Date Cookies – Butter cookies with gooey dates and toasted pecans. Time-Tested Family Recipe.
My friend Kelly Jaggers is back with another delicious family recipe! These cookies would make a perfect treat for Rosh Hashanah. ~ Tori
My Aunt Ruby was never a big fan of chocolate. Unless it was a German Chocolate Cake, or a dark chocolate coating for coconut candy, she didn’t make much that was chocolate flavored. She preferred brown sugar, nuts, vanilla, and sweet fruits. Those preferences are reflected in the recipes she tucked into her recipe boxes, and in the treats she baked for me and my family. She always had some kind of nutty treat on the table to enjoy when we came to visit.
When I was very young my tastes ran to chocolate almost exclusively. My grandmother indulged me happily, but Ruby really didn’t. She made what she liked, and I either ate it or I didn’t. It was not until I was older that I tried some of her homemade goodies. I realized what I had been missing, so I made up for lost time by eating as much as I could. I remember clearly, for example, the first time I tried a bite of her famous pecan pie. It was Thanksgiving and I was in the kitchen getting a slice of pumpkin chiffon pie. I decided to take a small slice of her pecan pie, as an experiment. I quickly went back for a much larger slice.
One of my favorite recipes from my Aunt Ruby is her date cookies. These soft butter cookies have dates made gooey from the oven and toasty pecans. They are easy to make, and have that sort of rough beauty of homemade cookies. If Ruby had cookies in her cookie jar they were almost always these. They combined all of her favorite things, and are great to serve with a cup of ice cold milk as a snack, or with steaming cups of coffee when company comes to call.
I had put off making these cookies until a year ago. My mother and I went to Houston to visit my cousin and she had baked a batch to welcome us. Because I am greedy, I ate a lot more of these than I should have. When I came home I was inspired to make some of my own, so I dug the recipe out of my file. Dates are not something I often bake with, so the first time I whipped up a batch of these cookies my husband – who is my intrepid taste tester – had a few questions: How good could a date cookie be? Why didn’t I use chocolate? Could I add chocolate? Are those pecans? Why wasn’t I adding chocolate? It wasn’t until I stuffed a cookie into his questioning mouth that his protests ceased. Ruby knows best!
Ruby’s notes say you can scoop and bake these cookies, or you can chill the dough, roll it into logs, chill it again, slice it, and then bake. Honestly, I am too impatient to chill, roll, chill, slice, and bake. I just chill, scoop, bake, and DEVOUR. These cookies keep remarkably well in an airtight container at room temperature, so they are great for keeping on hand for snacking. If you are so inclined you could add a little cinnamon to these cookies. Ruby had a note that you could, but she never added it as far as I can remember, so neither do I.
I gave some of these cookies to a friend recently. She, like my husband, was skeptical of the dates. She took one to be polite but warned me that dates are not really her thing. She came back for three more, noting that these cookies are, and I quote, ‘legit’. She said they reminded her of pecan pie, and that is a perfect comparison. These are some of my very favorite cookies, and I can’t eat them without thinking of my Aunt Ruby.
Food Photography and Styling by Kelly Jaggers
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Date Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups roughly chopped pecans, toasted
- 1 1/2 cups chopped pitted dates
NOTES
Instructions
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on low speed until well combined, about 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until they are thoroughly incorporated, about 30 seconds per egg.
- After the last egg has been added add the vanilla and stir to mix. The mixture may look slightly broken at this stage. This is normal.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low speed until the flour is almost absorbed by the butter.
- Then add the pecans and dates and mix until everything is well distributed. Cover the dough with plastic and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Heat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Scoop the chilled dough by rounded tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheet leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie to allow for spread.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookie is puffed, looks dry all over, and the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes on the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
berliana says
it’s amazing
Thanks for this recipe
Ruthann Roberts says
I am planning to make those cookies on Tuesday night. Thank you for sharing this recipe! they are making me hungry already. instead of dates maybe chocolate chips
Elicia says
Probably the best biscuit I have ever made to date (pun intended) I used brown sugar instead of white sugar and I pressed them down with a fork to flatten a little bit before they hit the oven and they came out so crunchy and soft on the inside. Perfect ? thank you for this lovely recipe.
