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Chinese Chews are dense, chewy date bars with crunchy walnuts and a soft powdered sugar coating. They’re simple to make with pantry staples, and you’re going to Love their old-fashioned, not-too-sweet flavor. Each little log has a tender, sticky center and a snowy finish that feels special without any fuss.
Why You’ll Love It
- One-bowl batter — the ingredients come together simply, with no Butter to soften.
- Chewy date center — chopped dates bring natural sweetness and a pleasantly sticky texture.
- Walnut crunch — walnuts add just enough texture to balance the soft chews.
- Great for making ahead — the powdered sugar coating helps keep the cooled chews from sticking together.
Ingredient Notes
The dates should be chopped fairly small so they distribute through the batter instead of gathering into one big sticky clump. I usually buy chopped dates if they look fresh enough, but whole pitted dates are fine too. Just chop them with a knife dusted lightly with flour if they’re making you crazy. Sticky dates have tested the limits of my patience more than once.
Use regular all-purpose flour here, nothing unusual. Granulated sugar gives these their old-fashioned sweetness, and powdered sugar is strictly for rolling after they bake. Don’t mix up the two—I did that once while distracted, and I’m still annoyed about it.
Walnuts are traditional and really do work best. Pecans would be tasty, sure, but then you’re making something adjacent to Chinese Chews, not quite these. And sometimes the recipe knows what it wants.
Use a metal 8×8-inch pan, as called for. I know glass baking dishes are everywhere, and I own several, but the metal pan gives these the right bake and makes it easier to judge when they’re done.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped dates, chopped small enough that nobody gets a giant wad in one bite
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup powdered sugar, for rolling—possibly a little extra if your hands are enthusiastic
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8×8-inch metal baking dish. Give the corners a good swipe with whatever you use for greasing; those corners are where baked goods like to cling on for dear life.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. I’ll admit I don’t sift every dry ingredient in every recipe because I am not running a bakery here, but for this one it helps break up the sugar and gets everything evenly mixed.
Stir the chopped dates and walnuts into the dry ingredients until they’re coated and spread around nicely. Coating the dates a bit helps keep them from settling into one gloomy layer at the bottom. Nobody wants a date basement.
Add the 2 eggs and stir until there are no dry spots left. The batter will be thick—very thick, actually—and for a second you may think you’ve done something wrong. You haven’t. Keep stirring until it comes together.
Transfer the thick batter to the prepared baking dish and spread it out as evenly as you can. I use the back of a spoon, sometimes slightly dampened, because this batter does not glide around politely. It has opinions.
Bake for 24 to 28 minutes, watching closely toward the end. You do not want to overbake these, because dry chews are harder to roll and lose that lovely soft texture. They should look set, but not parched or dark around the edges.
Let the pan cool for 10 minutes. Not an hour, not until you wander off to watch half an episode of something and forget them entirely—10 minutes. They need to be warm enough to shape.
Slice the warm chews into small rectangles, then roll each piece gently between your hands to compress it into a little log shape. They don’t have to be perfect. In fact, the slightly wonky ones are always the first ones people reach for, at least in my family.
Roll each warm chew in powdered sugar until coated all over, then set them aside to cool completely. The powdered sugar will look a little uneven at first; leave it alone. Once cooled, they settle into that soft snowy finish.
Store the fully cooled Chinese Chews in an airtight container. Try not to stack them while they’re still warm, unless you enjoy peeling desserts apart like old postage stamps.
Variations
I’m going to say something mildly unpopular: I don’t think these need much tinkering. They’re a vintage recipe, and sometimes we can let an old recipe sit in its own little chair and be what it is.
Pecans instead of walnuts are good, I’ll give them that. A tiny pinch of cinnamon makes them taste warmer and a little more holiday-ish, though it does change the clean date-and-walnut flavor I like.
I tried adding orange zest once, and it was not terrible. But it was not right either. The zest made them fussy somehow. Chinese Chews are not fussy. They are the sensible shoes of the cookie tray, and I mean that affectionately.
Storage & Reheating
Once completely cool, keep these in an airtight container at room temperature. They hold well for several days, which is one reason they’re handy during busy weeks or around the holidays. I separate layers with wax paper if I’ve made a big batch, although half the time nobody bothers and they’re still fine.
They also freeze well. Put them in a freezer-safe container with wax paper between the layers, then thaw at room temperature when you want them. I don’t reheat them—they’re meant to be chewy and soft at room temperature, not warm and melty.
The powdered sugar may soak in a little after a day or two, especially if your kitchen is humid. Mine gets that way when the air feels like a wet washcloth and even the dog looks offended. If you want them looking freshly made, give them a very light second roll in powdered sugar before serving.
Final Notes
There’s something sweetly stubborn about recipes like this. No dramatic swirl of frosting, no perfect photo-worthy center, no need to pipe anything through a bag that will split right at the worst possible moment. Just a small pan of chewy date bars, shaped by hand while they’re still warm.
Make these when you want something a little different, something not everybody has had a hundred times. Make them for a cookie tin, a neighbor, a family dinner, or just because the dates have been sitting in the pantry too long and you’re tired of looking at them.
And don’t worry if they come out crooked. The crooked ones taste just as good. Sometimes better.
Chinese Chews
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped dates chopped small
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup powdered sugar for rolling, plus a little extra if needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8x8-inch metal baking dish, making sure to grease the corners well.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined.
- Stir the chopped dates and walnuts into the dry ingredients until they are coated and evenly distributed.
- Add the eggs and stir until no dry spots remain; the batter will be very thick, so keep stirring until it comes together.
- Transfer the thick batter to the prepared baking dish and spread it out as evenly as possible with the back of a spoon.
- Bake for 24 to 28 minutes, watching closely toward the end, until the chews look set but are not dry, dark, or overbaked around the edges.
- Let the pan cool for 10 minutes so the chews are still warm enough to shape.
- Slice the warm chews into small rectangles, then gently roll each piece between your hands to compress it into a little log shape.
- Roll each warm chew in powdered sugar until coated all over, then set them aside to cool completely.
- Store the fully cooled Chinese Chews in an airtight container, avoiding stacking them while they are still warm.