Date-Nut Pinwheel Cookies: Merry Christmas! 2020

Merry Christmas wonderful people! I’ve had so much fun with this year’s Countdown to Christmas theme of “Dessert Recipes to go with Tea”! On this day that we celebrate Jesus’ birth, I want to share with you a family Date-Nut Pinwheel Cookie recipe. Ever since I was a child, I would “help” my Mom make these cookies for Christmas. It was a two day process, so we only made them once a year.

Below you will see a recipe for Refrigerator Cookies, which you have to make first. Then Date-Nut filling and finally the Date-Nut Pinwheel Cookies. It certainly is a process to make these cookies, but they are worth it!

In front of my Jim Shore nativity scene you see me enjoying the cookies on my grandmother’s Homer Laughlin tea set. I mixed my own Chai tea to have with them, but imagine it would be good with a white or oolong tea. Merry Christmas ♥️

Refrigerator Cookies:

1/2 cup soft shortening (1/4 butter, 1/4 shortening)

1 cup brown sugar (packed)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (if using self rising don’t add baking soda or salt)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla thoroughly. Blend flour, baking soda and salt, stir in. Divide dough into two parts and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

For each part, on wax paper covered with confectioner’s sugar, use rolling pin with confectioner’s sugar on it and the dough to thin dough to about a foot long and about 6 inches wide. Cover and place flattened dough in the refrigerator to harden (we keep it there over night, but could be okay after 2 hours).

Date-Nut Filling:

3/4 pound pitted dates

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (we use pecans)

Place in saucepan 3/4 pound moist pitted dates that are cut up. Add sugar and water. Cook until slightly thickened, stirring constantly (seriously, don’t stop stirring). Remove from heat. Stir in 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts.

Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies:

After your Refrigerator Cookie dough is hardened and your Date-Nut filling is made, spread the warm filling onto one hardened dough at a time (as soon as the dough gets warmer the filling is more difficult to spread). Roll dough with filling tightly (hotdog, not hamburger way). Pinch edges to seal. Wrap rolls in waxed paper and chill several hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut rolled dough into 1/4 inch slices. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake about 8-9 minutes. Keep an eye on them if you need to bake them longer as they quickly burn.