I have a confession. I like sweets. I often swear I don’t like sweets and here’s the thing, I don’t like sweet sweets. I can’t eat box-mix cakes or cupcakes. I can’t eat store-bought frosting. It’s too sweet and makes my teeth cringe. But I like not-sweet sweets. Sweet breads and scones, but not muffins. Plain doughnuts but nothing frosted. I have a selective sweet tooth. I can’t eat a lot in one siting but I like to eat them a lot.

Last week, I had a major craving for a date filled cookies. I had been in my hometown of Wisconsin Rapids and consequently, had made a visit to my cousin’s bakery where I stocked up on all of my childhood favorites: ginger creams, sugar cookies and date-filled oatmeal cookies. In short, I stocked up on heaven in a white bakery bag.

When I was left with nothing but a bag of crumbs and an unsatisfied sweet tooth, I took to the internet. I had some dates that were left over from Christmas and I was determined not to throw them away. I found a simple recipe that appealed to me because of its lack of ingredients and its focus on my beloved dates.

Southern Cooking Date Drop Cookies

 


Dough:

1/2 cup of unsalted butter

1 cup of brown sugar, packed

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup of warm water

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

Date filling:

1 8 oz package of dates, chopped

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup warm water

TIP: Use your food processor to chop up the dates. You may not think it’s worth making a mess in your food processor, but it is. Trust me.

  1. Bring dates, water and sugar to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently until dates are thickened, about 8 minutes. Let cool completely.
  2. Cream butter and brown sugar.
  3. Stir in egg, water, vanilla, flour, baking soda and salt.
  4. Drop cookie dough by teaspoon-fulls on cookie sheet. Top with 1/2 teaspoon of date filling and 1/4 teaspoon of dough to cover filling.
  5. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

 

RECIPE REVIEW: These cookies are seriously obsessive. When I was adding the pictures, I had to go and get a cookie. Seriously. I cannot stop eating them.

I was a little stingy with the date filling and had enough left to make another double batch. Luckily, we had a graduation party AND I was seeing my parents so I was able to give away some cookies. Otherwise, you would definitely be seeing an increase in my ‘Healthy Cooking’ posts.

 

 

 


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