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.
Nutrition
I found this on the original post from years ago, and made them (bc I LOVE dates). My husband ended up grabbing a handful every time he walked past the container. Within 2 days, the entire double batch was gone–and this is his MOST REQUESTED cookie.
We also love that these are diabetic-friendly–he can eat a few and not drastically spike. Thanks for this delicious recipe. We are lifelong fans!!!
I think that they needed brown sugar, they were lacking something.
The revue was easy to follow. Howe we like others have noted, I had to bake for longer (till light golden) and they didn’t quite flatten. However, they taste good.
I live in Houston, My mom was born in Arkansas. My Aunt Rosie made these cookies, and our family loves them!! They are so good!! The recipe I have is so old, and I can barely read some of it, it has been through several Christmas Bake Days. I am so glad I came across your recipe!!! I was so scared it was lost to me!!
Have been making it every Christmas for four years to go on my Christmas platter of cookies. A favorite of the whole family. The very best warm from the oven. Turned out perfect every time. Did everything according to recipe.
No matter what I did the cookies did not turn out like the picture. I used fresh dates the 1st time and after refrigerating them for 2 hours the batter was so stiff I couldn’t even hardly get it out of the bowl. The cookies stayed round and I even tried to flatten them and it did not work.
The 2nd time I soaked the dates in boiling water until they were super soft and moist. Again, the cookies stayed in a round ball and did not look anything like the picture. Even after I flattened them. I followed the recipe exactly and everything was at room temperature. They had a great taste but were a bit dry and hard.
Hi Louise! Sorry to hear these weren’t perfect for you. I am going to ping Kelly to take a look at your comment, she contributed this recipe to the blog and she might be able to help you troubleshoot.
Hi Louise!
I am sorry to hear about your troubles! Let me ask you a few questions. First, how are you measuring your flour? I use the spoon and sweep method – first I gently fluff the flour with a spoon, then spoon it into the cup until heaping, then use a knife to sweep the excess off the top. Second, what size eggs are you using? I use large eggs, and so did Aunt Ruby. 🙂 Finally, is the dough stiff when mixing? It should be thick but not stiff or too dry. If it is very stiff when mixing initially you may want to add an extra egg yolk to loosen it a bit.
Let me know!
I had dates, dried out and pretty awful. We never throw stuff out so I hunted for receipes. Soaked the dates and just had 1 cup so it had to do. Cut the sugar to 1 cup and added 1/2 cup of oats. Only had whisk so thats what I used. They took longer to cook but are 100% a hit. Can see me making these again!
These are wonderfully tasty, even my 10 year old who is not a “cookie person” loved them!
I thought I followed the recipe exactly but mine did not spread out nice & thin like the picture… did not detract from the taste though!
Can you use dried chopped dates in this recipe?