thickness of the layers) and press down to form bottom layer.  Spread date mixture evenly over bottom layer (a spatula or an icing knife/spreader works best). Cover with rest of batter and carefully press down to create top layer. Bake for 15-25 minutes (top will not get that much colour) and set aside to cool and set. Enjoy!