Honey Orange Glazed Walnut Date Cookies

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These Honey Orange Glazed Walnut Date Cookies are soft, lightly sweet, and full of warm, natural flavor. The honey adds a gentle sweetness while the orange brings a bright, fresh note. If you enjoy cookies with orange flavor, you can also browse my orange cookie recipes for more citrus-inspired treats.

Honey orange glazed walnut date cookies on a board with a stack of cookies and a close up of one cookie.

These cookies are perfect when you want something a little different from traditional flavors. The combination of honey, citrus, and dates gives them a slightly rustic feel, while the orange glaze adds a light finishing touch. For another fruit-forward option, try my Fresh Peach and Preserves Thumbprint Cookies, or for a brighter citrus flavor, my Meringue with Lemon Curd Cookies.

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A Quick Look: Honey Orange Glazed Walnut Date Cookies
Still Have Questions?
Why You'll Love This Cookie
Key Ingredients
How to Make Honey Orange Glazed Walnut Date Cookies
Scoop Size Tip
🫙🍪 Storage
Honey Orange Glazed Walnut Date Cookie FAQs
❄️ Can I Freeze This Cookie?
Love Orange? Try Some of These
Recipe

A Quick Look: Honey Orange Glazed Walnut Date Cookies

Recipe Name: Honey Orange Glazed Walnut Date Cookies
Ready In: about 2 hours (including chill)
Yield: 42 cookies
Texture: Soft and tender with a slightly chewy bite from the dates and a little crunch from the walnuts.
Flavor Profile: Light honey sweetness with a bright orange finish, balanced by rich walnuts and naturally sweet dates.
Difficulty: Simple to make with no complicated steps.

Still Have Questions?

Use the buttons below if you would like more details before you start baking.

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Balanced flavor, not too sweet. The honey adds a gentle sweetness while the orange brings a fresh, bright finish.
Soft with a little texture. These cookies stay tender with a slightly chewy bite from the dates and a light crunch from the walnuts.
A little different in the best way. The combination of honey, citrus, and dates gives these cookies a unique, slightly rustic flavor.
Perfect for spring and beyond. Light citrus and natural sweetness make these a great choice for warmer days and casual gatherings.
Easy to make ahead. The dough chills well, making it easier to handle and perfect for planning ahead.
Finished with a simple glaze. The orange glaze adds just the right touch without overpowering the cookie.

Key Ingredients

Walnut Date with Honey Orange Glaze Cookies ingredients.

Dates - I like to use pitted dates to save time, and they can be quickly chopped in a food processor. I still like to cut through them first to check the inside before using.
Maple syrup - I don't skimp on quality ingredients, and it really shows in the final cookie. I used Escuminac Extra Rare maple syrup from Quebec, which has a rich, smooth flavor. It can be found on Amazon, though the price may be higher, or through Escuminac directly, where they sometimes offer gift sets that include the Extra Rare. Availability can vary, so it helps to sign up for their email notifications.
Honey - So many different kinds of honey out there, but I just use whatever I have handy in my pantry.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How to Make Honey Orange Glazed Walnut Date Cookies

Prep

Step 1: Weigh or measure the sugar and set it aside. Next, weigh or measure the flour and add the salt. Run a whisk through to blend.

Mix the Dough

Butter and cream cheese cut up in a mixer bowl.

Step 2: Cut the butter and cream cheese into a mixer bowl.

Cream cheese and butter and sugar that has been mixed for three minutes and now fluffy.

Step 3: Mix for a minute then add the sugar and mix on a medium mixer speed for 3 minutes. It should look fluffy.

Flour mixture that has been added to the butter-cream cheese sugar mix.

Step 4: Add the flour and salt and combine into the butter-cream cheese mixture. Cover and chill for 1 to 2 hours.

Walnuts and Dates Filling

I make the filling just before I am going to take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator. You will need a food processor to combine and chop the dates and walnuts.

Chopping the dates into the size of the walnut pieces about ½ cup.

Step 5: You want ½ cup of dates and the easiest way to do that is to cut the dates into small pieces. Depending on the size of your dates this should equal about 10 to 14 dates.

Chopped dates and walnuts with the maple syrup in a food processor.

Step 6: Add the dates, walnuts and maple syrup to a food processor. I hit the pulse button a couple of time then just turn it on for about 30 seconds. You want it sticky and in small pieces. If the walnut-date-maple syrup mixture is still a little dry, you can add a little more maple syrup.

Assembling the Cookies

Scoop Size Tip

A smaller scoop works best for this cookie since the dough is meant to support the stronger flavors of the orange, honey, walnuts, and dates. Using less dough helps those flavors stand out instead of getting lost. A medium scoop will give you about thirty-six cookies, while a small scoop makes around forty-two. If using the medium scoop, you may need to add a minute or two to the baking time.

Step 7: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C) and add parchment paper to two cookie sheet pans.

Twelve cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined cookie sheet pan.

Step 8: Use a small cookie scooper and make a ball from the scooped cookie dough. I put 12 on a sheet pan, giving plenty of room to expand while baking. I use a damp paper towel to keep my thumb slightly wet while making the wells.

Cookie balls in which the thumb has made a well for the filling.

Step 9: Take your thumb and go straight down through the middle of the cookie dough ball. Your thumb does not make a big enough well for the filling, so stretch the hole out, careful not to tear the cookie dough.

Cookie wells are filled with the walnut date filling.

Step 10: Take a small amount of the walnut-date filling and fill the well of each cookie. Try not to over fill it does expand some when baked.

Single baked cookie that has small cracks to indicate that the cookies are ready to come out of the oven.

Step 11. Bake at 350°F (175°C or 180°C) for 12-14 minutes. When you see small cracks in the cookies, it's time to pull them out of the oven, and move them to a cooling rack.

Making Honey Orange Glaze

Zesting and juicing an orange on a cutting board.

Step 12: Zest and juice one orange into separate containers.

Honey orange glaze in a bowl ready to be added to the cookies.

Step 13: Add to a mixing bowl the powdered sugar, orange juice, orange zest, and honey, whisking until blended.

Step 14: To head off any mess I put parchment sheets under the cooling rack to capture the dripping glaze. I take a spoon and go back and forth over the top of each cookie. This gives the drips plenty of room to fall where they want to. It takes about 30 minutes for the glaze to harden.

Honey orange glazed walnut date cookies on a board with a stack of cookies and a single front view of one cookie.

🫙🍪 Storage

These cookies do nicely in a plastic container with a lid that sits right on your countertop. They will last at least a week in normal temperatures.

Can I substitute the walnuts for another nut?

Yes, you can substitute the walnuts, but I chose them because they balance well with the honey, orange, and dates without overpowering the other flavors. Other nuts will change the overall flavor of the cookie, so keep that in mind if you decide to swap them.

Can I add vanilla or almond extract to the walnut date cookie dough?

Yes, but only add a small amount since it can take away from the other flavors.

I do not typically freeze cookie dough when testing my recipes, so the instructions above reflect how this cookie was baked and stored. If you would like to explore general freezing options, the AI tool below can provide additional guidance.