Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 ounces dates, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 teaspoons lemon peel
• 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Recipe

• 1 sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. set aside.
• 2 cream butter and sugar. add egg and vanilla, and blend thoroughly.
• 3 add flour mixture, blending to make a soft dough. refrigerate dough about 1 hour.
• 4 meanwhile, make filling. in a small saucepan, add dates, sugar, and water. cook until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. mix in peel and nuts. cool.
• 5 divide cookie dough in half. roll 1/2 into 8x10 rectangle. spread 1/2 of filling over rolled dough. beginning at long end, roll dough, jelly roll fashion, and wrap in plastic. repeat with other half of dough. refrigerate both rolls several hours or overnight.
• 6 with a thin, sharp knife, slice cookies into 1/4" slices. place on cookie pan lined with parchment paper. bake at 375f for 8-10 minutes.
• 7 orange-fig cookies: make filling of 1-1/4 c figs, 1/4 c sugar, 3/4 c water. cook approximately 10 minutes, then add 1 tbsp orange peel and 1/2 c finely chopped walnuts. proceed as above using orange-fig filling instead of date filling.