I gave this five stars in that it is a quite versatile recipe. I have boiled up raisins in half water and half lemon juice. I added 1/2 tablespoon corntarch mixed with 2 tablespoons of water to the fruit, to thicken it. I have also used dried apricots and/or an assortment of dried fruits that I put in the food processor to chop up. I boiled these in orange juice (no water). In the oatmeal mixture, I added 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, just to give it a little more flavor. Another filling is Cranraisins and dried apples boiled in apple juice. I am sure that others will come up with many other varitions.
This was great. My husband asks for them on a weekly basis. One note, press down slightly on the top layer of oatmeal...tastes better.
These Oatmeal Cookie Bars are awesome! I made a few substitutions: I didn't have dates so I used raisins (but I'm going to make sure I have dates on hand the next time I make these); I replaced the white sugar with Splenda and the brown sugar with Splenda brown sugar blend to cut down on some of the sugar and calories; I used butter instead of shortening. I also added a teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the pastry and half a teaspoon to the filling. The resulting bars were so buttery and cinnamony good it was hard to stop eating them.
Very good. Taste alot like cereal bars but better. I used butter flavored Crisco and added a little cinnamon to the oatmeal mixture. Thanks for the recipe!
Very good. My boyfriend loved them. One of the other reviewers wrote that these are "too sweet". The pastry part actually isn't that sweet it's the date filling. So if you don't like sweet just spread on a thinner layer of the filling.
I used figs instead of dates and I love figs and oats so I love these. I also added flaxseed meal (about 3 T) wheat germ (maybe 4 T) and around a t of cinnamon 1/8 t cloves and 1/8 t fresh ground nutmeg to the pastry for a crunchier more cohesive flavor. I like the salt in the pastry but think a dash under 1/2 t would be better. I also used 1/2 butter 1/2 shortening to pump up the richness. I can't wait for this batch to cool! YUM!
A nice basic date bar recipe. Very good.
These bars are excellent. I didn't have quite enough dates only about 1 3/4 cup. As a replacement I used some chopped prunes for the remaining 3/4 cup. I had a Meyer lemon and used the juice from that and also simmered the squeezed lemon halves in the date mixture for a more lemony flavor. I also added a little cinnamon to the the mixture only about a half a tsp. I followed the recipe exactly the same after that and was very pleased with the result. It does seem that any favorite dried fruit would work with this recipe and I look forward to trying out different combinations as well as the original all date recipe.
very good. I might try them with butter next time.
Too sweet and not a good flavor - not sure dates should be part of most oatmeal bar/cookie recipes.
