Date Caramel Cookie Bars

an easy weekend bake

After a few days of continual rain, Marco and I started to feel a bit cooped up and we headed to the kitchen to forage through our pantry and find something fun to bake. I was looking for easy (see: my toddler sous chef) and cozy and found a Costco-sized container of dates that needed to be used up. I’d been reading about and researching date caramel recipes for a few weeks and decided to play a bit.

We soaked the dates in a little warm water and then blended them with the solid part of a can of coconut milk, a little vanilla, and some salt. The result was a swoopy, caramel-ish dip, with a texture somewhere between runnier traditional caramel and peanut butter.

After ‘taste testing’ aka, eating some straight from a spoon, we swirled the rest into cookie bars. These cookie bars are soft and chewy, filled with browned butter and chunks of chocolate and then rippled with sticky date caramel.

date caramel cookie bars

makes one 9x13” pan, about 24 servings

Ingredients:

for the date caramel:

15 medjool dates, pitted and soaked*

2 tbsp (36 g) solid layer of canned coconut milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

for the cookie layer:

240 g (2 cups) all purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp kosher salt

170 g (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, browned

3 large eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

300 g (1 1/2 cups) brown sugar

8 oz chopped dark chocolate

date caramel, recipe included

Procedure:

1. To make the date caramel, remove the pits from dates and place them in a medium bowl. Cover them with hot water and let soak for about 5 minutes and then drain, removing as much of the water as possible.

2. Place the soaked dates in a food processor or blender and add the coconut milk, vanilla, and salt and blend until very smooth. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

3. To make the cookie bars, preheat the oven to 325° F and line a 9x13” baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

5. Brown the butter by cooking in a small pan over medium heat, for 6-7 minutes, until the butter is fragrant and little brown flecks have appeared on the bottom of the pan. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool slightly.

6. When the butter has cooled a bit, whisk in the brown sugar, followed by the eggs and vanilla.

7. Add the dry ingredients and stir until well-combined and no flour streaks or clumps remain. Fold in the chopped chocolate.

8. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking dish and smooth into an even layer. Dollop the date caramel over the surface of the batter and swirl using a sharp knife or skewer.

9. Bake the cookie bars for 30-35 minutes, until the edges are deeply browned and the center is set. Let the cookie bars cool completely and then chill for at least 30 minutes before trying to slice. (Or forget the clean edges and spoon it warm into bowls and serve with ice cream!)

P.S. Here’s another cookie bar recipe I love—Caramel Coconut Cashew Blondies!