Date Pinwheels

Dates are a favourite ingredient at our house.  For Christmas, my mother-in-law made pinwheels with a date centre. Date Pinwheels are pretty to serve at your Christmas table.  These little treasures are not hard to make, but require a little love and extra time.

The dough requires chilling and then once filled the logs need to be frozen overnight before cutting.  The date filling can be quite sticky to work with.  Always have a bowl of cold water handy when spreading the filling.  I used the back of a spoon dipped in cold water to spread over the dough.  This dough is similar to pie dough, so you will have to work quickly.  I think that the extra time and effort is definitely worth it when it comes to taste.

Don’t forget to try my date squares: https://recipesatmytable.com/tried-and-true-date-squares/

For health benefits of dates https://recipesatmytable.com/tried-and-true-date-squares/

Ingredients For Date Pinewheels

The dough

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup each of brown and white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• pinch of slat
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Filling

• 1 package pitted dates
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Process

Make your filling first and set to cool.  Add the dates, sugar and water to a pan.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Take it off the heat, mash with a potato masher and add the vanilla.

Add in the nuts and stir.  Put it in the refrigerator to cool.

Now cream the butter and add in both sugars and vanilla.

Go in with your dry ingredients next and mix until all incorporated.

Roll in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for at least one hour. Cut the cough in half. 

 Roll it out in a 12 X 9 rectangle.

Spread with half the filling and  roll up tightly. The filling is quite sticky and I used the back of a spoon dipped in water to spread it.  Also use an icing spreader to slide under the dough for easy rolling.  Do this for both pieces of dough.

Wrap each log in plastic warp and place in you freezer overnight.

Cut into small slice about 1/8 of an inch.

Bake in 375 F for 10 minutes.

A nice addition to any Christmas tray. 

Almond Crescents

My mother-in-law served the cutest crescent shaped cookies.  Going through her recipe cards, I found one recipe I always love this year. Almond Crescents come together with a few simple ingredients. You won’t have to go shopping for this one.  She used ground almonds in hers, but I used a mixed unsalted nut from Costco.  I can’t stop eating them.

Christmas cookies are a way to celebrate.  I know that in Italy during my mom’s time, they were a real treat.  Sugar was not always available and it was used sparingly.  My nonna had honey and other sweeteners, but most of the italian cookies use basic ingredients such as eggs, flour, nuts, and natural sweeteners.

Another one of my crescent shaped cookies for Christmas https://recipesatmytable.com/crescent-moons-with-jam-and-nuts/

If you want to read about the history of some of your favourite cookies this is a good article :https://www.chattersource.com/article/christmas-cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter ( leave it out to soften)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup ground nuts ( your choice, I used a mixed un-salted nut)
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1 tbsp very cold water

Process

Butter makes everything good.  Watkins makes a great Almond Extract. 

Cream the butter, almond extract and sugar first.  Make sure it is light and fluffy.

Next add your flour and mix for a few minutes until incorporated.

Go in with the nuts.  Mix and add the 1 tbsp of cold water.  You will see the dough come together on the paddle of your mixer.

Place the dough on your counter and bring it all together.

Take small amounts of the dough and roll it with your hands to form a tiny roll. Twist each roll on the cookie sheet to form crescent shapes.

Bake in a 350 F oven for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle with icing sugar when cooled.  These freeze well.

YUM!!

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Almond Crescents

Author Renata Solski

Ingredients

• * 1 cup butter leave it out to soften
• * 1/4 cup sugar
• * 2 cups flour
• * 1 cup ground nuts your choice, I used a mixed un-salted nut
• * 1/2 ts

Instructions

1. Butter makes everything good.  Watkins makes a great Almond Extract.
2. Cream the butter, almond extract and sugar first.  Make sure it is light and fluffy.
3. Next add your flour and mix for a few minutes until incorporated.
4. Go in with the nuts.  Mix and add the 1 tbsp of cold water.  You will see the dough come together on the paddle of your mixer.
5. Place the dough on your counter and bring it all together.