Date Pinwheel Cookie Adventure

“Look! Medjool dates!”

I was way more excited about this Manhattan discovery than my good friend Gina. She just chuckled. This was eons ago at the Whole Foods near Columbus Circle, and I remember eagerly forking over my hard-earned money for the plastic lidded container.

Maybe I ate one or two dates as a snack, but the rest went into Yiayia’s date pinwheel cookie recipe. My family isn’t sure where she originally picked it up since the recipe was so different from her Greek pastry repertoire. Wherever she found the inspiration, the smell of these cookies baking always brings me right back to her warm, sunny apartment.

She used to store the cookies — and only these cookies — in a round sunflower yellow ridged Tupperware container. I gasped when I saw the green version appear in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”

After Yiayia passed away, my mom, my aunt, and I found the container in the pantry at her apartment. There were no cookies inside, but when we opened the lid, it still smelled just like them. My tears intensified.

Making the cookies is one way of keeping Yiayia’s spirit alive. Mixing the date mixture over the stove, I can still picture her humming a little Greek song as she moved purposefully around her kitchen.

There are few cookie recipes in my own repertoire that I feel confident will please a crowd. This is one of them. Once I brought a bunch to my bar trivia team along with plastic bags so everyone could bring home leftovers. By the end of quiz, there weren’t any left.

A warning: These cookies can be way too easy to keep eating. I highly recommend making them to share.

Yiayia’s Date Cookies

Filling:
½ lb. dates, pitted
⅓ C. water
1 tsp. grated orange peel

Dough:
½ tsp. salt
½ C. white sugar
½ C. brown sugar
½ C. unsalted butter at room temperature
2 C. all-purpose unbleached flour
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
1 large egg

If the dates still have pits, remove them. Roughly chop the dates and put them in a small saucepan with the water and orange peel. Mix together and cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until it turns into a thick paste consistency. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, baking soda, vanilla, and salt using an electric hand mixer. Gradually add the sugars until the dough becomes smooth and creamy.

Add the egg and beat until smooth. Add the flour last, switching to a wooden spoon to combine if needed.

Roll the dough out into a ½-inch rectangle approximately 16 inches long and 8 inches wide. Spread the date filling in a thin layer over the dough using a spatula or the back of a large spoon, leaving a little empty space around all four edges.

Gently roll the dough up into a tight pinwheel along the wide end to produce a 16-inch-long cylinder. Wrap the dough log well in waxed paper, folding the paper ends underneath the roll. Place the roll on a baking sheet or a completely flat surface in the refrigerator. Chill for 3 or 4 hours, but ideally overnight.

Slice the cold cookie dough log into thin discs using a sharp knife. You should have around 42 cookies. The two ends aren’t pretty but they’ll still be tasty.

Bake the cookies on greased cookie sheets in a 375°F oven for 10 minutes. They should be just starting to turn golden. Using a spatula, gently remove the cookies to racks to cool. They might seem underdone as you move them, but will cool to a soft baked consistency.