This is my mom, Joan. She passed away several years ago, and I miss her dearly. But I made sure I did at least two things in my life with her before she left: Teach me how to make her apple pie from scratch, and teach me how to make her date pinwheel cookies.
My mom was a Navy wife, and she taught herself to cook...for herself alone, or for a party of fifty. She taught herself how to make everything from bouillabaisse to lemon merengue pie. These cookies are the best thing, ever. I spent an evening with her, and she taught me how to make them, so I could carry on the tradition. She graciously did not leave out any key ingredients. These cookies, if you try to eat them directly out of the oven are completely uninspiring. The flavors are all mushed together, and the fragile cookies have no texture to them.
But after they cool...magic happens. They become...chewy. Just unbelievable. The best cookies ever. Addictive.
She would make these cookies at Christmas every single year of our lives.
The key to making these cookies is not to get too bent out of shape when you are trying to work with the dough. It is a very fragile dough, it breaks when you try to jelly roll it, it cracks, and so on. Just use your hands on the roll to kind of squeeze it into a long uniform tube after you jelly roll it. But after you leave it in the freezer for a few hours, take the rolls out and slice the cookies, when they cook, they come out just fine!
From my wonderful mom, to all of you...this is the first time I have released this out to the public (I know, she probably got the recipe from Better Homes and Gardens recipe book all those years ago...:)
God Bless all you, my Freeper Friends, and Merry Christmas!
Joan's Date Pinwheels Dough Ingredients
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
One egg
1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
One Recipe date filling
Cookie Dough
Thoroughly cream together butter and sugars. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Sift together dry ingredients; stir into creamed mixture. Chill. Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll one part in 12 x 8" rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick. Spread half of date filling over dough. Begin a long edge, role like jellyroll. Repeat with remaining dough. Wrap rolls in waxed paper. Chill several hours. Slice into 1/4 inch thick cookies. Bake on greased cookie sheet at 400° about 8 to 15 min. (12 min. is optimal time for best results, but may have to leave cookies in for at least 15 min. or longer, be sure to check often if leaving in past 12 minutes. Remember that these cookies will solidify significantly as they cool, overcooking will make them hard and brittle which is just as bad as under cooking them.) Makes five dozen.
Recipe Date Filling
In saucepan, bind 1 pound pitted dates, cut up, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water. Cook and stir till mixture boils and thickens slightly. Cool. Just before using, add 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts.
Tips: Date filling consistency should be like jam. Spread gently on dough. Use a spatula to help roll the dough a little at a time, as it is delicate. Do not worry if the dough is cracked or disheveled after rolling, as long as the roll is intact. Place roll in freezer 2 to 3 hours. After baking, the cookies will be very soft and unstable-use a spatula to place them on a rack to cool. As a cool, they will become fairly solid. Scissors work well to cut up the dates as small as possible when making the recipe date filling.
God Bless you, Mom, and thank you for all the cookies...How I miss you.