Date slices combine oats and cornflakes with a sticky date centre. They are easy to make, rustic and highly delicious. These oat and date bars make a great alternative to flapjack.
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I have a bit of a crush on baking recipes that include cornflakes. These easy date slices are my latest creation in this field. They are a step up from traditional flapjack since they combine cornflakes with oats and a luscious layer of sweet & sticky dates. You could also call them date crumble slices, sticky date slices or date bars.
If you love incorporating cornflakes in your bakes too then don’t miss my cornflake slices, Australian crunchie, caramel cornflake brownies or cornflake tart recipes.
Try serving these date bars with a cup of tea, coffee or a hot chocolate sweetened with dates.
Why you’ll love these oat and date slices
- Appearance: the golden and crumbly look of these bars makes them immediately appealing.
- Texture: Expect a relatively crumbly flapjack-style bar with plenty of bite and a soft & squishy centre.
- Taste: these date slices encompass buttery and syrupy flavours with the caramelised flavour of the sweet dates and a hint of cinnamon spice.
- Easy: there are no complex stages to this recipe. It’s pretty straightforward.
- Feeds a crowd: you’ll cut 12 deliciously generous sticky date slices or 16 smaller squares.
Ingredient notes
Dates: the ideal dates to use in this recipe are stoned block dates which can be found in the baking section in the supermarket. I use Whitworths. Once they have soaked in the sugary water block dates just fall apart, making them very spreadable.
Oats: small, rolled oats (also called porridge oats or pinhead oats) rather than jumbo oats work best as they hold together well. Large oats can be used but they will result in date slices that are crumblier in nature.
Cornflakes: ensure that these are fresh and have not been open so long that they have gone stale.
Golden syrup: this is a very British ingredient. There is nothing that quite compares to this product. However, if you are elsewhere in the world and cannot get hold of golden syrup then use corn syrup. Honey, molasses and maple syrup are not suitable alternatives.
Butter: for the best flavour use real butter. If you are on a dairy-free diet then feel free to use dairy-free block butter alternative. Soft baking margarine should not be used.
Step by step instructions
- Preheat the oven and prepare the baking tin.
- Put the water and soft brown sugar into a pan and heat to dissolve.
- Chop the dates finely, tip into the pan and leave to soak, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile melt the butter, caster sugar and golden syrup in a pan, stirring often until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes together.
- Crush the cornflakes using your hands.
- Mix the cornflakes, oats, flour, salt and cinnamon together in a bowl.
- Tip the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.
- Spoon just under half of the mixture into a greased and lined baking tin and press it down using the back of a metal spoon.
- Stir the dates. They should be very soft by now. Spread them over the layer of oat and cornflake mixture, almost to the edge.
- Top with the remaining oat and cornflake mixture and again, spread it out, pressing down with the back of a spoon, covering the dates completely.
- Bake for around 30 minutes, until golden.
- When the traybake is completely cold cut it into 12 slices (or 16 smaller squares).
Expert tips
- Use the correct size tin for the recipe. If you use a larger tin you will struggle to spread the oat and cornflake mixture out with enough depth and the risk is that the date bars fall apart. A smaller tin would yield thicker slices and may take longer to cook.
- Chop the dates finely. If you leave them chunky then they will be harder to spread.
- Crushing the cornflakes helps to ensure that the bars hold together rather than breaking up too much when cut (a little crumbling is to be expected though).
- Do not cut this traybake until it has cooled completely.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you do. Soaking the dates renders them soft and very easy to spread out.
Sadly, these date bars are not healthy. They contain too much sugar, syrup and butter to ever fall into the healthy food category.
A little treat once in a while is a habit that I embrace fully though and this bake is definitely worth indulging in occasionally.
Storing bakes like this in a large glass jar with a clip-top lid (like a (paid link) Kilner jar) helps to keep them exceedingly fresh. When stored this way, these oat and date slices will stay fresh for up to 5 days. If you do not have such a jar, it is worth wrapping the bars in foil before storing in an alternative airtight container.
These sticky date bars can also be frozen for up to 2 months. Just let them thaw for several hours on the countertop when required.
Variations
- Nuts: stir 60g of finely chopped walnuts into the oat and cornflake mixture.
- Seeds: try adding up to 3 tablespoons of pumpkin or sunflower seeds (or a mix of the two).
- Spices: increase the baking spices included in this recipe by either doubling the cinnamon or adding in a dash of nutmeg and ginger.
- Coconut: desiccated coconut is a great addition to the oat and cornflake layers. Try mixing in 30g.
Have you tried these date crumble slices? Please give the recipe a rating or leave a comment – I love to hear how you get along with my creations.
📖 Recipe
Date Slices
Equipment
- 1 xx 20cm (8-inch) square baking tin
Ingredients
For the sticky date layer
- 250 g Block dates stoned
- 100 ml Water
- 30 g Light brown sugar
For the oat and cornflake layers
- 250 g Butter
- 125 g Golden syrup
- 75 g Caster sugar
- 200 g Rolled oats small porridge oats
- 125 g Cornflakes
- 100 g Plain flour all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180℃/ 350℉ and grease & line a 20cm (8-inch) square baking tin.
- Put the water and soft brown sugar into a pan and heat to dissolve.
- Chop the dates finely, tip into the pan and leave to soak, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile melt the butter, caster sugar and golden syrup in a pan, stirring often until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes together.
- Crush the cornflakes using your hands.
- Mix the cornflakes, oats, flour, salt, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
- Tip the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.
- Spoon just under half of the mixture into the prepared baking tin and press it down using the back of a metal spoon.
- Stir the dates. They should be very soft by now. Spread them over the layer of oat and cornflake mixture, almost to the edge.
- Top with the remaining oat and cornflake mixture and again, spread it out, pressing down with the back of a spoon, covering the dates completely.
- Bake for around 30 minutes, until golden.
- When the traybake is completely cold cut it into 12 slices (or 16 smaller squares).
Notes
- Use the correct size tin for the recipe. If you use a larger tin you will struggle to spread the oat and cornflake mixture out with enough depth and the risk is that the date bars fall apart. A smaller tin would yield thicker slices and may take longer to cook.
- Chop the dates finely. If you leave them chunky then they will be harder to spread.
- Crushing the cornflakes helps to ensure that the bars hold together rather than breaking up too much when cut (a little crumbling is to be expected though).
- Do not cut this traybake until it has cooled completely.
- Storing bakes like this in a large glass jar with a clip-top lid (like a Kilner jar) helps to keep them exceedingly fresh. When stored this way, these oat and date slices will stay fresh for up to 5 days. If you do not have such a jar it is worth wrapping the bars in foil before storing in an alternative airtight container.
- These sticky date bars can also be frozen for up to 2 months. Just let them thaw for several hours on the countertop when required.
- Try mixing nuts, seeds or desiccated coconut into the oat & cornflake mixture.
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