A brown sugar dough surrounding a date nut filling make these cookies absolutely delicious. They are time-consuming to prepare, but well worth the effort. The date filling is cooked beforehand, spread on the rolled out dough, then the dough is rolled up. When chilled, sliced, and baked they become a rich date-filled pinwheel delight.

Date Pinwheel Cookies

Ingredients:

Parchment paper or small amount of vegetable shortening for preparing baking sheets

Dough:

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for work surface

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Filling:

1½ cups finely chopped, pitted dates

¾ cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup water

1 cup toasted walnuts or pecans, finely chopped

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 Tip: See Toasting Nuts and Seeds. Use standard measuring cups and spoons or scales for accurate measuring.

Directions:
     Dough:

1. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar; cream together until mixture appears light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until thoroughly mixed. Add flour mixture; stir until mixed.
   
   
2. Cover dough and refrigerate several hours or overnight.
   
   Filling:
3. In a medium heavy saucepan over low heat, combine chopped dates, sugar, and water, stir constantly until mixture is thick and bubbling. Remove from heat, stir in nuts and vanilla. Let cool, then refrigerate until chilled.
   
   Assembly:
4. Divide chilled dough into 4 equal pieces. Return 3 pieces to the refrigerator until ready to use. On a lightly floured surface roll out one piece of the dough to a 7 inch by 9 inch rectangle.
   
   
5. Place one fourth of the date filling (about ½ cups) on the dough. With a wet knife, gently spread the filling over the dough, leaving a ¼ inch border.
   
   
6. Roll-up dough jelly-roll style, starting with a long side. Brush off any excess flour from the dough. Wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.
   
   
7. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
   
   
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 large baking sheets; lightly grease with shortening, or line with parchment paper, or line with a non-stick baking mat.
   
   
9. Slice dough into ¼ inch slices and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Return remaining dough to refrigerator until ready to use.
   

Tip: My favorite tool to cut refrigerator cookies is a stainless steel dough scraper; simply push the dough scraper straight down into the cookie for straight cuts. Or use a small kitchen knife to slice the cookies.

Bake:

10. Bake 12 minutes or until cookies are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet one minute. Remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
    
    Makes about 9 dozen cookies
    
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