italian dessert recipes

Date Cookies

"With the hidden bourbon date filling"


These date cookies have a hidden surprise - the dates are hidden inside the cookie. And double surprise - the have been cooked in bourbon! Yes we (Italians) love to cook with alcohol! date cookies 01 If you don't have any bourbon on hand. Substitutions can be made. See substitutions below.


Dates are a fairly common in Italian cookie recipes. As a kid, I thought dates were lame, and especially in desserts. But, as I've gained a wrinkle or two, I reverted back to my roots and my mom's cookie recipes she baked prior to her green hippie tangent era. (You can read about that in the about section, if you are so inclined.)


This is a drop cookies recipe, but with a two step drop:

  • First: Drop 1 teaspoon of batter.


  • Second: Drop half teasopoon of bourbon date filling on top.


  • Then: Cover with half teaspoon of cookie dough and seal.





    • Date Cookies

    With the hidden bourbon filling


    YIELD - Makes 3 dozen date cookies

    Ingredients:

    * 1 cup packed brown sugar

    * 1/2 cup butter shortening (Yes, you read right - "shortening". *Gasp* I know!)

    * 1/4 cup buttermilk or water (I have used water and/or normal milk and it turns out ok)

    * 1 large egg

    * 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

    * 1 tsp vanilla

    * 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

    * 1/2 tsp baking soda

    * Hidden Bourbon Date Filling (see below)

    Procedure

     (Prepare date filling first, let cool while making the cookie batter.)

    * Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

    * Mix brown sugar, shortening, and buttermilk, vanilla, and egg.

    * Stir in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

    * Heat oven to 350.

    * Drop a rounded teaspoonsful of the dough onto ungreased cookie sheet.

    * place a 1/2 teaspoon of date filling on the cookie.

    * Cover with 1/2 teaspoon of cookie dough.

    * Place in oven and bake about 8-10 minutes.

    * Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack after 10 minutes of cooling.



    Bourbon Date Filling

     Procedure

     * Place all date filling ingredients in sauce pan EXCEPT the nuts!

    * Place pan on moderately low heat

    * Stir constantly until mixture thickens ( Stay there , don't get impatient!)

    * Remove from heat

    * Add nuts

    * Set aside and let cool while you mix up the cookie batter

    The cookie portion of the recipe is straight out of the old red covered Betty Crocker Cookbook that has been around forever. The bourbon date filling has been adapted



    Can I substitute butter in place of the shortening?

    Let me start with - I HATE SHORTENING! And I mention that about every page when the substitution is asked about. But, I'm afraid the date cookie would spread too thin and that bourbon filling surprise would melt into the dough - and there goes the best part. The hidden filling. These will spread even with the shortening, but the filling stays enclosed.

    What can I use instead of bourbon in the date filling?

    There are several things. But the bourbon gives the date filling that little punch. Here's some options though:

  • rum flavoring


  • rum


  • orange juice


    • I'm out of walnuts, what other nuts are used in Italian dessert recipes?

    There are two that could be swapped out

  • blanched almonds
    • (make sure and get them real small though)

  • pistachios
    • (I'd halve the amount though, since these guys are flavorful!)



    More Italian Cookie Recipes



    lisa gianotti I love sugar and I eat dessert EVERYDAY! Ok, not MASSIVE amounts. But I do have to finish off the evening meal with a little sweet something.

    When I was a kid my health conscience mother would ration my Halloween candy. Her mantra was, "white sugar will kill you". But my Italian grandma always told me, "Everybody needs a little bit of sugar." :-) So, to get my October Halloween sugar fix I will make the traditional Italian cookie recipe, Venetian Bones of the Dead. Italians make these for the Day of the Dead on November 2nd. So - hey, our holiday in America - Halloween is the closest.

    So - while the neighborhood is slamming down a bunch of gross mass produced candy on October 31st, I'll have a real goodie. Oh yeah, I'll have to post it too! (Eventually!) You know how it is. Work. Kids. Clean. Cook.



    I'll see if Bones Of The Dead is in my grandma's first recipe file she started when she married in 1932. Most of the recipes on my site came from her influence. If they aren't in her file - then I got them from her friends. And the remainder I experimented with adapting her style.

    I hope she looks down and smiles this Halloween.

    Lisa


    Would you like to share this page? You know how to do it! Thanks for sharing the sugar love!




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    Recipes on this site are from family cookbooks, family traditions, or intentional adaptations from traditional recipes to add an Italian flair. If a recipe was adapted or used from another cook - it is mentioned on the recipe page and the recipe author is given credit.