Date Pinwheel Cookies
Date Pinwheel Cookies
I love the sweetness of dates, and really enjoy using that natural sweetness in baking. I always seem to make several dishes with dates around the holidays. These date filled cookies are one of my favorites. Moist and cake-like, with the wonderful flavor of the dates, nuts and citrus zest, these cookies taste even better than they look. The cookie dough, made with brown sugar, has an almost caramel-like flavor. The combination is a winner for sure.
Date Pinwheel Cookies
Date Filling
12 oz. pitted dates, chopped
1/3 c. brown sugar
¼ c. water
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
½ c. finely chopped nuts
Combine dates with all ingredients (except the nuts) in a small saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 5-10 minutes. Stir in nuts. Cool.
Dough
½ c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1¾ c. flour
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
In bowl combine butter and sugar and beat until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. Combine dry ingredients and stir into butter mixture. Divide dough in half. Roll or pat one half of the dough into a rectangle about 7×11- inches in size. Spread with half of the cooled date filling. Starting at long end, roll dough up . Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Wrap rolls in wax paper or plastic wrap and chill in fridge several hours. This dough/roll is pretty soft. I sometimes put the rolls in the freezer for an hour or two before baking to make them easier to slice.
To make the cookies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice the rolls into ¼ -inch slices and place an inch apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake about 12 minutes- or until cookies are a light golden color. Cool on wire rack. Makes about 5 dozen.
Date Pinwheel Cookies
Date Pinwheel Cookies
I love the sweetness of dates and really enjoy using that natural sweetness in baking. I always seem to make at least one dish with dates around the holidays. This year I decided to make date filled cookies. Moist and cake-like with the wonderful flavor of the dates, nut and citrus zest these cookies taste even better than they look. The cookie dough, made with brown sugar has an almost caramel like flavor. The combination is a winner for sure.
Date Pinwheel Cookies
Date Filling
12 oz. pitted dates, chopped
1/3 c. brown sugar
¼ c. water
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
½ c. finely chopped nuts
Combine dates with all ingredients (except the nuts) in a small saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 5-10 minutes. Stir in nuts. Cool.
Dough
½ c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1¾ c. flour
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
In bowl combine butter and sugar and beat until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. Combine dry ingredients and stir into butter mixture. Divide dough in half. Roll or pat one half of the dough into a rectangle about 7×11- inches in size. Spread with half of the cooled date filling. Starting at long end, roll dough up . Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Wrap rolls in wax paper or plastic wrap and chill in fridge several hours. This dough/roll is pretty soft. I sometimes put the rolls in the freezer for an hour or two before baking to make them easier to slice.
To make the cookies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice the rolls into ¼ -inch slices and place an inch apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake about 12 minutes- or until cookies are a light golden color. Cool on wire rack. Makes about 5 dozen.
Moroccan Date Cake
Moroccan Date Cake
I have liked dates for as long as I can remember. They are truly nature’s candy. In this simple cake recipe I used both dates and nuts to add richness. The hardest part of this dish was cutting up the fresh dates. They are pretty sticky. I used kitchen scissors, dipped in oil, to snip up the dates and that worked pretty well. I suppose you could add frosting or a glaze but I prefer this cake unadorned.
Moroccan Date Cake
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 t. baking powder
1 c. flour
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/2 c. milk
1 t. vanilla
1 c. pitted, chopped dates
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
Cream together butter and sugar and beat in the eggs. Combine dry ingredients and beat into the egg mixture. Beat in milk and vanilla. Stir in nuts and dates and pour batter into a greased 9-inch cake pan. Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for about 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serves 8-10.
