Grandmother’s date bars

When I was a graduate student in the SF Bay Area, I was able to visit my grandparents in Redding, California. It was a four-hour drive there, but lovely to be able to visit with them having grown up far away in Central Texas.

My grandmother always sent me back with treats - usually cookies of some sort. I didn’t really need any cookies, as I was quite chubby then, but I enjoyed them regardless.

Date bars were one of my favorites.

Now in health-conscious days, and being now of reduced size, date bars weren’t on my radar until our latest HomeExchange visitor left two sticks of butter (as well as other treats like bacon) behind, as she was paring down during her travels.

What should I make, I thought?  I certainly wasn’t going to discard high-quality butter. Butterscotch brownies, scones, lemon shortbread, etc.?  Needless to say, both Tim and I need to be conscious of our saturated fat intake, because of cholesterol numbers, so this was an unusual treat.

The date bars turned out well.

Delicious.