Pineapple Date Bars

 

Another old recipe for you. I found this in Season’s Best Dishes by Mary Lee Taylor. Seems to have been one of those recipe books compiled to push a particular product, in this case Pet milk. Never heard of it? Neither had I, but it seems to have been similar to Carnation.

I was expecting a hard bar from this, but it came out more like a thin, fruit- and nut-studded sponge cake. I doubled the recipe because I don’t own an 8 x 12 inch shallow pan. By doubling, I was able to use an 11 x 17 cookie sheet. I also substituted regular milk for the evaporated as it didn’t seem worth opening a tin for such a small quantity. And I didn’t put in the nuts, as I had none on hand. It still came out.

1 cup crushed pineapple, well drained

1 ½ cups chopped and pitted dates

2 cups chopped nuts

1 ½ cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

½ cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 325° F. Grease an 11 x 17 inch cookie sheet.

Mix, then let stand, pineapple, dates and nuts.

Sift together flour and baking powder.

In large bowl, beat egg yolks until very light. Gradually beat in sugar. Stir in milk and vanilla. Add flour, mixing until smooth.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold in fruit mixture and egg whites to contents of large bowl.

Spread into greased cookie sheet. Bake until firm, about 35 minutes.

When cool, cut in 1 x 4 inch bars.

I haven’t tried it, but if you wanted a thicker cake, you could bake it in a 9 x 13 pan. Baking time would have to be adjusted upwards.