Day 4 of my “12 Days of Baked Goods” series!

When I was growing up in Quebec, my Grandma made these scrumptious date treats for us. They were my favorite and after a while, I think she was basically making them just for me.

The oatmeal topping recipe can be doubled if you like a thicker layer of the yummy brown sugar/oatmeal/butter toping – I sure do!!

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 ½ cups old-fashion oatmeal
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 large egg
• 1 500 gram package of dates
• 1 cup water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Butter, or coat in cooking spray, an 8×8 baking pan.
3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, oatmeal, brown sugar and butter until the mixture is coated in butter. Add half the mixture to the buttered pan, press lightly and set aside.
4. In a small saucepan, cook the dates in the water over medium heat until the mixture is smooth, about 8 minutes. Add the date mixture over the crust in the baking pan.
5. Add the rest of the oatmeal mixture over the dates, pressing lightly but not packing the topping.
6. Cook the squares for 25 minutes.
7. After the squares have cooled, cut into 9 or 12 pieces.

Cheers,

Veronique