Date Blondies
These date blondies are what dreams are made of. They are full of flavor and textures that work together so well. Honestly, they are addicting! The bits of dates and nuts in each bite, with the hint of cinnamon and cardamom, make this a treat. What is fantastic about this recipe is it requires minimal ingredients, effort, and barely any cleanup, as only you need is one bowl and a spatula!
What is a Blondie?
Most of us are familiar with brownies but have you ever had a blondie? They have a similar fudgy texture to a brownie, but unlike brownies, there is no cocoa in the batter. Instead, they are a “vanilla” based bar and, in this case, with dates and nuts folded into the batter. Indeed a delicious treat.
They are so simple to make and always a crowd-pleaser. They are easily adaptable too! These date blondies are practically a no-fail recipe. To make it even easier, you will only need a bowl and spatula, so fewer dishes on you! You will have melt-in-your-mouth blondies ready in no time. I can see these being made often in Ramadan with the surplus of dates most households have; this is the perfect treat to make for your friends, family, or guests!
How to make these Date Blondies?
This recipe makes a rich and slightly dense blondie with sweet bits of Natural Delights Medjool dates and crunchy nuts folded into the batter. There is a small amount of baking powder in the batter, which isn’t as common in brownies or blondies, but in this case, it adds a little bit of height to the blondies and a slightly cakey texture.
Ingredients you will need:
Melted Butter is a must for this recipe. The butter will give the batter that melts in your mouth the decadence and texture we aim for.
Brown Sugar is preferred over granulated sugar. Brown sugar has molasses notes that will offer that caramel-like flavor to the blondies. We won’t be using as much here as a typical blondie recipe would need since dates will be added to the batter and will give this blondie a natural sweetness.
Egg provides structure to the blondie and helps bind everything together.
Vanilla is necessary here for a flavor that will shine in this blondie recipe.
All Purpose Flour will also add structure but as you see in the recipe card; we will not be using much of it. We want the flour just to hold the blondies together but still be slightly dense and fudgy.
Baking Powder will give a slight puff to the batter that you don’t typically get in brownies or blondies. 1/2 tsp will go a long way to give it a little rise without losing the integrity of the texture of a blondie.
Cinnamon & Cardamom here are a must! This flavor profile compliments the dates in the blondie so well and makes it a more distinguished blondie! I highly recommend you add both to the batter.
The Dates used in this recipe are Medjool Dates from Natural Delights. Medjool dates are plump, meaty, and juicy, with lots of natural sweetness. They are so tasty! Not only that, but they are free of preservatives or pesticides and easy to find in most local supermarkets. Check them out next time you are grocery shopping or shop at this link. You can also use code: Ramadan20 for 20% off your purchase now through 4/6/2023 at that link. They are selling 2 lb, 5 lb, and 11 lb boxes for Ramadan under the whole & pitted dates category!
The nuts in this recipe blend chopped walnuts and pecans, but either or would be great here. I like adding this mixture as they each bring a different flavor profile to the blondies that work well!
Other Date Recipes:
Let me know your thoughts when you try this Easy Blondie recipe with dates! Please feel free to rate the recipe below and leave a comment! I would love to see your creations on my Instagram too!
Be sure to check out my Date Blondies video below! For the best viewing experience, watch the video in full-screen mode!
Date Blondies
Ingredients
- 1 stick Butter, unsalted, melted equivalent to 1/2 a cup
- 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 tsp Vanilla Flavoring
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- Pinch of Salt
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Ground Cardamom
- 1 cup Natural Delights Medjool Dates, pitted, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/4 cup Pecans, toasted, chopped You can do 1/2 a cup of either pecans or walnuts
- 1/4 cup Walnuts, toasted, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prep an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper.
- First, toast the nuts in a pan for 2-4 minutes until fragrant and browned then chop. Set to the side.
- Mix the melted butter with brown sugar.
- Add the egg and vanilla to this and stir.
- To this wet mixture, add flour, cardamom, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
- Fold in the chopped dates and nuts.
- Pour into the 8×8 baking pan and bake for 23-25 minutes on the top rack.
- Cool the blondies to room temperature before removing from the baking dish and cut into 9 large pieces or 16 smaller ones.
Wow! Just Wow. These are amazing! So delicious and moist! Had to try this recios as soon as I saw it. Loved it
Absolutely delicious! I didn’t have ground cardamom so I used allspice and it was still sooo flavorful, easy, and fabulous!
Thank you!
OMG! I am not a big fan of dates in desserts, but this recipe hit the spot. I tried a small piece and was addicted. I could eat the whole tray. Just the right kind of sweetness and hits the spot. Thank you so much for this recipe and will be making this over and over.
Absolutely delicious recipe!! fufu is always my go-to when making anything.
for those that want to know I did half of cup of all purpose flour and half of a cup of almond flour to change it up 🙂
The easiest and most delicious sweet treat during Ramadan !! Very little effort needed to make this. 💕
everything I make from you is a 5 star rating, my go to website for when im stuck and dont know what to make!! this are so good as a snack, suhoor and just about go with anything
You are so kind; thank you!
Delicious! This blog is quickly becoming my go to for recipes. Thank you for always guiding me to something tasty!
It was absolutely incredible. Everyone loved it !!
I made this today and though I did not have ground cardamom on hand, I used ma’amoul spice instead and the house smelled so nice while baking. Thank you Heifa for these great easy recipes!
Love dates and these were perfect for a sweet treat after taraweeh!
I was so excited to try this recipe and it did not disappoint!!! this was so quick and easy to whip up, and tasted amazing. I made them for Eid and got so many compliments and requests for the recipe. I cut down a little on the brown sugar as I don’t like my desserts too sweet but still tasted great. will definitely be making these time and time again.
LOVE LOVE LOVE this – so easy to make and so delicious. I ended up making it 4 times in a week to take to iftars where they were a super hit! I just wish the measurements were written in grams/ml as it would be universal.
Can’t wait to try out more recipes xx
These were delicious and sooo easy! Thank you for a great recipe. One question if I want them just a little less dry should I add more butter or something else? Keep in mind I did make them with a more generous amount of nuts and added yellow raisins so perhaps with that I also needed to add a bit more butter? Again loved these blondies!
Hi Ursula,
I am happy you enjoyed them! For a more gooey texture especially when adding more nuts; bake it just 2-5 minutes less and allow for it to cool a bit before enjoying. The inside should be softer!
These are absolutely delicious, and so so easy to make! They’re moist, flavourful and have a great texture and crunch from the nuts. It’s definitely a go-to recipe when I need to make a sweet dish. A definite keeper!
Loved this so much I made it twice in one week. Took it on a long road trip and it was by far the best decision I made! The energising dates with the hit of cinnamon and pecans blows me away every time 🤍 You’re blog/insta is one of my favourite places to stop to find new recipes and things to try out.