These Chinese Chews are super tasty – a little chewy and a little crunchy. Apart from basic pantry ingredients, the two key ingredients in Chinese Chews are dates and nuts.
This recipe is also versatile in that it can, instead of being formed into balls, be left as a square when it comes out of the oven and then, once it has cooled, sprinkled with icing sugar (aka powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar) and cut into squares.
Believed to date back at least as far as 1917 when a recipe for Chinese Chews appeared in a Good Housekeeping magazine, Chinese Chews are, in my opinion, most impressive when formed into balls from the baked square. Bake the batter as a square in an 8”x8” pan, let it cool a few minutes and then, while still warm, cut it into 36 small squares and form them into balls and roll each in granulated sugar.
The square bakes with a somewhat crusty top and you might wonder how that works when the baked mixture is transformed into balls. Well, the crusty top gets blended into the interior of each ball as the ball is formed and molded. This crustiness does not stay overly crusty as it is moistened by the date mixture though there will be a wee bit of crunchiness to the balls.
Apart from being tasty little morsels, Chinese Chews have the attributes of calling for only simple, standard pantry baking ingredients, are easy to make, and are not overly rich or sickenly sweet.
There are many versions of the Chinese Chews recipe but what follows is mine. I hope you enjoy it.
Chinese Chews
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped dates (apx. 5 oz)
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
2 large eggs (room temperature), beaten
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Granulated sugar for rolling balls or Icing Sugar (aka powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar) for sprinkling over square
Method:
Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.
Line 8”x8” baking pan with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking oil.
Coarsely chop the dates and set aside.
Sift or sieve the flour, baking powder, and salt into medium-sized bowl. Stir in the sugars. Add the chopped dates and nuts and toss with the dry ingredients.
Beat the eggs and vanilla together in small bowl. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth evenly with a knife.
Bake square for approximately 30 minutes or until top is set and cake tester inserted into center of square comes out clean.
Cool square in pan for approximately 15-20 minutes then cut square into 6 rows, vertically and horizontally. Take each tiny square and form it into a ball, working the crusty top of the square into the interior of each ball. Roll balls in granulated sugar.
Yield: 36 balls
NOTE: Square can also be left just as a square. Cool square a few minutes in pan then lift by parchment paper ends and transfer to wire cooling rack. When completely cooled, sprinkle sifted icing sugar (aka powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar) over top of square and cut into squares of desired size.
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Chinese Chews
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped dates (apx. 5 oz)
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 large eggs (room temperature), beaten
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
- Granulated sugar for rolling balls or Icing Sugar (aka powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar) for sprinkling over square
Instructions
- Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line 8”x8” baking pan with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking oil.
- Coarsely chop the dates and set aside.
- Sift or sieve the flour, baking powder, and salt into medium-sized bowl. Stir in the sugars. Add the chopped dates and nuts and toss with the dry ingredients.
- Beat the eggs and vanilla together in small bowl. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
- Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth evenly with a knife.
- Bake square for approximately 30 minutes or until top is set and cake tester inserted into center of square comes out clean.
- Cool square in pan for approximately 15-20 minutes then cut square into 6 rows, vertically and horizontally. Take each tiny square and form it into a ball, working the crusty top of the square into the interior of each ball. Roll balls in granulated sugar.
Recipe Notes
Yield: 36 balls
NOTE: Square can also be left just as a square. Cool square a few minutes in pan then lift by parchment paper ends and transfer to wire cooling rack. When completely cooled, sprinkle sifted icing sugar (aka powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar) over top of square and cut into squares of desired size.
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