Page 57 in the old book / page 87 in the new book
The last (and possibly best) of the rocks. This is a plainer and simpler cookie than the other rocks - no icing and only one spice - but very, very good. These are soft cookies stuffed with dates and pecans and flavored with allspice and brown sugar.
Making these cookies is easier than either the pumpkin or banana rocks because they are not iced. I don't mind icing cookies, but when the icing has to go on the moment the cookies come out of the oven, things tend to get a little crazy in the kitchen! With these, you drop them on the sheet, bake 'em, and put them on a rack to cool. Done.
Date-Nut Rocks would be perfect for mailing - they're not at all fragile and hold up very well in storage.
Date-Nut Rocks received uniformly high scores from the cookie panel this week. Denny will be away on vacation for the next few weeks, so Terri has volunteered to fill in for him. As I did with the others when the cookie panel first convened, I asked Terri what she liked in a cookie. Here's her reply: "I really like almost any cookie imaginable. I prefer cookies with nuts and flavoring more than pure chocolate cookies. Actually, I'll try anything :)" And here's the cookie panel:
Suzanne: "This cookie is a little dry. I do love the sweet taste of the dates, even though at first glance I though they looked like the dreaded raisins. Rating - 4"
Terri: "Just the right amount of dates and pecans in this cookie. The allspice added flavor, but not too spicy. Moist, and not crumbly, make this similar to a date-nut bread. Perfect cookie with coffee or tea. Rating - 4"
Laura: "I like 'em! A yummy 'slice' of 'date bread' in a moist, delicious cookie. Rating - 4"
Phil: "In contrast to the excesses of Banana Rocks, this combination of ingredients really worked for me. This cookie looks interesting and delivers with a nice synthesis of sweet dates, crunchy pecans and a noticeable zip of allspice. Rating - 4.1"
Overall rating by the panel - 4.0
Next week - Blind Date Cookies
Nutrition Facts
8 comments:
Suzanne's comment is hilarious! I admire her bravery in tasting all your cookies. I know many people who would refuse the cookies, rather that pick out raisins.
I think these are in one of my Maida books. I'll have to give them a shot.
Hi Cathy,
These sound good. I haven't really had dates in cookies before, but after reading all of the comments, this sounds like something that I would enjoy.
On a side note, I admire your baking your way through Maida's book. Any idea when you'll actually be finished with them all?
Very beautiful photo, Cathy! It certainly makes the cookies look good!
I love how people are applying for being in the cookie panel - heck, I would too if I was there! I like the idea of dates and allspice, will definitely have to try this one...
Hi Nic! Yes, Suzanne has been very dutiful in fulfilling her obligations as a member of the cookie panel! :) Seriously, she has been great about it. If the tables were turned and someone was bringing in something every Monday for me to taste and half the time it had mushrooms in it, I don't think I would be nearly as good natured about it!
Hi Reid! They are good - it's nice when such an easy cookie has such a great payback!
Well - it's going to be a while... hope you're not tiring of cookies! I counted a little over 150 cookies in the book. At approximately one a week, that makes this a 3-year project! Date-Nut Rocks are the 29th cookie in the book.
Hi Alice - Thank you!! I just made my first ever trip to Wegmans last weekend and bought the dish there. It's starting to get hard to think of different ways to photograph the cookies, so it helps to have a new dish to mix it up a little!
Hi Zarah! I'm really glad Terri was willing to step in for a few weeks... othewise, with it being summer and everyone having vacation plans, I might have had a skeleton crew on the cookie panel!
Hi Cathy,
Wow! That's a lot of cookies. =) I think I can live through them all, except I might feel like eating some from time to time.
I hope you have time to participate because I'm going to tag you for this meme that's going around.
http://onokinegrindz.typepad.com/ono_kine_grindz/2005/06/the_cook_next_d.html
Hi Reid - Zarah got me on that one too! I just did the cookbook one and will work on the other tomorrow.
Yummm, I want some. Do you post the recipe anywhere?
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