Bad Excuses and Butter Bars

It’s been a long time. Too long. I could give you all kinds of excuses. I could tell you that I lost my part-time gig and had to pick up the slack ( and a couple extra side jobs) to make our ends meet; I could tell you that my kids had their first big birthday party for their 3rd birthday last month at the house,; I could mention that it’s nearly Christmas and we all know what kind of time-consuming holiday that is; I could tell you all manner of things. But really, it would just be whining. And to be a good mother I must practice what I preach. SO, NO WHINING.
I will tell you that I have been reading a lot of blogs, but my favorite BY FAR is The Pioneer Woman. I’m sure you have heard of it ( and if you haven’t, where have you been?) She has the most amazing story. City girl meets country boy, they fall in love and move to the literal middle of nowhere raising cattle and running a ranch and having four gorgeous kids. In her spare time she cooks, cleans, perfects her photography skills, homeschools her kids, and keeps her husband happy. Not to mention run an awesome website and just published her first cookbook! What a woman! I would kill to have a glass of wine with this woman. Anyway, while she is on a book tour, Ivoryhut is filling in on the cooking portion of her blog. She posted these Butter Bars on The Pioneer Woman and I couldn’t resist. Well, I would love to visit anyone who came up with these absolutely to-die-for Butter Bars. Oh my god, they are soooo delicious.

Butter Bars
as per Ivoryhut

• 8 ounces, weight Pitted Dates, Chopped Coarsely (around 1 1/2 Cups)
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 4 whole Eggs At Room Temperature
• ¾ cups Packed Brown Sugar
• ¾ cups White Sugar
• 1-½ cup Butter
• 1-½ cup Walnuts, Chopped
• 1 cup Pecans, Chopped (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the butter and let it cool. Take 2 tablespoons of the melted butter and brush your pan (one 9×13 pan or two 8×8 pans), making sure to grease the sides as well.

Coarsely chop the pitted dates, walnuts, and pecans. Set them aside in a bowl. (If the dates you are using are too dry, you can soak them in a little bit of liquid. Make sure you drain them before mixing them in with the nuts.)

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder into a bowl. Set aside.

Mix the butter and sugar together until well incorporated.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Add in the vanilla.

Reserve ¼ cup of the flour mixture. Dredge the date and nut mixture with the reserved flour. Use more of the flour mixture if needed.

Mix in the rest of the flour mixture with the wet ingredients. Do this gently, by hand, until just incorporated.

Fold in dredged dates and nuts with the batter.

Pour the batter (it will be very thick) onto the buttered pan(s).

Bake for 30 or more minutes, until light golden brown. It can take up to 40 or so minutes to cook, so keep checking. The bars are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs.

Let cool, and cut into squares or bars. Traditionally, these are then individually wrapped and either stacked in a gift basket, or simply served on a platter.

Store these in an airtight container. They will stay moist if wrapped tightly.