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Pecan-Stuffed Date Cookies
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| What You Need: |
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COOKIES
6 tablespoons butter, softened
45 pitted dates (about 12 ounces)
45 shelled pecan halves (about 4 ounces)
2 cups unsifted flour
½ teaspoon double-acting baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
½ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
ICING
8 tablespoons butter, cut into ½-inch bits
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 tablespoons milk
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| How To Cook: |
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1. Preheat the oven to 350. With a pastry brush, spread 1 tablespoon of the softened butter evenly over each of two large baking sheets. Gently pry each date open along the slit in its side, insert a pecan half and press the edges of the date securely together. Set aside.
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2. Combine the flour, baking powder, soda and salt, and sift them together into a bowl. In a deep mixing bowl, cream the remaining 4 tablespoons of softened butter with the brown sugar by beating and mashing them against the sides of the bowl with the back of a large spoon until the mixture is light and fluffy.
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3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add 1 cup of the flour mixture and, when it is thoroughly incorporated, beat in ¼ cup of the sour cream. Repeat, alternating 1 cup of the flour with ¼ cup of sour cream and beating the batter well after each addition. Stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
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4. With kitchen tongs or your fingers, pick up one pecan-stuffed date at a time and swirl it in the batter to coat the entire surface evenly. As they are coated, arrange the dates about 1 inch apart on the buttered baking sheets.
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5. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes, until the coating is delicately browned. Then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool to room temperature.
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6. When the cookies are cool, prepare the icing in the following fashion:Melt the 8 tablespoons of butter bits over low heat in a small heavy skillet,stirring so that the bits melt evenly without burning. Pour the meltedbutter into a mixing bowl and, when it has cooled, sift in the confectioners' sugar.
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7. Mix well, then stir in 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons of milk. If the icing is too stiff to spread easily, add up to 1tablespoon more milk by the teaspoonful.
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8. With a small metal spatula, spread the icing evenly over the entire outside surface of each of the. stuffed-date cookies and arrange them side byside on wax paper to dry. In a tightly covered jar or tin, the cookies may safely be kept for about 2 weeks.
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