Date Rolls

Dates are tasty little dried fruits. They're like little chunks of brown sugar, which, if you're a baker like me is pure delight. I won't qualify this as health food by any stretch despite it being a fruit as the fact that it tastes like brown sugar is, shockingly, a result of the high sugar content in them.

I'd made Fig Rolls some time ago, and have used dates a handful of times (my first glorious experience with dates was Figgy Pudding). They're pretty rad fruits; I even made a raw brownie recipe once that was pretty darn good. They are dense and hold up well in different recipes.

I'd wondered how dates would be in one of these cookies, so I decided to do a little revamp and make date rolls.

I started out making a date jam. I wasn't sure how they'd cook down so I did this prior to starting the dough. I added the dates, orange juice and honey to a saucepan, heated it to a simmer over medium heat, and stirred every now and again while the dates softened (this took about 25 minutes). At that point I used a spoon to mash them up and make them a paste, cooking for a few minutes longer to thicken it. Don't be shy on the mashing! This has to fit through a piping bag so giant chunks won't cut it. Finally, I spread the jam out on some wax paper and let it cool down before placing it the fridge. I needed it to thicken up enough to hold up in a pastry bag.

This dough is a very dense one. I made it by first beating butter, honey, and sugar together, then adding in egg yolks last. I then gradually mixed the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. It was then time for the dough to rest. I divided the dough into thirds, flattened them out a bit, then wrapped them in plastic and set them in the fridge to rest for about 30 minutes .

After the dough had chilled out for a while, it was ready to roll. Allowing the dough to sit in the fridge not only allows the gluten to relax, it firms up the dough for rolling. Trust me, rolling out mushy, room temperature dough does not work well. It sticks to everything like Gak.

I rolled out one section into a rectangular shape then piped on some of the date mixture closer to one of the longer sides.

To seal the cookies, I brushed egg wash lengthwise along the dough on the side closest to the filling.

Then, I folded the larger section of dough (the remaining 2/3 from where I spread the fig) over the fig filling and gently pressed the seams together, using the egg wash as glue. The pieces seamed together perfectly.

It's best next to refrigerate the dough log about 10 minutes before slicing the cookies. Rolling the dough out and working it with your hands warms it up and it can start turning into mush again, so refrigerating the dough log makes it easy to slice without crushing it and ruining all that work.

I sliced the cookes into 1/2" - 1" wide cookies and placed them on a cookie sheet. The first time I baked fig rolls I refrigerated them for one more 10 minute block, but this time I just got em in the oven. I didn't notice any difference in the dough spread so I'll note that little time saver for next time.

So after a list of steps like that, how did the cookies turn out? Muy bueno! Dates definitely have a different flavor than figs, and so the end result was that sweeter, brown sugar flavor wrapped in a little shortbread. I will say that as far as fruity flavors go, the fig version has more of that, but this lady made both at once so it all worked out perfectly. I think this has been my best date yet. Date recipe!

Date Rolls Recipe

Ingredients:

For the dough:
10 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 1/4 cup spelt flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

For the filling:
2 cups medjool dates
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup water
6 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg white

Instructions:

To make the dough, beat butter, honey, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt. Add eggs to butter mixture and beat for 1-2 more minutes. Mix in vanilla, honey, and orange zest. Gradually add dry ingredients, slowly mixing after each addition. Separate dough into three equal portions, then wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about 3 hours.

To make the filling, remove any pits from the dates and cut into quarters. Add to a saucepan with orange juice, water, honey, and salt. Heat to medium and simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Mash dates to make a paste, lower heat to low, and continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and spread jam onto a plate. Refrigerate until cold, then spoon into a piping bag with a tip cut about 1/2" wide.

Once dough is ready, spread flour on a rolling surface and rolling pin. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Beat one egg white in a small bowl. Remove plastic from one portion of dough and roll into a rectangular shape about 10" x 4" and 1/2" thick. Trim edges to make an even rectangle and gather leftover dough into a pile to add into the other dough later. Pipe the fig filling lengthwise along the dough, about 1/3 of the way across the width. Use a pastry brush to spread egg lengthwise along the edge closest to the filling, then fold the opposite side over the filling to create the roll. Gently combine the seams together to make the dough uniform. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Using a sharp knife, cut the log widthwise into 1 inch wide cookies. Set on a cookie sheet about 1/2" apart. Bake for 15 minutes.