Date Pinwheels

Submitted by winkki

"A family recipe as far as I know, and my father's very favorite cookie by far. They freeze well and actually keep quite a long time in an airtight container at room temp - if they don't all disappear first. ;o) A bit of work, but differently delicious and makes a LOT! Prep time does not include chilling dough."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Yields: 20 dozen

ingredients

• 2 cups chopped dates
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1 cup shortening
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 3 eggs, well-beaten
• 4 cups flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

directions

1. For Filling: Cook together dates, sugar, water for 10 min or until thick.
2. When cool, add nuts.
3. For Dough: Cream shortening and brown sugar.
4. Add eggs; mix well.
5. Sift dry ingredients together& combine with egg mixture; mix well.
6. Divide dough into 4 parts; roll each 1/4" thick.
7. Spread each with 1/4 of filling, roll up like a jelly roll.
8. Cover the four'logs' and chill several hours.
9. Slice 1/4" thick for each pinwheel.
10. Bake 8-10 min.
11. at 375.

Reviews

[Manda]

Hey Winkki! My Grandma used to make these cookies EVERY Christmas! She hasn't been baking much recently due to her health, and I totally forgot about these cookies! In my cookbook it goes!!! I can't wait to make these this year and surprise her! Thanks so much for posting! HIGHLY recommended ~Manda

 

[mianbao]

These are just lovely lovely cookies. They look beautiful and they taste wonderful. The texture is right, the spicing is right. There is no way anyone could improve on them. I used half butter and half shortening in the cookie dough, and should have chopped my walnuts finer. But for a manually non-dextrous person like myself, they came out unbelievably good looking, and, as I mentioned, are delicious. Thank you very much for sharing this recipe with us. I made half a batch of cookies, dividing the dough into three rolls. I think I got about 10 dozen, but I started counting after tasting. (I think I was cutting the cookies about 1/3 inch thick.) BTW, these cookies do not spread very much, so they can be placed fairly close on the sheets. BTW, other than the butter for shortening change I mentioned, and halving all the amounts of the ingredients, including weighing the eggs to get 1 1/2 eggs, I didn't change anything, wouldn't and definitely won't next time.

 

[ctrmom]

Love these delicious cookies! I usually make half of this recipe, using only one egg, the full amount of salt, and no baking powder. I add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Both the dough and the cookies freeze well.

 

[Dawn F.]

These are an all time favorite in my family. I could not find my mother's recipe to maqke them this holiday, so I searched and found this one. Thanks for posting.

 

[Kid-Kat]

After reading all the other review, I decided to make only 1/3 of the recipe, just in case I miss the recipe (I'm a novice baker). Well, guess what? These turned out GREAT! (they were a little bit ugly, but it doesn't mind a bit) I even subbed the 1/3 c. of shortening for 1/4 c. of oil. It may have made the dough more sticky, but the result was so worth the effort. It may also made the cookies crispy, but that the way we like it. I left out the nuts and reduced the sugar in the filling (half the amount). Instead of 2/3 c. of brown sugar, I used 1/2 c. + 1 tbsp of Splenda brown sugar Blend. Just the right sweeteness. My mom said it was one of the best cookie she ever eat. This blew me away, because when I make cookies, she is never really impress. My sister didn't want to touch them because she doesn't like dates...well, too bad for her!