Grandma’s date pudding recipe is a simple, but delicious, dessert. Bits of dates are suspended in a soft, almost gooey cake. This recipe is easy to make and is a perfect way to turn dates into dessert.

Spatula lifting piece of date pudding out of square baking dish showing bits of date in sticky cake.

This gooey date pudding is a classic old-fashioned dessert. It can go from idea to done in less than an hour and tastes fabulous.

I am still working my way though my grandma’s recipe box. There are so many gems in there and I am having the best time making her recipes.

I love old-fashioned recipes, and you know they have to be good if someone took the time to write them out and save them in their recipe box. I especially love it when they have fancy handwriting and include the name of who they came from.

Yellowed index card with date pudding recipe typed out on a typewriter.

This one, however, was typed on an index card with a typewriter. That is also a level of effort that indicates that the recipe is worth it!

Maybe this is indicative of my advancing age, but I have really been enjoying date recipes lately. It started a few years ago with date nut loaves and date balls.

Mixing bowl with butter, sugar and flour mixture next to smaller bowl with chopped dates soaking in boiling water and baking soda mixture.

Mixing bowl with date pudding cake batter showing runny texture and bits of dates throughout.

This year I made some cherry winks that included some dates and a batch of delicious date bars. I bought a big bag of whole dates, so I had enough left for this yummy date pudding.

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Getting the pits out of the dates is really simple. Then you just have to run a knife through them to chop them into smaller pieces.

Date pudding batter in square baking dish, ready to go in the oven.

Baked date pudding in square baking dish fresh from the oven showing dark brown top and gooey texture.

I like using the whole dates better than the prechopped dates, as they are coated in extra sugar to keep them from sticking together.

The dessert is called a pudding similar to a figgy pudding. But it has a cake texture that is moist, not dissimilar to old fashioned pecan pudding.

It is wonderful on its own. The sweet dates add a little bit of chew to the slightly sticky dessert.

Piece of date pudding with a cake like texture and bits of dates on a plate with pan of remaining pudding in the background.

Bite of sticky date pudding on fork next to piece of date pudding topped with maple whipped cream, ready to eat.

You could serve it with a toffee sauce like sticky toffee pudding if you want to dress it up.

We enjoyed it warm topped with a dollop of maple whipped cream for a little something extra. Honey whipped cream would be another fabulous option!

5 from 2 ratings

Grandma’s Date Pudding

Author: Carlee

Servings: Servings

Grandma's date pudding recipe is a simple, but delicious, dessert. Bits of dates are suspended in a soft, almost gooey cake. This recipe is easy to make and is a perfect way to turn dates into dessert.

Prep: 10

Cook: 30

Total: 40

Ingredients

Makes: 8 x 8inch rectangle, 2inch height

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350℉ and grease an 8-inch square baking dish.
Place chopped dates in a medium bowl. Sprinkle baking soda over the top of them.
1 cup dates, 1 teaspoon baking soda
Pour boiling water over the dates. Set aside while you prep the remainder of the batter.
1 cup boiling water
In a separate large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
1 cup granulated sugar, 2 Tablespoons salted butter
Stir in the egg and vanilla.
1 large egg, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Add the flour and stir until combined into a thick dough.
1 cup all-purpose flour
Pour the water and dates into bowl with the dough. Stir until it becomes a loose batter.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center has just a few moist crumbs.
Serve warm with whipped cream if desired.