Oat-y Date Bars

The perfect after-school-mid-morning-could-be-breakfast treat

Hi Friends,

When Fanny was sixteen, she spent a semester at a school in Vermont. This was the first time Fanny consumed the majority of her meals away from (her largely sweets-free) home and Lo, did she make the tremendous discovery that dessert was in fact something that could be enjoyed at every meal. The cook in charge of the school cafeteria was a tough, dyed-in-the-wool Vermonter named Marilyn who churned out American staples like soft, sweet buttered dinner rolls and spaghetti with meatballs—and Fanny loved everything about it. But most of all, she loved the Fudge-y Oat Squares: a sheet-pan treat that consisted of an oat-y cookie base, a gooey chocolate layer, and a crumbly, buttery topping.

This week’s recipe is an homage to Marilyn’s ne plus ultra of nostalgic confections. Somehow, without added sugar or chocolate, these heavenly date bars scratch the same itch. Loaded with wholesome oats and oat flour and protein-rich almond flour, and layered with a soft, vanilla-scented date jam, they’re naturally sweet, but still virtuous enough to feel appropriate for any meal or otherwise snack-y time of the day. Make a batch and dole them out as after-school snacks, post-dinner dessert or yes, in fact, even breakfast.

Fanny + Greta

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Stickers are optional but recommended

One of the great things about this recipe is that 100% of the sweetness comes from the dates—the dough itself is unsweetened—and you really don’t miss the sugar at all. This recipe makes a fairly big batch, and though it can easily be halved for more modest proportions, we recommend going big and freezing half the batch so you can throw a frozen square into a snack box whenever the need arises. They’re good right out of the freezer, thawed, warm, or three days old. If you want to experiment with the jammy filling—or don’t have quite enough dates on hand—these are great with fresh raspberries folded into the dates, or with a nice tart jam layered over, folded into or used instead of the date purée if you’re in a pinch (raspberry, plum, or apricot jams would all be good contenders). Huge thanks to designer-cook-mom extraordinaire Mamie Rheingold for helping us test this one!