My Mothers Date Pocket Cookies Recipes

DATE FILLED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°
• Cream shortening and white and brown sugar. until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, beating well. Sift dry ingredients together and add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Chill dough at least an hour.
• Meanwhile, make date filling by combining chopped dates, sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add lemon juice and salt. Cool.
• On floured surface (or pastry cloth), roll half of the dough at a time to a little less than 1/8 inch. Cut with 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter. (Recipe recommends cutting a small hole in the center of half the cookies for the top with a thimble. My mom has always skipped this step.) Place 1 tablespoon of prepared date filling in the center of each plain cookie bottom. Top with another round cookie (with small hole if you are following original recipe). Press the edges of each filled cookie together with the tip of a fork to seal. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 375° for about 10 to 12 minutes.

DATE PINWHEEL COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small mixing bowl and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, using a hand mixer, cream the butter with remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Mix on medium speed for a minute or two. Add the egg and vanilla and continue mixing until well incorporated.
• Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stir with a spoon until combined. Using clean hands, work the dough until it holds together in a ball. Wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
• Meanwhile, place the chopped dates, 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the dates have cooked down and the mixture is paste like, mix in the chopped nuts and remove the pan from the heat. Set aside to cool.
• Roll chilled dough out on a lightly floured piece of wax paper to a 12- x 8-inch rectangle. Spread the cooled date mixture on the dough to within about 1/2-inch of the edges. Starting at one of the long ends, begin to carefully roll the dough into a log. Wrap the rolled dough in the wax paper and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
• When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Slice roll into 1/4-inch slices. Place on lightly greased or parchment paper lined baking sheets and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheets for a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container.

DATE-FILLED SHORTBREAD COOKIES (MA'AMOUL)

Steps:

• Dough: In a small bowl, stir yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar into warm water; let stand until bubbly, about 5 minutes.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flours, mahleb, salt, mastic, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Gently mix in clarified butter until it is absorbed. In a small bowl, stir together yeast mixture and milk. Drizzle over flour mixture; using your hands or a rubber spatula, knead just until dough comes together and is moist but not wet. Cover; let stand at room temperature 2 hours.
• Filling: Meanwhile, pulse dates, butter, water, sugar, cinnamon, mahleb, and anise seeds in a food processor until a smooth paste forms. Cover and let stand until dough has rested.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, scoop 1 heaping tablespoon of dough; roll into a ball. Press dough in the palm of your hand to form a well in the center. Place 1 scant teaspoon of filling in well. Pull up sides of dough to enclose, adding more dough if necessary. Firmly press dough into a ma'amoul mold. Invert mold; tap to release dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing about 1 inch apart. Refrigerate about 1 hour.
• Bake until beginning to turn golden around edges, 14 to 17 minutes. Transfer sheets to a wire rack; let cool completely.

MOM'S DATE-NUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sugar, dates, walnuts, and beaten egg. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil until dates have softened and melted into the mixture, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in rice cereal.
• Place coconut in a shallow bowl.
• Scoop rounded teaspoonfuls of dough and drop them into the coconut, rolling and pressing until coated.

DATE-FILLED COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream butter and 1 cup sugar; add eggs and beat well.
• Add milk.
• Sift together baking powder, 2 cups flour, and salt; add flour mixture to creamed mixture.
• Refrigerate.
• While dough is chilling, make filling by cooking dates, water, 3 tsp flour, and 1/2 cup sugar until thick; add chopped nuts.
• Roll out dough; cut in rounds.
• Mound filling in center, place another round on top and seal edges.
• Bake at 375°F on greased cookie sheets until lightly browned.