Sugar is good in all forms. Seems like brown sugar is better than white sugar and maybe unrefined sugar is also better. We have the Joanne Chang from Flour cookbook on baking with less sugar. This recipe has no sugar and uses dates as a sweetener. The cookies are not very sweet and have great nutty and buttery flavor. The recipe is fairly straight forward. The dough could be made ahead and chilled or even frozen after cut into the rectangular shapes.
Ingredients
- 100g, 1c chopped pecans
- 9-12 pitted dates, finely chopped, we preferred using 12 for more flavor and sweetness
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 225g, 1c cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 cubes
- 1T vanilla extract
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2t salt
- 210g, 1.5c all purpose flour
- 30g, 1/4c cornstarch
Steps
- preheat oven to 350f
- toast the pecans spread on a baking sheet for 8-10m until they look and smell toasted
- put dates and baking soda in bowl, add boiling water to cover, let sit for 10-15m until the dates are soft
- drain the water and mash the dates with a spoon in small bowl
- in standing mixer, mix the butter and dates with paddle for about 5m until fluffy
- add vanilla, egg yolk, salt to mixer, mix until combined
- keep scraping the bowl
- in medium bowl mix the flour, cornstarch, pecans
- in 3 or 4 increments add the flour and mix until combined
- scrape the dough onto lightly floured parchment paper
- combine by hand until the dough does not have any flour streaks and is combined
- can chill dough at this point, makes the dough easier to roll out
- press dough into rectangle and use rolling pin until is about 8x12 inches
- score dough in half than each half into 6 to make 12 rectangles
- can score with a fork each cookie
- bake for 30-35m until edges are brown and is pale golden color
- let cool on wire rack
- finish cutting along scores into separate cookies
