{"id":8183,"date":"2026-07-28T18:04:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T18:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.malak.ca\/blog\/?p=8183"},"modified":"2026-07-28T21:32:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T21:32:06","slug":"making-date-squares-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.malak.ca\/blog\/index.php\/2026\/07\/28\/making-date-squares-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Date Squares — Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This recipe<\/a> was developed and added to my collection of recipes<\/a> as a result of chatting with an online AI chatbot discussing church culture, during which the chatbot listed at one point some typical desserts to be found at church potluck luncheons. It listed the item which is the subject of this post as “Matrimonial Squares”. My interest was piqued because I did not know what “Matrimonial Squares” were, as well as said name telling me nothing of what the dessert was. As such, I bemusedly asked whether it was a dessert to be typically served as part of a wedding feast, or if there was something somewhat more prurient to them along the lines of being considered an aphrodisiac! I got a response along the lines of their description — date squares<\/a>! — and how the name was a florid and traditional name meaning how well all the parts “marry together to make an ideal dessert”, an absolutely church-safe name. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incidentally, this recipe<\/a> is vegetarian tending toward vegan if you use margarine (as I did) instead of butter.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This batch was the second batch made at the cottage during my holidays, and will likely be served at the lake association BBQ later this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting up:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, I decided to take out all the ingredients:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Ingredients taken out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Although I actually did this a little later, now is a good time to preheat the oven:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Preheating oven<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

An 8″ x 8″ baking pan and a piece of paper towelling were taken out:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Paper towelling and baking pan taken out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The paper towel was taken over to the tub of margarine, and some margarine was scooped up with my hand and the paper towel:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Paper towel taken over to tub of margarine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The paper towel and margarine were taken over to the baking pan:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Paper towel and margarine taken over to the baking pan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

… and the margarine was slathered onto the surfaces of the baking pan:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Margarine slathered over all surfaces in the baking pan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Margarine slathered over all surfaces in the baking pan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The baking pan was put aside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparing the date filling:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dates and a knife were taken out — in this case dates I had been keeping in the freezer, hence the fuzzy condensation on the bag:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Dates and a knife taken out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The dates were pitted:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Pitted dates<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

At this point, I took out a kitchen scale and a bowl, and set the reading to zero with the bowl on the scale …<\/p>\n\n\n

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Tare weight of bowl on scale<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

… so that I could weigh out the required amount of pitted dates, which I kept on pitting until I had enough pitted dates:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Weighed out pitted dates<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

At this point, I should have chopped the dates up a bit, but I forgot, and no matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pitted dates were transferred to a pot:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Transferring the pitted dates to the pot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Pitted dates transferred to pot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Water was measured out:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Drawing water into measuring cup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Water measured out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The water was transferred to the pot with the pitted dates:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Transferring water to pot with pitted dates<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Transferring water to pot with pitted dates<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Transferring water to pot with pitted dates<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Lemon juice was taken out:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Lemon juice taken out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The lemon juice was measured out:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Lemon juice measured out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The lemon juice was transferred to the pot with the pitted dates and water:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Lemon juice transferred to pot with pitted dates and water<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A burner on the stove was turned on to medium heat:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Stove turned to medium heat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The pot of pitted dates, water, and lemon juice was placed on the burner:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Pot of pitted dates, water, and lemon juice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The pitted dates were largely left alone for the next several minutes, although I kept an eye on the pot and occasionally stirred it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making the oat crumble base and topping:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flour was taken out:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Flour taken out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Flour was measured out:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Flour measured out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The flour was transferred to a mixing bowl:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Flour transferred to mixing bowl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Flour transferred to mixing bowl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Oats were taken out:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Oats taken out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Oats were measured out:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Oats measured out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The oats were transferred to the mixing bowl with the flour:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Oats transferred to mixing bowl with flour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Oats transferred to mixing bowl with flour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Oats transferred to mixing bowl with flour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Brown sugar was taken out:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Brown sugar taken out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Brown sugar was measured out:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Brown sugar measured out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The brown sugar was transferred to the mixing bowl with the flour and the oats:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Brown sugar transferred to mixing bowl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Baking soda was taken out and measured out:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Baking soda measured out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The baking soda was transferred to the mixing bowl with the flour, oats, and brown sugar:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Baking soda transferred to mixing bowl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Baking soda transferred to mixing bowl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Salt was taken out and measured out:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Salt measured out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The salt was transferred to the mixing bowl with the flour, oats, brown sugar, and baking salt:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Salt transferred to mixing bowl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Salt transferred to mixing bowl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Another bowl was placed on my kitchen scale, and the display set to zero:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Bowl placed on scale and tare weight set<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Margarine was measured out:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Margarine measured out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The margarine was transferred to the mixing bowl with the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Margarine transferred to mixing bowl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

