This recipe began with a neighbor of mine, Kathy. She lived next to me in a small apartment in
Las Cruces. She was rather eccentric and
had lived a rough life. She was from
Michigan and had landed in New Mexico when her only daughter moved into the
area because her husband was in the military.
What a wonderful lady! She too
loved to cook and we would often share recipes.
This one she shared with me, but as always I had to add a Michelle twist. It begins with a lovely oatmeal shortbread
which you then fill with a luxurious date and walnut filling and in the words of my dad, “Katy bar the
door!”
Cookie:
1 c. Brown Sugar
¾ c. Crisco (I do not recommend the butter flavored version)
¾ c butter softened (Michelle Twist!)
3 c toasted oatmeal (Toasting is the Michelle Twist!)
4 c. flour
½ c. sour cream
1 t. baking soda
1 T. vanilla
1/2 t. salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream sugar with Crisco and butter;
mix until fluffy. In a separate bowl
combine oatmeal, flour, baking soda and salt; stir well. Add ½ of the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture
scrape down sides of the bowl then add sour cream and vanilla; finish with the
remaining dry ingredients. Roll out the
dough to about 1/8 of an inch thick (I use a triangle cookie cutter so they
stand out!). Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Cool cookies completely, they will be crispy
and light.
Filling:
1 pound of chopped dates
1 c. hot water
1 c. sugar
Zest and juice of 1 lemon*
Combine all ingredients in a saucepot over medium heat on
the stovetop. The dates will begin to
fall apart and resemble marmalade as it reached a boil. Remove from the heat, add ½ c. finely chopped
walnuts (Michelle Twist) and allow to cool. Spread a
layer of date walnut filling between two cookies. Place cookies in an airtight container and
store in a cool place. If you can, wait
until the next day to try these cookies.
* Do not omit the lemon as it cuts the richness of the dates and gives a nice little tang.
No comments:
Post a Comment