Mom's Oatmeal Date Bars

We made these bars every Christmas when I was young. It's an old-fashioned bar. They are a North American layered dessert baked in a cake pan. They consist of two solid but crumbly flour and oatmeal layers, with a layer of date filling in between. After baking, they are cut into squares to serve. Note: some recipes call for adding the zest and juice from either an orange or a lemon into the date filling; others add chopped walnuts to the oatmeal crust.

History: Variants began to arise as early as the middle 1930s. Some recipes added raisins to the date filling to make it keep moister longer; others called for figs instead of dates, etc.

Bakeries in the prairies areas of North America such as Nebraska and Alberta were advertising a baked good called "date squares" at least since 1922, particularly R.W. Scotts "City Bakery" in the Higinbotham Block on 2nd Avenue in Lethbridge, Alberta. But we would have no way of knowing what form these Date Squares actually took.

In parts of Western Canada, such as the province of Manitoba, Date Squares are known as "Matrimonial Cake." The wedding-related name given to the dessert made up of both smooth and rough textures is said to reflect the contrast between the easy and difficult times of marriage. The first usage that CooksInfo.com has found of Date Squares being called "Matrimonial Cake" dates from Iowa in 1930. The term "Matrimonial Cake" -- and the recipe -- had made its way up to Western Canada by 1933. Usage of the term "Matrimonial Cake" for "Date Squares" would appear to have died out completely in America, except when the source of the usage is from the prairies in Canada.

3 cups cut-up dates
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup water
3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup rolled oats

To make the filling, cook the dates, sugar and water over low heat, stirring until thickened. About 10 minutes. Let cool.

Grease and flour a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

To make the crust, mix together the butter and the brown sugar. Add the flour, soda, salt and rolled oats and mix well.

Place half of the crust mixture, about 2 3/4 cups, in the prepared pan and pat down. Spread with the cooled date filling. Cover with the remaining crumb mixture. Pat lightly.

Bake in preheated oven about 25 - 30 minutes until lightly browned. Cool and cut into squares.

Variation: try using raisins in place of the dates.