Date Pinwheel cookies

Time: 30 min + 2 hours + 15 minutes + 2 hours + 30 minutes = 5.5

Date filling

1 lb of dates, pits removed

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

Cook mixture together until thick.

The initial 1/2 cup water may not be sufficient. Add sufficient water during the process to create a smooth paste.

Let cool before using.

Dough

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup Crisco

3 eggs

4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking sods

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the sugar and Crisco. Add eggs; mix. Add remaining ingredients.

The recipe makes enough to have multiple balls of dough (3) to roll into rectangles. Divide the dough into 3 balls of dough that are the same size

Cooling time for the dough in the fridge is roughly 2 hours.

3 hours for dough balls was too long (2021-06-05)

Cookies

roll into rectangles 1/4” thick.

Spread date mixture on top.

If needed, add a bit more water when making the filling to make it easier to spread on the dough.

Roll up

After the dough with the filling inside has been shaped into a cylinder with the ends flattened and pinched together, roll a piece of wax paper around it to prevent drying

Place in fridge overnight. Refrigerate for 2 hours, covered with plastic wrap

Remove from fridge; slice into 1/4" thick sections

MP: Clean your knife frequently when cutting into 1/4” slices. The date filling is very sticky.

TL used floss instead of the knife.

Place both oven racks in the center of the oven

Pre-heat oven to 375F

Spin the trays 180 degrees halfway through the cooking process

Also, swap the upper and lower trays halfway through

Notes

2020-02-xx

TL says the cookies don’t need full 1 lb of dates

TL says to cut the sugar by 25%

TL says the overnight fridge has no clear benefit.

2021-06-05

MP and HP use 1 lb of dates