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More Sweet Things
Date and Walnut Slice
Enjoy the delicious and healthy combination of sweet dates and crunchy walnuts in this easy-to-make date and walnut slice recipe. This quick dessert is perfect for satisfying your sweet tooth without any of the guilt. Try it today!
Ingredients
- 125g salted butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing the tin
- 200g pitted dates, roughly chopped
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp Maldon sea salt flakes
- 160ml boiling water
- 150g brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 tsp mixed spice
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 225g self-raising flour
- 100g walnuts, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C, and grease and line a 20x20cm square baking tin.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, dates, bicarbonate of soda, salt and boiling water. Mix thoroughly and let stand for 30 minutes.
- Next, stir through the brown sugar, eggs, mixed spice, and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Beat in the baking powder and self-raising flour and continue to mix until the mixture is well combined and there's no lumps of flour.
- Finally, fold through the walnuts before transferring the mixture to the prepared baking tin.
- Bake in the hot oven for 30 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for 20 minutes in the tin before transferring to a cooling rack.
Notes
- Make sure the butter is cut into small cubes as this will help it melt into the mixture.
- This is quite a thick mixture, but don't let that scare you!
- I use a food processor to chop both the dates and the walnuts which makes it a lot easier.
What I Cook With
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 227Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 40mgSodium: 373mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 2gSugar: 17gProtein: 4g
Please note, this nutrition information is to be used as a guide only. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
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Date and Walnut Cake
An Unexpected Hit
The first time I made this Date and Walnut Slice, I genuinely didn’t think it would be anything special. One of my coworkers had asked if I could make a date and walnut loaf, and to be honest, I wasn’t keen. I don’t love dates, and I’ve always found them a bit confusing – are they fruit? Are they prunes? Why do they look like squishy cockroaches? Still, I said yes, threw it together, and brought it into the office. And oh. My. God. It disappeared so fast I didn’t even get a chance to blink! I had to sneak the last piece aside for someone who was out for the day. One of my colleagues even asked if I was going to share the recipe because she wanted to make it at home – and lets be real, there’s no greater compliment than someone wanting to recreate your bake.
I’m not big on sweets myself as we all know, so whenever I bake something sugary, I take it into work. It’s the easiest way to make sure nothing goes to waste and gives me the chance to get some honest feedback too. And let me tell you, this one? The Date and Walnut Slice was a surprise crowd-pleaser. Almost everyone went in for seconds, and the feedback was the kind that makes you want to go home and bake it all over again. Even I had a piece, and I have to admit, it was pretty tasty. A little sticky, a little nutty, and exactly the kind of thing you want with a cup of tea.
And after the emotional mess that was the recent long weekend, I really needed something to go well. I won’t get into it, but it was one of those weekends that closes a chapter. The kind that leaves you staring at the wall wondering what’s next. So, this little slice of success? It reminded me that small joys matter. That maybe cake can’t fix everything, but it can certainly help.
Schedules
Working full time means weekends are sacred – that’s when I plan, test, and cook all the recipes for the blog. But even with the best intentions and a shiny content calendar, things don’t always go to plan. Some weeks I’m exhausted. Others, the weather changes and suddenly I don’t want to make soup, I want salad. Or I get really fixated on one ingredient (like pasta) and have to remind myself not to turn Cooking with Bry into an all-carb-all-the-time blog.
My calendar helps keep things on track, at least most of the time. I try to space out the heavier meals, lighter options, and any sweets. It also stops me wasting ingredients or overlapping flavours, because there’s nothing worse than making three dishes in a row that all use garlic and tomatoes. Yu**ck. The Date and Walnut Slice made its way into the plan purely because I needed something that wasn’t pasta, soup, or salad. And honestly? I’m so glad it did.
Lately, I’ve noticed a bit of a gap in the hearty, hug-in-a-bowl meals I used to love making. I’ve been meaning to bring back stews and ragus, recipes that warm you from the inside out. I’ve got a few ingredient-led dishes planned, but I’m trying not to overwhelm myself. Gentle plans. Gentle weekends. And maybe a cheeky little slice of something sweet when the mood calls for it.
Winter Fashion
If you’re going to bake something as cosy as a Date and Walnut Slice, you need the right outfit to go with it. Big fluffy jumper, warm socks, leggings you could live in. Winter is here – well, sort of. It gets chilly at night in Brisbane now, and that’s all the excuse I need to make tea and wrap myself in knitwear like I’m starring in a romcom.
I left all my proper winter coats behind in Scotland, which was not intentional – my ex was meant to ship it all over (at my cost) but in the end refused. Fun. But it means I get to go shopping! Which is always fun until I remember I’m 5ft2 and nothing ever fits properly. Portmans, I love you, but please make things for short people. I usually end up shopping online because it’s easier to try things on at home and return what doesn’t work, and I can build outfits in my head instead of being overwhelmed under fluorescent lights.
I’m trying to be more intentional with how I shop these days. If it doesn’t suit my style or make me feel good, I don’t need it. I ask myself whether it brings comfort, confidence, or joy. And the same goes for what I cook. I want the food I make to reflect how I feel. The Date and Walnut Slice fits right into that vibe – it’s comforting, nostalgic, and tastes like something your nan would make for afternoon tea.
Forgiving myself for eating cake, and Gentle Living
I used to call it soft living, but I think gentle living is more accurate. There’s a grace to it. A way of moving through life that feels kind, not indulgent. For someone like me, who’s a little bit Type A and a lot driven, that kind of gentleness has to be intentional. It’s not second nature. It’s a choice I make every day.
So I try not to cram my weekends full of must-dos. I light candles, put on soft music, and let myself breathe. If I miss a blog post or a deadline, it’s fine. If I eat two slices of Date and Walnut Slice because it tastes good and I’m feeling a little fragile, that’s fine too. Gentle living is about giving myself the space to feel things, to rest, and to enjoy little moments. Even if those moments involve sticky fingers and cake crumbs.
I still have days where I push too hard or fall back into old patterns, but I’m getting better at recognising them. At pausing. At reminding myself that progress isn’t linear and growth doesn’t always look productive. Sometimes it looks like a quiet morning with a cup of tea and something sweet on the plate. Sometimes it looks like forgiving yourself for not doing everything. And sometimes, it looks like cake.
Ingredients Breakdown
This recipe starts with the stars of the show: dates and walnuts. I use whatever dates I can find, trusting they’ll be soft and sweet with a kind of caramel stickiness that makes them perfect for baking. Dates add richness without needing too much sugar, and help give the slice that fudgy texture we all secretly love.
The walnuts balance it all out. They’re earthy and toasty, and add just the right amount of crunch. I like to roughly chop them so you get different textures throughout the slice. Not every bite is the same, and that’s the charm. The rest is made up of the usual suspects: flour, butter, eggs, a bit of brown sugar, and a splash of vanilla. Nothing too fancy.
Oh, and a pinch of salt – because salt in sweet baking is magic. It lifts everything and makes the flavours pop. The end result is this glorious, soft, chewy, slightly crunchy slice that somehow tastes like winter. Or comfort. Or maybe just a really good moment in the middle of an ordinary day. Either way, it’s one I’ll be making again. And again. And probably again after that.
