Dates with Almonds and Ginger Cookies

Ingredients

• Butter unsalted
• Powdered sugar
• Ginger paste
• Orange zest
• Dates pitted
• Almonds blanched
• All-purpose flour
• Baking power
• Kosher salt
• Powdered sugar

What Ginger to Use

Ginger comes in fresh, ground, candied, and pasted varieties, so how do you choose? Fresh can be fibrous and hard to regulate through a cookie batter. You can certainly read up on the benefits of consuming ginger at Medical New Today.  Candied is to sweet and is sugar coated. I found at the grocery store a tube of ginger paste and have been dying to try it in a recipe.

The Gourmet Garden ginger paste product did not disappoint me in any way. I cannot tell you how well it blended through the cookie dough, and you didn't feel like you were chewing on a stalk. Be careful; some ginger paste is just for cooking and has a vinegar base, while Gourmet Garden ginger paste can be used for both sweet and savory dishes.

Making Date Almond and Ginger Cookies

These shortbread cookies have the sweetness of dates, the crunch of blanched almonds, and the spiciness of ginger. So, grab your mixer, and let's make some cookies.

Always the Prep Work

I start by weighing or measuring the powdered sugar into a small bowl and setting it aside. Next, I weigh or measure the flour in another bowl, then add the baking powder and salt. I run a whisk through to blend.

Next, I grab my cutting board and get the pitted dates.

I pick out about 18 nice-sized dates from my container. If your dates look smaller than these, add a few more. I cut them in half length-wise and cut the havles into 3 or 4 pieces.

I try to get about 1 cup of chopped dates when I finish cutting them up.

Now, the orange and blanched almonds.

It takes the zest of two oranges to equal the 1 ½ tablespoons for the recipe.

You have a choice with the almonds: You can leave them the size they come in or chop them up into smaller pieces. I leave mine whole for the crunch and texture.

Mixing the Cookie Dough

I like to cube my butter sticks to see how soft they are. If they are at room temperature, there is little resistance when you cut the sticks.

Creaming the butter on a medium mixer speed does not take long if it is at room temperature. If you get clumps in your mixer beater, it is still cold. So, the time is 1 to 2 minutes, depending on how cold the butter is. Then add the powdered sugar and mix on a medium speed for another 1 to 2 minutes.

Next, scrape down the bowl sides before adding the ginger paste and orange zest. Mix on medium speed until they are incorporated, about a minute. Now, it is time to add the dry ingredients. I do about ¼ of the flour mixture at a time. Stop after all the flour is in and scrape across the bottom of the bowl with a spatula to make sure all the flour has been incorporated.

Finally, add the dates and almonds to the cookie dough. I mix them for about 30 seconds or less just so they are evenly distributed. I also take a spatula and make sure everything is mixed together.

Wrap and Chill

Take the cookie dough out of the mixer bowl and put it on parchment paper, a pastry mat, or the counter. If it sticks to the counter, add a little powdered sugar. I prefer powdered sugar instead of flour for this kind of cookie.

You have two options for the log. You can divide the cookie dough in half and make two logs (2" in diameter and about 12" long) or make one bigger, fatter log. I do two logs simply because I like the smaller, thicker cookie. If you do one log and make them the same thickness, you may need to adjust the time of the bake.

Then, wrap them in plastic wrap and lay them in something that will keep them round. I bought this baguette pan a couple of years ago and love it for making shortbread log cookies.

You can also cut the center of a paper towel roll in half lenght wise. To see the paper towel trick you can see it in a picture on my Fresh Cranberry Orange Pecan Shortbread Cookies page.

Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Measure Slice and Bake

I get a shape knife and a ruler or tape measure. Preheat the oven to  350°F (175°C or 180°C) and line 2 cookie sheet pans with parchment paper.

I score my log before I cut the slices. If you keep them about the same thickness, they will bake up nicely all at the same time.

I scored the log into ¾" thick slices before going down the log and making the slices.

Bake the cookies at 350°F (175°C or 180°C) for 11-12 minutes. After you pull them from the oven, leave them on the pan for a minute before moving them to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

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