Orange Date Nut Bars
These cookies are very chewy and delicious with a nice orange flavor topped with a light lemon glaze. They make a great Christmas cookie. This recipe comes from my sister Linda Stradley and her website What’s Cooking America.
Recipe type: Dessert | Bar Cookie
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Recipe Notes
Pan: One 13"x9"x2" Oblong Pan Prep: Greased Oven Temp: 375° Yield: 3 Dozen Bars Storage: Airtight Container, Room Temperature
Help: Cookie Hints and Tips
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accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Help: Cookie Hints and Tips
TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast,
accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups pitted dates, coarsely chopped
- 2 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped
Lemon Glaze:
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1¼ cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare one 13x9x2 inch oblong pan; lightly grease the pan with shortening.
Dough:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar; use an electric mixer or wooden spoon and beat together until well blended. Add eggs, orange zest, and vanilla; beat until smooth. Add flour, baking powder, and salt; stir until well blended. Stir in chopped dated and walnuts. (The batter will be very thick.)
- Bake: Spread the batter evenly in the baking pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Leave cookie in the pan to cool; place baking pan on a wire cooling rack to cool.
Lemon Glaze:
- In a medium bowl, combine lemon juice and confectioners sugar; beat until smooth and creamy. Spread glaze on top of cooled cookie. Cut into 2 inch bars. Tip: My favorite tool to cut bar cookies is a stainless steel dough scraper; simply push the dough scraper straight down into the cookie for straight cuts. Or use a pizza cutter or small kitchen knife to cut the cookie into bars.