Date Pinwheels

Recipe: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/date-pinwheels

Ease of Baking: 5/10 (a longer process, but nothing too complicated)

Taste: 5/10

Pinwheels are a great cookie to appear sophisticated yet require only a modicum of effort. I brought these cookies to work after baking them, and got more compliments than I thought they deserved.  If you’re looking to impress coworkers around the holidays, these are a great cookie to do so.

These cookies are actually easier to make compared to the previously posted date thumbprints. And the recipe as outlined above makes enough cookies for a small army! (I wouldn’t be surprised if there were over 100 cookies from my batch) They also freeze well, as I saved one log for a future date (pun regrettable).

Be sure to flour the rolling surface and rolling pin thoroughly, as the dough tends to stick even after refrigerating. When making the filling, don’t be afraid to boil the mixture for a while, as the longer you boil, the more uniform the mixture will be and the more water evaporates. Just be sure to keep stirring to avoid burning. Also be sure to let the filling cool completely; if you spread it when it’s hot you’re likely to break the nicely rolled dough (and end up with date globs instead of pinwheels). Use either a serrated or sharp knife to cut the log, and it helps to gently shape the cookies so they’re more circular and less oval-shaped.

This recipe obviously needed to be compared to the date thumbprints of the previous post. The filling of the pinwheels called for pecans (which I roasted), more sugar, and (relatively) less water. The pinwheel filling actually had too little water and I added some extra so the filling could achieve the desired consistency (most of the water boils off anyways). The thumbprint filling, by comparison, didn’t seem sweet enough.

The dough on the pinwheels was much better also. The dough was much more compact (because there wasn’t nearly as much baking soda) and the dough could be undercooked if you wanted a softer cookie, or baked a little longer if you wanted crisper cookies. The thumbprints either were dough, done, or burnt; the dough didn’t bake as neatly as the pinwheel dough.

These cookies taste exactly what you would expect for a date pinwheel. The pecans are definitely a nice touch. I made the dough a little crispy, and appreciated the texture of the crisp dough compared to the soft filling.  There is also a nice balance between the sweeter filling and the dough. While I enjoyed these cookies, they’re pretty standard cookies; a good mixture of sugar and fat, yet nothing to grab my attention.

Suggestions for next time? It depends if you want adventurous date cookies or traditional date pinwheels. If you’re looking for a traditional date cookie, I’m not sure I can suggest anything beyond what this recipe supplies.  If you’re looking to break out of the box, one recipe online suggested orange zest, while another recommended adding cranberries to the filling. Orange zest in the dough sounds very intriguing to me, which I’ll try if I find myself making these cookies next Christmas season.