An electric mixer was brought to the mixing bowl:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Electric beater brought to mixing bowl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The ingredients were mixed thoroughly:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Ingredients thoroughly mixed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The ingredients in the bowl were roughly divided into two parts:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Ingredients in bowl divided into two parts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Mounting the date squares:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About half of the oat crumble mix was transferred to the baking pan:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Oat crumble transferred to baking pan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The oat crumble base was spread out over the whole surface of the baking pan:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Oat crumble spread over base of baking pan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The oat crumble base was flattened with an egg flipper:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Oat crumble base flattened<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Oat crumble base flattened<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

At this point, after having only occasionally glanced at and stirring the dates in the pot on the stove, I took the pot off the stove, the mix having turned into a nice jammy consistency:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Cooked date filling with a jammy consistency<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The cooked date filling was transferred to the pan with the oat crumble base:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Cooked date filling transferred to pan with oat crumble base<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The date filling was spread roughly evenly over the base with a spoon:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Spreading the date filling with a spoon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Spreading the date filling with a spoon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The rest of the oat crumble was transferred on top of the date filling:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Second half of oat crumble transferred to baking pan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The oat crumble topping was spread roughly evenly over the date filling:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Oat crumble spread over date filling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I gently patted down the topping with my hand; note that I said “gently”:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Gently patting down the oat crumble topping<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Patted down oat crumble topping<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Baking the date squares:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pan was placed in the preheated countertop oven, and a timer was set to about 35 minutes:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Baking pan placed in countertop oven and timer set to 35 minutes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

When the baking was finished, the baking pan was taken out of the oven and placed on a cooling rack:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Baking pan placed on cooling rack<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Once cooled (I did move the cooling along by placing the pan in the fridge for a while), the whole large date square was removed from the pan. Yes I tasted the bit of the base that was left behind: It was yummy!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Large date square removed from baking pan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I began cutting the large piece off-center, with a goal of cutting a 5 x 5 grid for a total of 25 pieces:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Cutting the date squares, starting from off-centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Three more slices were made, in order to have five long bars:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Five long bars<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The cutting board was rotated 90 degrees so as to continue with four more cuts, to have a total of 25 squares:<\/p>\n\n\n

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25 date squares!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

… and since I implied that I still had a few leftover from last week, and that I outright suggested that this batch would be placed on a dessert table at this week’s lake association BBQ, I bagged up the freshly-baked date squares, and placed them in the freezer for later in the week:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Date squares bagged<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

And yes, of course they’re yummy — I got to taste a bunch of crumbs while I was cleaning up!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This recipe was developed and added to my collection of recipes as a result of chatting with an online AI chatbot discussing church culture, during which the chatbot listed at one point some typical desserts to be found at church potluck luncheons. It listed the item which is the subject of this post as “Matrimonial … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Making Date Squares — Photos”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[336,44,308,313,367,43,312,45,94],"tags":[365,363,364,366,95],"class_list":["post-8183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chatgpt","category-cooking","category-countertop-convection-oven","category-dessert","category-desserts","category-food","category-freezer-food","category-recipes","category-vegetarian","tag-church-luncheons","tag-date-squares","tag-matrimony-squares","tag-potluck-luncheons","tag-vegetarian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malak.ca\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malak.ca\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malak.ca\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malak.ca\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malak.ca\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8183"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/www.malak.ca\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8285,"href":"https:\/\/www.malak.ca\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8183\/revisions\/8285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malak.ca\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malak.ca\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malak.ca\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}