Food for the gods… So dramatic sounding, but really, it’s a traditional Filipino pastry, served usually during the holidays.  It will always remind me of my childhood.  I have never questioned the origin of its name, nor have I ever questioned the ingredients that make it up… except until recently.  It may not be obvious in the name, but food for the gods is a cookie bar with dates and nuts.  A few weeks ago, I baked some blondies, which are basically cookies in the form of  brownies, and I thought, How much different could the process of making food for the gods be?  I referred to my mom’s recipe bank, which, thanks to my aunt who helped gather them together after she passed away, is labeled Didi’s Treasured Recipes.

I honestly don’t remember my mother as much of a baker, so I was surprised she even had this recipe, but when I looked under ‘F’, there it was — in her handwriting and everything.  I followed the recipe pretty precisely, except I added 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.   I also baked half the batch in mini-muffin tins and the other half in a conventional 9×9 baking pan to test out how the batter would rise, cool, and settle.  The batter in the muffin tin only needed 35 minutes to golden, whereas the baking pan needed 45 minutes.

The flavor was definitely nostalgic for me.  I delivered some to my mom’s old office, which is a two-minute drive from our house.  Maybe I should start referring to this pastry as food from the gods. 🙂 Thanks for the recipe, Mama!