Date Roll Cookies
Dates are sweet, dried fruit. They have a soft, smooth texture and a slightly chewy bite. This recipe for date roll cookies are quick and easy to make, and they have good flavor and texture.
As a kid, one of my fond memories is making heaps of these cookies with my mom during Christmas. While there are many different variations of this the basic recipe will always remain the same. You can, however, use any nuts that you fancy from almonds, cashew nuts, pistachio, walnuts, macadamia, or hazelnuts.
What are date roll cookies?
Bite-size piece of shortbread cookies filled with date and nuts. Ripe whole dates are stuffed with walnuts or cashew nuts, before being wrapped in a buttery cookie and baked until lightly golden.
These are East-Indian classic cookies that are made during Christmas. In fact, it is a must-have on the Christmas platter ‘chusvar’ for serving guests or sharing with neighbors and friends.
Personally, I like to use Majdool dates but any soft variety works just as well.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Flour – simple all-purpose flour or maida is all you need to make these cookies. We don’t need any leavening agents in our flour so do not use any self-raising or cake flour either.
- Sugar – Use fine-grain white castor sugar which will dissolve in the mixture instantly. Any large granules of sugar will make the cookies grainy.
- Dates – I used large Medjool dates because they are the best but you can use any other dates that are easy to find. I have given you two methods for the filling just to accommodate the types of dates you may find.
- Nuts – traditionally, walnuts are used with dates because that is the classic combination. But, I love to use pecans, macadamia, and sometimes even hazelnuts.
- Flavoring – I have used only vanilla extract today but almond and rose are a great addition too.
Tips for Success
- Measure the ingredients correctly for the cookie dough.
- The dough is best dense not too soft otherwise it will spread too much. Do not be tempted to add water, milk, or butter to make it softer.
- The filling must be small and not too bulky otherwise the baked cookies will be too large and bulky. Smaller cookies look elegant.
- Chill the dough before stuffing it. Chilled dough is easier to roll and work with.
- When you cut the strips place them in the fridge so they stay chilled and hold their shape.
- Chill the cookies before you bake them. This will help hold the shape better and prevent spreading
- The oven must be preheated properly if you bake the cookies in an oven not well preheated the cookies will spread.
- Cool the cookies well before you store them in an airtight container.
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Equipment /Tools
- Mixing bowl
- Wooden spoon
- Cutting Board
- Kitchen Knife
- Baking tray
- Oven
Ingredients
For the cookie dough
- ½ cup (113 g) Unsalted Butter
- ⅓ cup (65 g) Sugar white granulated
- 1 large Egg
- 2 cups (250 g) All-purpose flour maida
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
For the filling/stuffing
- ¾ cup (100 g) Walnuts
- 1½ cup (200 g) Madjool dates or similar
Egg wash
- 1 (1) Egg
- 2 tbsp (2 tbsp) Water
Instructions
Cookie dough
- Wet ingredients – In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg followed by the vanilla extract.
- Dry ingredients – Combine the flour and salt then add it to the wet ingredients and combine well but do not overmix.
- Chill – Divide the cookie dough into two portions and wrap each portion in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes or overnight.
Prepare the stuffing/filling
- Dates filling 1 – Make a slit in each date – remove the seed and place a piece of walnut in the center. Keep them slim so the final cookies will not be too bulkyPro tip – this works great when you have small dates that can be used in each cookie
- Date filing 2 – Alternatively, mash the dates and nuts in a food processor for a few seconds until coarse. Then, marble size balls into sausages similar to the size of a date. Pro tip – this is a great method to use when you have large-size dates.
Assemble and bake cookies
- Oven – Preheat the oven at 375°F/ 190°C/ Gas Mark 5
- Roll – Working with one portion of dough at a time, roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thick
- Stuff – Cut the dough into 2-inch strips or the length of the dates. Make sure the strips are large enough to wrap the whole stuffed date. Wrap each date with the strip of dough making to overlap at the bottom so they do not open.
- Tray – Place the cookies on a baking tray lined with parchment paper seam side down. Pro tip – keep the stuffed cookies in the fridge while you continue to stuff the remaining cookies.
- Egg wash – Combine the beaten egg with water and brush each cookie with egg wash.
- Bake – Bake in the preheated oven on the center rack for 12 to 15 minutes or until the tops are lightly golden.
- Cool -When baked cool on the baking tray for 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before you store them in an airtight container.
- Enjoy
Recipe Notes
- Measure the ingredients correctly for the cookie dough.
- The dough is best dense not too soft otherwise it will spread too much. Do not be tempted to add water, milk, or butter to make it softer.
- The filling must be small and not too bulky otherwise the baked cookies will be too large and bulky. Smaller cookies look elegant.
- Chill the dough before stuffing it. Chilled dough is easier to roll and work with.
- When you cut the strips place them in the fridge so they stay chilled and hold their shape.
- Chill the cookies before you bake them. This will help hold the shape better and prevent spreading
- The oven must be preheated properly if you bake the cookies in an oven not well preheated the cookies will spread.
- Cool the cookies well before you store them in an airtight container.
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Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
With the lockdown have to make my own EAST INDIAN goodies.
I have to always make my own goodies cause I never get any of these here. Have fun.
Hi Lovely recipe. I have this problem whenever i make date rolls it some of them usually breaks on top. Can you tell how to avoid it and get perfectly baked date rolls all the time
There could be one of these reasons.
– the dough is rolled too thin.
– the filling could be too dry which makes it puff up.
– or you bake at a low temperature but for too long so the dough dries out.
I hope this helps you troubleshoot.
Thanks
We make these often. My family loves these. Thanks
Thank you Diana