Heavenly Israeli Date Squares

I am blessed to live in the Galilee. The yard is filled with trees that bear fruit we can use pretty much all year round. There are many different varieties; olives, lemons, oranges, figs, pomegranates and dates.

One of my favorite trees stands at the side of our driveway. It produces the golden Barhi variety of dates and the fruit tastes like butterscotch candy!

One year recently  it produced about 200kg (440 pounds) of dates! Here’s a picture of my granddaughter Tamar (whose name means “Date!”) enjoying the harvest.

I give away a lot of them, but I stored  a lot in my freezer and use them all year round. I sometimes eat them frozen as a candy-like snack, but mostly I love making date squares. This recipe is so easy to prepare and is one of my favorite deserts.

Israeli Date Squares

Ingredients

• 8 ounces of cut up dates
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• ½ cup water
• 1 cup flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• ½ cup Galilee Green Olive Oil
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 cups oats – preferably not instant, but instant works

Directions

Barchi and Chiani dates harvested from the Veffer’s date palms

• Combine dates, 1 tablespoon brown sugar and water in a small pan
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook stirring often until the dates are soft enough to mash up
• Set aside to cool slightly
• In a bowl, blend flour, baking soda and salt
• Add olive oil, brown sugar and oats
• Don’t over mix and mixture should stay crumbly
• Press half the mixture in a lightly greased 8 x 8 inch pan to form the crust
• Spread date filling over the crust
• Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the dates
• Lightly pat down to even out the mixture
• Bake at 350 F/180 C for 25 minutes or until crust is slightly brown

These date squares are heavenly and have such a rich flavor. The butterscotch tasting Barhi dates have a very short shelf-life.  They are hard to find outside of Israel, so you can substitute your favorite variety of dates. Many date square recipes will call for margarine. Because Galilee Green Olive Oil is so light, it won’t overpower the sweet flavor of the dates, and can be used instead of margarine to make a much healthier dessert.

Desserts are Healthier with
Galilee Green Extra Virgin Olive Oil

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