italian dessert recipes

Date Bars

With a hint of bourbon in the filling


Date bars are one of the every day Italian cookie recipes. It's something my mom would throw together when she would have that oh-crap-I-need-to-make-a-dessert-moment. We had these packed in our lunches, and really it would have been nice to wet wipes packed with them.

This is NOT light little crunchy dainty lady desserts! These guys are heavy and gooey. This recipe is very forgiving in substitutions (see below) as far as the spices are concerned.

We do use a lot of cloves, all spice, and let's not forget the splash of minimal bourbon! But you can omit some of the spices and bourbon or make it more American if this recipe scares you.








Date Bars

With a hint of bourbon in the filling


YIELD - Makes 16 Date Bars

Ingredients:

FILLING

* 1-1/2 cup chopped pitted dates

* 2/3 cup water

* 3/4 cup sugar

* 2 tablespoons lemon juice

* 1 tablespoon bourbon

CRUST

* 1-1/2 cup all purpose flour

* 1 cup brown sugar

* 1-1/4 cup quick oats

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* 1/8 teaspoon cloves

* 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

* 1/8 teaspoon allspice

* 3/4 cup pastured butter

* 1 beaten egg to brush on crust

Procedure

 * Preheat oven to 350°.

* In a small saucepan cook dates, water, sugar, and lemon juice until thick about 8 minutes, cool.

* Combine flour, brown sugar, oats, and salt.

* Mix well, cutting in butter to coarse crumb stage.

* Spread ½ crumb mixture in 9x9 pan.

* Cover with filling.

* Spread with remaining crumbs.

* Brush with beaten egg. Make sure and cover the whole area. * This gives such a nice finished looked.

* Cook 30-35 minutes in preheated oven.

* Cool and cut in bars.






date bars

Can I substitute shortening or margarine for the butter?

Nope. Never. The recipe will turn into a toxic waste dump if you do.

Allspice, cloves, cinnamon - do I need all of those?

Nope. These are Italian dessert recipes. You can omit those spices and end up with a very nice ( but bland) American date bar. Nothing wrong with that. It just won't bean Italian dessert recipe.

Bourbon, can I leave it out?

Yup. Part of my families religious beliefs permit them from alcohol. So, yup. I've made almost all of the Italian dessert recipes without alcohol. You can use flavorings or skip them all together.


Italian Cookie Recipes



lisa gianotti I love sugar and I eat dessert EVERYDAY! Ok, not MASSIVE amounts. But I do have to finish off the evening meal with a little sweet something.

When I was a kid my health conscience mother would ration my Halloween candy. Her mantra was, "white sugar will kill you". But my Italian grandma always told me, "Everybody needs a little bit of sugar." :-) So, to get my October Halloween sugar fix I will make the traditional Italian cookie recipe, Venetian Bones of the Dead. Italians make these for the Day of the Dead on November 2nd. So - hey, our holiday in America - Halloween is the closest.

So - while the neighborhood is slamming down a bunch of gross mass produced candy on October 31st, I'll have a real goodie. Oh yeah, I'll have to post it too! (Eventually!) You know how it is. Work. Kids. Clean. Cook.



I'll see if Bones Of The Dead is in my grandma's first recipe file she started when she married in 1932. Most of the recipes on my site came from her influence. If they aren't in her file - then I got them from her friends. And the remainder I experimented with adapting her style.

I hope she looks down and smiles this Halloween.

Lisa


Would you like to share this page? You know how to do it! Thanks for sharing the sugar love!




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Recipes on this site are from family cookbooks, family traditions, or intentional adaptations from traditional recipes to add an Italian flair. If a recipe was adapted or used from another cook - it is mentioned on the recipe page and the recipe author is given credit.