Cindy M says
OMG!!! Thank you so very much for such a delicious recipe. A family favorite 🙂
Salama says
Just tried the cookies I made their AMAZING
mare says
have made these 2x now! I ran into the same trouble Claudia (below) did this time and it was that the dough was definitely too cold. I also forgot an egg (oops) but they came out ok anyways!
Claudia says
I followed the recipe but my cookies never flattened. Any idea where I may have made an error.
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Claudia, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. It’s difficult to determine what exactly went wrong, but it’s possible that your oven might not be at the right temperature. Also, if your has been refrigerated and hasn’t returned to room temperature before baking it might not spread as much.
Barbara Lee says
Can these date cookies be frozen? Do you have recipe for layered white and dark chocolate and crushed candy cane. I saw a video of it but can’t find it now.
Tori Avey says
Hi Barbara, yes you can freeze these cookies. I am not sure about the chocolate cookies, it’s not a recipe from my website. Sorry!
Anita Whipple says
Excellent cookie! I used 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1/2 cup of packed light brown sugar since I love a butter/ brown sugar combo. I had an 8 oz. package of chopped dates and also used 1 1/2 cups of chopped toasted pecans ( was too lazy to chop more). I also made the dough the evening before, then refrigerated it overnight. It made the dough easier to roll into balls. I baked them for 11 minutes to compensate for ‘air bake’ type cookie sheets. They are fantastic – can taste the dates as well as the pecans!
what to cook for a date says
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Susan says
I made the dough for the Passover chocolate chip cookies. Can I freeze the dough or keep dough in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. So I can make them fresh for my grandchildren when I visit for Passover ?
Tori Avey says
I’ve never frozen that dough, Susan. I’m not sure. Also not sure about refrigerating it; food safety might be an issue, then again it might be fine. Sorry!
Katherine Haste says
I freeze dough all the time I make my scoops freeze them then pack in portion sizes only way to control my husbandscookie eating and we always have hot ones it’s perfect
julian says
Nice and looking good
Nikki Britt says
I baked the date cookies for our Break-the-Fast. I was a little hesitant because I have not used fruit in cookies before and did not know if people would like them. My daughter and I sampled a few while baking and they were terrific!
I brought these to our Temple and everyone loved them! I let them know they could find the recipe on your website.
I used a cup of butter and toasted my own pecans. I placed the cookie dough in the fridge overnight and baked them the next day. After the cookies were cool I placed them in Ziploc bags and let them sit in the bags for about a day on the kitchen table, I didn’t substitute any of the ingredients.
Melissa says
I have a bunch of leftover dates at home that I would love to use for this recipe. however, I wanted to use oil for the butter here. do you think that 1 cup of oil would be a good substitution? I’m worried about it being too wet of a batter.
sharon says
Unfortunately I found these cookies to be too dry and too dense to be enjoyable. I will try and use oil like the other respondent to see if maybe that makes the difference.
Suzanne Brown says
I can even taste them
Linda Bost says
My grandmother used to make a date nut candy. Can’t wait to taste these!
LC says
i too was skeptical of these cookies as they did not have chocolate chips and had dates. but i figured i would try something new. holy cookies! i am so glad i did. they are phenomenal! seriously, make these now. the only edit i made was replacing oil for butter as i wanted to keep them pareve. thank you for the recipe!
Tori Avey says
LC so happy you enjoyed them!
Subbha says
LC, how much oil did you use replacing the butter?
how many grams or pounds?
Pls advice …
Tks
Subbha
Valerie Dominianni says
Sounds yummy
Lynne Cheliak says
Whoa. Anything date grabs my attention. Looks great.