Description
These soft little cake-like cookies have a pecan stuffed date hidden in the middle, and they are covered in the most delicious browned butter frosting. A perfect cookie for the holidays!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Cookies
- 1 pound (16 ounces) whole pitted dates
- 3/4 to 1 cup pecan halves, about 30
- 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, spoon and leveled or sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
For the Icing
- 1/3 cup real butter, unsalted
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Enough milk for spreading consistency
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
For the Cookies
- Stuff the dates with the pecan halves and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, beat the butter on high speed until very light and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and mix on medium speed until the sugar is incorporated and the mixture is smooth and creamy with no lumps of sugar remaining. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix on medium speed until all ingredients are well combined. Add one half of the sour cream, followed by one half of the dry ingredients and repeat with the second half of each. On the final addition of the dry ingredients, mix only long enough to incorporate. Do not over mix.
- Drop about 3 to 4 dates into the cookie dough. Using your fingers, gently press each date into the dough, just enough to make sure there is dough on the bottom of each date.
- Transfer the dates to a cookie sheet and place a scoop of cookie dough over each date, making sure you cover all of the date with the dough.
- Bake for about 14 to 15 minutes until cookies are a golden brown on top. They should look light and spongy on top, just like a cake would look when baking.
- Immediately transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Do not allow these cookies to remain on the cookie sheets for long or they will begin to stick. However, there is no need to grease the cookie sheets when baking them. You can also use parchment paper.
For the Icing
- Add the butter to a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until lightly browned, swirling the butter around in the pan every few seconds. Remove immediately from heat once the butter becomes lightly browned. Add the vanilla and add the sugar one cup at a time, whisking well after each addition. Add just enough milk for a nice thin spreading consistency.
- Spread the icing on cooled cookies. Once the icing has set up, place cookies in an airtight container with waxed paper between layers.
Notes
- For the dates, I used two 8 ounce packages of dates. Feel free to use fresh dates if you prefer.
- These cookies will stay fresh for up to five days. If you’re not planning on eating them right away, I recommend freezing them without the icing. They freeze very nicely. I don’t recommend freezing for over 3 months.
- This recipe makes about 30 cookies if you’re using a small 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop.