DATE-AND-WALNUT BARS

Date-and-Walnut Bars image

This recipe for golden, chewy, date-and-walnut-packed bars comes from the Los Angeles pastry chef Margarita Manzke, who grew up in the Philippines and now runs the sweet side of the kitchen at République. When she was in high school, Manzke came across the classic recipe for "food for the gods" in a thin pamphlet of Filipino desserts, and she made the bars again and again, learning how to produce a consistently tender, chewy batch: Don't overcream the butter, and don't use a light hand with the dates. Manzke sells fresh bars at République, but know that at home the cooled, cut bars store well in the freezer, ready to pop out and defrost at a moment's notice.

Provided by Tejal Rao

Time 1h

Yield About 24 bars

Number Of Ingredients 10

Ingredients

2 2/3 cups/340 grams all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 cups/400 grams large Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1 pound/450 grams unsalted butter (4 sticks), at room temperature
2 1/3 packed cups/515 grams dark brown sugar
1/4 cup/50 grams granulated sugar
6 eggs
2 1/3 cups/280 grams walnuts, roughly chopped

Steps:

Heat the oven to 325, and line a 13-by-18-inch sheet pan with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until well mixed and no lumps remain. Tip about 1/2 cup of the flour mixture into a medium bowl; add the dates, and toss well to coat, breaking up the dates as you go. Set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with both sugars just until smoothly incorporated, about 2 minutes on medium speed. Add the eggs in 3 batches, mixing well each time and scraping down the sides of the bowl and the paddle between additions.
Add the flour mixture and date mixture, and mix gently on low just until incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer, and use a spatula to fold in the walnuts. Transfer the mixture to the parchment-lined sheet pan, and use an offset spatula to spread it in an even layer, pushing it into the edges and corners and smoothing the surface. Bake until brown and set, about 45 minutes.
Cool completely in the pan, then remove and cut into squares. Serve right away, or store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 414, UnsaturatedFat 12 grams, Carbohydrate 48 grams, Fat 24 grams, Fiber 2 grams, Protein 5 grams, SaturatedFat 11 grams, Sodium 131 milligrams, Sugar 34 grams, TransFat 1 gram