Date & Nut ‘Linda’ Cookies

Date & Nut ‘Linda’ Cookies

My friend Linda brought these cookies to our place for brunch. Fergal couldn’t get enough of them. So I decided to have a go at making a simplified version.

makes: 12
takes: 60 minutes
150g (5oz) pitted dates
100g (3.5oz) almond meal
150g (5oz) peanut butter
50g (1.75oz) neutral flavoured oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
sea salt flakes (optional)

1. Boil your kettle.

2. Place dates in a heat proof bowl and cover with boiling water. Stand for 5 minutes then drain.

3. Place drained dates in your food processor and whizz until you have a smoothish paste. Keep an ear out for any pits, you’ll hear them!

4. Scrape down the sides and add the almond meal, peanut butter, oil, vanilla and baking powder. Whizz again until you have a soft dough.

5. Scoop the dough out onto a large piece of cling wrap and use your hands to form into a log, approx 5cm (2in) diameter and 12cm (5in) long. Wrap tightly in cling wrap and pop in the freezer to firm up for at least 30 minutes.

6. Preheat your oven to 180C (350F). Line a large tray with baking paper.

7. Slice dough into 12 round cookies, getting the thickness of each as close as you can to being uniform. They will crumble a bit. Lay cookies on your prepared tray and use your hands or a rolling pin to flatten into discs about 1cm (1/3in) thick. Sprinkle each with sea salt flakes (if using).

8. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cookies are deeply golden. Cool on the tray for few minutes then move to a wire rack so the bottoms don’t get soggy.

Variations

medjool dates – use 200g (7oz) medjool dates. These will need to be pitted but no need to soak in boiling water because they have a naturally higher moisture content.

different shapes – instead of forming the dough into a log and freezing, just roll out between two sheets of baking paper until about 1cm (1/3in) thick. Use your favourite cookie cutters to make shapes.

sugar-free – the dates are critical for achieving the texture of these cookies, I’m afraid. You’ll need to use another recipe.

chocolate – mix in chocolate chunks before chilling.

extra chunky – stir in chopped nuts such as pecans or macadamias.

different fruit – feel free to use dried fruit like figs, apricots or prunes. Prunes and apricots won’t be as sweet so you may want to add a little sweetener.

nut-free – replace almond meal with ground sunflower seeds and use sunbutter or tahini instead of the peanut butter.

peanut-free – use cashew butter, almond butter or other nut butter.

no food processor – you want to puree the dates so a blender or stick blender can work.

Shelf Life / Storage

Can be kept for a week or more in an airtight container in the fridge but will soften over time. Keeps for months in the freezer. The raw dough can be kept in the fridge for a week or frozen indefinitely (just defrost before slicing and baking).