Sticky Date Cookies

 

I wanted to make a new biscuit/cookie recipe so I asked the family for suggestions. My son wanted a sticky date pudding in a biscuit while my husband wanted a big cookie with dates & stuff in it & my daughter wanted anything. It was obvious to me that the new cookie was going to contain dates.

This recipe was designed specifically to be made with Bakers' Magic gluten free flour. The finished baked product will not be the same if you use another gluten free flour and you will need to adjust the recipe, particularly if the flour you're using contains rice flour.

Ingredients 

Cookie

250 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

100 g Buckwheat flakes*

1 tsp Baking powder

1/4 tsp Salt

75 g Golden syrup

100 g Brown sugar

1 Egg

250 g Butter (melted)

200 g Dates (chopped)

1/4 tsp Bicarb of soda

75 g Boiling water

 

Buckwheat flakes are available from Sunnybrook Health & Healing. They have an online store & ship products worldwide.

 

Caramel Icing

75 g Thickened cream

40 g Butter

10 g Glucose syrup

20 g Golden syrup

125 g Icing sugar

 

Method

Cookie

Line 2 trays with baking paper.

Chop the dates & put them into a microwaveable bowl. Add the boiling water stir to combine, stir in the bicarb & then microwave the mixture for ~30 secs. Stir in the golden syrup & set the mixture aside for ~10 mins.  

Mix together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Stir in the egg to the date mixture. 

Melt the butter & add it to the date mixture. 

Pour the date/butter mix into the dry mix & stir to combine.

Refrigerate the cookie dough for ~30 mins. 

While the dough is cooling preheat oven to 170 C.

Take ~50 g of the dough & roll it into a ball. Transfer the dough ball to a baking tray & squash it a little.

Bake at 170 C for approximately 15 mins.

Allow to cool before icing them (optional).

The mix will make approximately 20 cookies if ~50 g of dough per cookie is used. I only get 19 cookies because some of the dough gets eaten.

Caramel Icing

This icing was inspired by an icing my mother used to make for her honey biscuits - I loved it. There are a couple of different ways that you can make the icing; as a consequence the icing can be quite different. 

Essentially the icing is made in a saucepan on the stove. 

  • Bit of caramel icing on above left - this was used on the cookies. Add ingredients (except for the icing sugar) & boil until it starts to turn a caramel colour. Take off heat add icing sugar & mix until it is smooth. Put blobs on the cookies.
  • Extreme right & second on left. Add all ingredients to the saucepan. Stir over low heat until there are no lumps of icing sugar. Boil the mixture for ~5 minutes on medium low heat without stirring. Allow to cool for ~10 minutes before pouring a bit on the cookies.
  • Middle icing between the runny caramel. Follow the instructions as above for the runny caramel. After the caramel has cooled for ~10 mins stir the mixture very quickly with a spoon. The icing will thicken & the sugar will start to crystallise. While the mixture is still warm put a spoonful of the icing on each cookie.

I love the icing when it is the runny caramel (as do the kids) but as an icing for the cookie it is simply too sticky.  

Whichever one you choose - enjoy!