Families have different ways of celebrating Advent. When I was growing up, one way we celebrated was by getting a Christmas tree. Finding the tree was a man’s job, so each year Dad and I would head into the woods on the first or second Sunday of December.
We would look at thousands of spruce and balsam trees and examine a hundred or more until we found the perfect one. Then we would take it home so we could listen to complaints about bare spots and flat sides.
It was easier to take the criticism if we were eating one of Grandma Rang’s Date Cookies. Baking those was one way my mother celebrated Advent, and they were Dad’s favorite cookie.
They are one of my favorites too. About twenty years ago, the tradition of these cookies was enriched for me by a wonderful lady, Hazel Olson, who gave me a cookie cutter that had belonged to her husband’s grandmother. It is a tinned steel cutter with fluted sides, a tool that was probably made sometime in the middle of the 19th century. The handle is missing and the plating is worn off in a few places, but it works fine and feels good in my hand as I cut the rich dough.
Although you can eat them as soon as they are cool, these cookies are better after they have been stored in a tight container in a cool room for two or three days. They keep fine for as many weeks.
INGREDIENTS FOR DATE FILLING:
1 cup dates
1 cup cold water
1 cup light brown sugar
Dash of salt
2 T flour
PROCEDURE:
Chop the dates fine and put them in a saucepan with the cold water, sugar and salt. Heat to boiling and simmer until dates are tender, about fifteen minutes. Stir frequently. Mix the flour in a quarter cup cold water and stir into the dates. Simmer another five minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and cool before using as filling.
INGREDIENTS FOR COOKIE DOUGH:
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup butter
3 large eggs
4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
PROCEDURE:
Measure the sugar into a large mixing bowl.
Cream the soft butter and sugar together. Beat the eggs until lemon yellow and stir them into the sugar mixture. Add the soda, baking powder and salt to the flour, and sift it into the sugar mixture about one cup at a time, stirring thoroughly between additions. The dough should be very stiff. Add a little more flour if necessary.
Preheat the oven to 350º and grease the baking sheets.
Flour a large breadboard. Take one-third of the dough, work it into a ball, place it on the breadboard, press it into a round pat about one inch thick, and turn it over, making certain that there is plenty of flour on the breadboard. With a well-floured rolling pin, roll the dough to eighth of an inch thickness.
Cut with a three or three and a half-inch round cookie cutter. Put the rounds on a well-greased cookie sheet and put about a heaping teaspoon of date filling in the middle of each. Top with more rounds and seal the edges by pressing them with your fingers. Try not to make the cookie edges too thin.
Bake in a 350º oven until the cookies are lightly browned, about ten to twelve minutes. Cool on wax paper.
NOTES:
My mother’s recipe says to use a scant teaspoon of soda, baking powder and salt. You can replace the butter with oleo or with about a half cup of shortening, but the cookies are not as good. Use a spatula to handle the rounds, as they are very tender. The trimmings can be worked into the next third of the dough without harm.
Although you can eat them as soon as they are cool, these cookies are best after they have been stored in a tight container in a cool room for two or three days. They keep fine for as many weeks.
The photo shows Grandma Rang’s Date-filled Cookies, Grandma Hopp’s Gingerbread Cookies and some Peppernuts.
Courage in the Kitchen 