Oatmeal Date Cookies

I never really know how to introduce posts about a new cookie recipe. Most of them don’t have a good story or even a good excuse. Usually, a new cookie recipe comes to these pages because I love cookies and wanted to try some new ones.

And this recipe was one I’ve been wanting to try for quite a long time. Finally, I got the chance, and I’m so excited! They’re kicked-up oatmeal cookies loaded with sweet, sticky dates and fragrant, spicy cardamom. It’s a fabulous combination, delicious and exotic, but still familiar and comforting, like an oatmeal cookie should be.

To get my cardamom for these cookies, I cracked open whole cardamom pods, extracted the tiny, dark seeds, and ground those seeds in a spice grinder (really just a coffee grinder designated for spice grinding.) I cannot recommend this way of enjoying cardamom enough. Those freshly ground seeds have a perfume and flavor so far beyond that of a can of cardamom that has already been ground that they’re practically different foods. I never had a clue what a joy cardamom could really be until I made the effort to deal with it in this way.

While I really think the cardamom is extra-special with the caramel-y dates, you wouldn’t have to use it if you didn’t want to. Cinnamon would be fine in its place, or even Pumpkin Pie Spice. It is that time of year!

Once you have the cardamom prepared and the dates pitted and chopped, these are just as easy to make as any drop cookie. And like my other favorite drop cookies, I like to chill the dough for these for at least a couple hours (and up to 2 days). I just feel like my cookies come out better when I do that. If you don’t have time you can skip that step. Just don’t skip out on a chance to try the wonderful sweet and spicy combination of dates and cardamom in oatmeal cookies!

Oatmeal Date Cookies with Cardamom

Adapted from Fine Cooking magazine

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups rolled oats

1 ½ cups chopped, pitted dates

1. In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cardamom. Whisk together to combine well.

2. In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Beat on medium-low speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until well-combined.

3. Slowly stir in the flour mixture. Stir in the oats and the dates. Cover the dough well and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to two days.

4. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly spray cookie sheets with cooking spray. Scoop the dough in heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets leaving 2 inches between each cookie. Gently flatten the dough balls.

5. Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown on the edges and set in the middle. Remove from the oven and cool on the pan on a wire rack for 2 minutes. Remove the cookies from the pan and cool on the wire rack. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Other recipes like this one: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies, Date Bars with Spiced Rum, Maple Date Oatmeal Bars, Rum Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

Celery Salad with Almonds and Dates

So, how are those resolutions going? That bad, huh? That’s why I don’t do resolutions.

Actually, I don’t need as much will power as one might think when it comes to eating healthier in January than I did in December and November. Perhaps because I get my year’s worth of sugar and refined flour and stodgy fare in those months, I tend to develop a taste for light, green, crunchy things. Even celery.

Okay, so I’m not into munching exclusively on a big bowl of cellulose. Toss it with some lemon, almonds, and dates (hey, I haven’t completely lost my craze for sweet things), though, and we’re talking something simple and satisfying. Never mind that it’s actually pretty healthy.

Actually, I was eating this salad in between batches of cookies and bags of minty and chocolaty candies back in the sugary months. It was a delicious way to try convince myself that I wasn’t eating all that badly during the holidays. I think I’ll bring it out again, since I actually got brave enough to step on the scale recently. (It wasn’t that bad.)

This salad is best eaten right away, because the dates soak up the dressing and get a little mushy. If, like me, you don’t mind mushy dates (I’m so into dates right now for some reason!), the refrigerated leftovers will be good to go back to for a few days.

This salad is also quick and easy enough to keep making more when you run out. Try different nuts and dried fruit, or add some fresh parsley, or how about some thawed frozen peas? Even if you don’t have a celery-based resolution to keep, this is a good side dish or light lunch salad to brighten up some of the dreariness of winter.

Celery Salad with Almonds and Dates

Adapted from Bon Appetit magazine

½ cup sliced almonds

8 large celery stalks, thinly sliced (include any nice leaves)

6 dates, pitted and chopped

½ teaspoon coarse salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup coarsely shaved Parmesan cheese

1. Lightly toast the almonds on a baking sheet on a 350 F oven or in a dry pan over medium-low heat on the stove. Set aside to cool.

2. In a medium-size bowl, combine the celery, dates, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. Pour in the lemon juice and olive oil. Toss together to coat well. Add the Parmesan cheese and toss together to distribute. Taste for seasoning and adjust as desired.

Makes about 6 servings.

Another recipe like this one: Celery and Citrus Salad with Walnuts and Parmesan

One year ago: Lime Scented Cranberry Muffins

Maple Date Oatmeal Bars

This delicious and easy bar recipe is a little variation on these dried cherry bars I posted about back in the spring. It was going to be hard to beat that Archive recipe, but I really wasn’t hoping to do so. I just wanted another little friend to accompany me for dessert and afternoon snacks.

I came upon some really delicious dates in the refrigerated section of my favorite food procurement establishment, and I couldn’t wait to try them out in these bars. Those dates were caramel-y sweet, chewy, sticky and fruity; a real eye-opening experience to someone accustomed to dry packaged dates whose sugars have nearly crystallized (not that I’d turn those down). It was hard not to just save them for eating out of hand. I’m a cookie girl, however, so the idea of using the fabulous dates in a recipe was going to prevail.

 

I cut back on the sugar compared to the cherry-oatmeal bars, partly because such was suggested in the original recipe, which called for cranberries, but gave suggestions for other dried fruit variations, including dates. Tasting my super-sweet dates, of course, only emphasized the wisdom of such a move. Half of the sugar I did add to the date-sour cream filling was in the form of brown sugar and the other half was maple syrup. I happened to find some Grade B maple syrup, which is stronger in flavor and can help enhance flavors more in baking. I cannot say that it really had a strong influence on the taste of the baked product, but it was all really good just the same.

Yup, I’m thrilled to have this delicious version of simple oatmeal bars, and the success of this recipe just inspired even more ideas for variations. Just about any dried fruit would work, I think. Could I use other forms of fruit besides dried fruits? Is there some way I could adapt this for fresh fruits? Could I use jam or applesauce? Could I get away with eating these at other times than dessert or afternoon snack time? Like breakfast? Sounds good to me!

Maple Date Oatmeal Bars

Based on a recipe in Cooking Light Magazine

For the crust and crumble topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup light brown sugar

1 cup quick-cooking oats

8 tablespoons butter, melted

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:

1 large egg white

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup (I used Grade B)

¾ cup sour cream

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup chopped pitted dates

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray or grease it with butter. Set aside.

2. In a medium-size bowl, combine the 1 cup flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Whisk together. Whisk in the ½ cup brown sugar. Add the oats and stir to combine well.

3. Pour in the melted butter and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir together until the dry ingredients are completely moistened. The mixture will be crumbly.

4. Reserve ½ cup of the oat mixture and set aside. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Set aside.

5. In another medium-size bowl, lightly beat the egg white. Whisk in the 2 tablespoons brown sugar, maple syrup, and sour cream until smooth. Whisk in the flour. Whisk in the 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the dates.

6. Pour the filling mixture over the crust in the baking pan, spreading evenly. Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly over the filling, squeezing together to from clumps.

7. Bake at 325 F for 40-45 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Makes about 16 bars.

Other recipes like this one: Oatmeal and Dried Cherry Bars, Date Bars with Spiced Rum

One year ago: Apple Quick Bread and Roasted Autumn Vegetable Salad with Molasses Mustard Vinaigrette