My First Post Ever! and The Best Date Bars Ever

Welcome to My Culinary Calling!
I am (very) recently married and my husband says I need to do something a bit more productive with my baking. So this is where the blog comes in! I also hope to soon be able to sell my baking on a small scale from my home. This is an adventure I am excited to begin! If you have any helpful advice, or suggestions please let me know!

MMMMMM date bars...some people call them matrimonial square. I always forget this. Before this recipe, I would be searching the internet for "date bars" or "date squares" or "date bar squares" and I could never find a good recipe that tasted like my mommas. So then I called my momma and she gave me her recipe and I realized I could have saved a couple of hours of my valuable time by just calling her in the first place.

So this recipe...I dont know what exactly it is that I love about it, or that makes it taste so much more yummy then the rest. But it really just does! My whole life growing up, my mom always baked with hard margarine. It is much cheaper and comes in perfect 1/2 cup blocks. And until I moved out and began buying my own ingredients for baking, I always did the same. Now I buy butter...Ohhh do I buy butter and the difference it makes can be so subtle but so yummy.

SO the whole point of that paragraph was to tell you to please please please try making these with butter. ALL butter. You wont regret it. At least your taste buds wont. Your wallet and hips might, but your husband wont notice because he will be chowing down on soft, slightly salty and sweet date bars.

Here is the recipe. And next time I will take pictures of the whole process because that looks like a fun thing to do.

BEST EVER DATE BARS

Crumb Layer:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter or margarine (I have always used margarine until this time..any let me tell you, butter really did make them that much more delish)

Filling:
1/2 pound dates chopped up(If you buy them in a square block, those are usually 1/2 a pound)
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup water (or a little more to make it the right consistency)

Crumb layer:
1)Measure flour, oats, baking soda, salt and butter in a large bowl.
2)Cut butter in with a pastry blender or your hands until butter is the size of small peas. 3)Press about 2/3rds of the mixture into the bottom of a parchment or tin foil lined 9x9inch pan.Set aside

Filling: (maybe start this before you do the crumb, then they will be done at about the same time!)
1) Combine dates, sugar and water in a saucepan.
2) Bring to a boil and allow to simmer till mushy. If mixture becomes too dry, add a bit more water. If it is too wet, allow to simmer until excess has boiled away. You want the mixture to be easy to spread and relatively soft.
3) Spread over crumb layer as evenly as possible.
4) Sprinkle remaining 1/3 of crumbs over the top and press down lightly.
5) Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.