Brent's Grandma Anne was awesome!
She was so full of life, always smiling, kind, helpful, and so ACTIVE! She was always on the move, and walked all over town. I think that's why she lived such a long healthy life. She loved to cook and bake, and work in her flower garden.
I'm not much of a gardener, so she came over to our first house and planted a flower garden for me. Sometimes I would look out the window and there she was...in my flower garden weeding!( I wasn't very diligent at it!) I never knew when she would pop over for a visit, and she was always most welcome.
She accepted me into the family it seems, from the day we were married. She taught me alot about baking, and even came over to teach me how to make some of her recipes. I remember the day she taught me how to make Kringler. It is a special memory I will always treasure!
Not too long ago, I asked Brent's Aunt for some of her recipes. I was happy to find this one, her date cookies she made every Christmas.
As I made them, I thought of her, and how happy she would be that I am making them.
They are a wonderful tasting cookie. So soft, with a delicious center filled with the date and nut mixture that has a slight hint of orange. I love all the brown sugar in this recipe, it gives such a rich taste.
Brent and I ate a few as we reminisced about Christmas at Grandma Anne's. How we miss her so!
1 c. butter,softened
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. oats
3 to 3 1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tarter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Filling:
1 lb. dates, chopped
1 c. sugar
1 c. water
1 tsp. grated orange rind
3/4 c. chopped walnuts
Cook the dates, sugar, and water until boiling, reduce heat and simmer 5 to 10 minutes.Cool. ( Mixture will thicken as it cools.)
Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients. Refrigerate several hours.
Roll dough out and cut with a 2 1/2 in. round cookie cutter. Spoon on a tsp. of date filling and fold over. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 375 for about 10 minutes.
Laurie, this certainly dredges up another Christmas memory! My mom made these every single year. I loved them, and yet I've never made them myself. These look delicious!!
ReplyDeleteWhen do you add the nuts? You have them in the ingredients list but not in the recipe.
ReplyDeleteYou can add the nuts to the filling after you cook it.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like cookies that my mother would bake, only she rolled out the dough and spread the filling over the dough and refrigerated it. Then she would slice the dough into cookies and bake. Sooooo qgood.
ReplyDeleteFor a 10 minute cook time, at what thickness do you suggest rolling the cookie dough?
ReplyDeleteDo you use old fashioned oats?
ReplyDeleteMy mother use to make a similar date filled cookie every Christmas but she would cut out a top for them instead of folding them over! Her recipe she would use was from the old Watkins cookbook.
ReplyDelete