Cream shortening and white and brown sugar. until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, beating well. Sift dry ingredients together and add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Chill dough at least an hour.
Meanwhile, make date filling by combining chopped dates, sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add lemon juice and salt. Cool.
On floured surface (or pastry cloth), roll half of the dough at a time to a little less than 1/8 inch. Cut with 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter. (Recipe recommends cutting a small hole in the center of half the cookies for the top with a thimble. My mom has always skipped this step.) Place 1 tablespoon of prepared date filling in the center of each plain cookie bottom. Top with another round cookie (with small hole if you are following original recipe). Press the edges of each filled cookie together with the tip of a fork to seal. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 375° for about 10 to 12 minutes.
Reviews
Jackie on 2024-12-23 (3 stars): I followed the instructions to a tee. The dough was terrible to roll out. It wouldn't stay together. I'm very disappointed.
KRISTEN M DANZIG on 2024-06-16 (5 stars): These are delicious! I used pitted medjool dates and chopped . Thank you ! Can't eat just one!
kristen on 2024-05-26 (5 stars): Delicious! I used fresh dates abd just added a bit more water. I might try to make them a little smaller like the "little packages" of half moon
Rangsi Syamananda on 2024-05-15 (5 stars): So good and so easy. Despite the humidity of the filling, the cookies dough maintains its crispness after cooking. However, I replaced shortening by unsalted butter and add lemon zest and finely chopped roasted pecan to the date filling to give more flavors and reduce its sweetness. I will certainly use your recipe to make other fruit-filled cookies!
Karen on 2023-12-27 (5 stars): These are my favorite cookies and my mom made them for me. She passed away 10 years ago and with her went the baking of these. I've never tried to bake them but this recipe sounds like hers exactly and I am going to make them.
Leslie Anne on 2023-11-28 (5 stars): Been making since the 60's. Yes the recipes do change from issue to issue for some odd reason. Not the only cookie & even bread recipes to change not for the better it seems. I have Mom's 50's book & my 72 book a wedding gift from Mom. So I have made this recipe into a bar cookie when for time. I also add 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts to the date mix before heating. Yummmm!!!! All the ways you can make these. Not as great as a bakery in Livingston MT in the 50 & early 60's. Close but theirs were larger folded over circles & had the walnuts. Dough would be bake to a rich darker brown. Always chasing the dream.
Kiera on 2022-12-23 (4 stars): I made these cookies today and while they tasted delicious, the dough was extremely stiff and difficult to roll out--the dough kept cracking and it was impossible to roll it to 1/8 inch. It seemed to me like there was too much flour in the mix, especially as the recipe did not follow the 3-2-1 for flour-fat-sugar ratio. I may make these again and reduce the flour to see how that goes.
