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Home / Recipes
57 minutes
4.47 from 15 votes
19 Comments

Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies

Jump to RecipePrint Recipe
  • 68
by: Joanna Cismaru

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies  â€“ The dates, chocolate and pecans make these cookies truly amazing and delicious.

Close up shot of Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies

Happy Holidays everyone! I love love this time of year. I have baked so many cookies recently but recipe, I think is special. Dates, chocolate and pecans, well that is a great marriage. They are amazing, my husband was so reluctant to try these cookies but once he tried it he loved it. They are fairly easy to make but requires some finesse and patience. The first time I made them, they did not turn out so pretty, they were actually quite a big mess. Although they looked pretty bad, they were yummy and were eaten fairly quickly. I changed a couple steps, so if you follow my steps you should have no trouble making these cookies.They are worth it, very very good.

You’ll need about a cup and a half of pitted dates and chopped up roughly.

pitted and chopped dates

In a sauce pan, add the sugar, water and chocolate chips.

A pot of sugar, water, dates and chocolate chips

Over low to medium heat, melt the chocolate and cook the mixture, while continually stirring. Cook this until the chocolate melts and the mixture thickens and it looks like a paste, about 3 to 5 minutes.

date-nut-pinwheel-cookies-3

This is already good if you were to eat it just like that, but control yourself. 🙂 Add the chopped pecans to this.

Process shot of making Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies

Stir the pecans in the date mixture and set it aside.

process shot of making Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies

Now we can start making the cookie dough. Start by adding the butter and sugar in the bowl of your mixer. Mix it until it’s light and fluffy at which point you can add the eggs and vanilla extract.

Process shot of making Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies

Continue mixing this until, the eggs are well incorporated. Meanwhile in another bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking soda together. Add the flour mixture to the mixer bowl. Mix in the flour well. The cookie dough will be somewhat soft.

Process shot of making Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies

This is why we need to let it cool in the fridge for an hour. Now if you want to speed up the process, I put mine in the freezer and kept it in the freezer for half hour. After I took it out of the freezer, I thought it would be easier if I rolled this out on a cookie sheet so I sprinkled some flour on a large cookie sheet and rolled out the cookie dough in a big square.

Dough rolled out

Well somewhat square. Pour the date mixture over this and spread it out evenly.

Process shot of making Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies

Now roll this up jelly roll style starting with the side farthest from you. Once you have a nice roll, you have to freeze or refrigerate it again for another 20 to 30 minutes. The first time I made these I did not refrigerate the roll and it was very difficult to cut it in slices, so that’s why they ended up looking not so pretty. After the roll has been refrigerated cut the dough into 1/4 inch slices using a serrated knife. I found that a serrated knife works best. Place the cookies on a baking sheet, leaving about an inch in between them.

Assembled Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies

Bake these puppies in a preheated oven at 350 F degrees for 12 minutes and you’re done. You will thank me, they are truly delicious.

Finished Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies, stacked

Printable recipe:

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a stack of date nut pinwheel cookies

Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies

4.47 from 15 votes
Prep: 45 mins
Cook: 12 mins
Total: 57 mins
Author: Joanna Cismaru
Serves: 30
Print Pin Rate
Date Nut Pinwheel Cookies  – The dates, chocolate and pecans make these cookies truly amazing and delicious.

Ingredients

Filling

  • 1½ cup dates pitted and chopped
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup melted chocolate
  • ¾ cup water
  • 1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

Dough

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for work surface
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ cup brown sugar packed
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup butter unsalted
  • 2 eggs
US Customary – Metric

Instructions

  • In a saucepan over medium heat, add the chopped dates, 1/2 cup of sugar, water and melted chocolate and stir constantly until mixture is thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in chopped walnuts or pecans.
  • In a mixer add butter, brown sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add flour, baking soda and salt and mix well. Refrigerate for about an hour.
  • After an hour roll the dough on a floured surface. Spread the date mixture evenly over the dough. Roll the dough jelly-roll style and trim the edges off. Brush off any excess flour. Refrigerate the roll for another half hour.
  • With a serrated knife cut into 1/4 inch rolls and place on a greased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 1cookieCalories: 142kcal (7%)Carbohydrates: 21g (7%)Protein: 2g (4%)Fat: 6g (9%)Saturated Fat: 2g (13%)Trans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 19mg (6%)Sodium: 64mg (3%)Potassium: 87mg (2%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 13g (14%)Vitamin A: 112IU (2%)Vitamin C: 1mg (1%)Calcium: 15mg (2%)Iron: 1mg (6%)
Course:Cookies, Dessert
Cuisine:American
Keyword:cookie recipe, date nut pinwheel cookies
Tried this recipe? Rate it belowtag @jocooks on instagram and hashtag it #jocooks!
  • 68

Meet Joanna Cismaru

I’m Joanna (Jo for short) and this is my blog where I share with you my culinary adventures. Here you will find a variety of recipes using simple everyday ingredients and creating wonderful, delicious and comforting meals, including some decadent desserts.

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Comments

  1. Susan says

    December 29, 2018 at 11:47 am

    5 stars
    Fantastic! I substituted Nutella for the chocolate. My husband says it’s even better than his mom’s recipe! The dough is very delicate and gooey a little difficult to work with (freezing it helps). After rolled up, I froze it overnight. Very easy to cut.

    Reply
  2. Georgia Hemperly says

    December 21, 2018 at 8:44 am

    Do you use light or dark brown sugar or does it not make a difference?

    Reply
    • Nicole Beaulieu says

      December 21, 2018 at 11:43 am

      You can use either! Dark brown sugar will give it more of a molasses-y flavor 🙂

      Reply
  3. Pam Schreiber says

    December 15, 2018 at 8:04 am

    5 stars
    when you freeze these rolls, do you have to thaw out dough before baking?

    Reply
    • Joanna Cismaru says

      December 16, 2018 at 4:10 pm

      Do you mean if you freeze the dough? Because the recipe doesn’t call for freezing. But yeah if you freeze the dough I would thaw it out first.

      Reply
  4. Karen says

    December 1, 2018 at 2:28 pm

    5 stars
    Can the baked cookies be frozen?

    Reply
    • Nicole Beaulieu says

      December 3, 2018 at 10:18 am

      Yes they can!

      Reply
  5. Jeanne says

    July 15, 2018 at 10:38 am

    do you sell these pinwheel cookies ? If so, how much do they cost? They were my Husband &my favorite cookies.. I am 88 and. No longer bake . Thank you Jeanne Brode

    Reply
    • Joanna Cismaru says

      July 16, 2018 at 9:52 am

      Sorry, I do not! I just provide the recipes. 🙂

      Reply
    • Barbara says

      September 5, 2019 at 4:01 pm

      Where do you live Jeanne. Perhaps I could mail you some.

      Reply
  6. Melody says

    December 7, 2016 at 11:51 am

    How many chocolate chips or squares to make 1/4 cup melted?

    Reply
    • Fenne Kieken says

      December 7, 2016 at 2:03 pm

      1/4 cup melted would be 2 oz of chocolate chips of square

      Reply
  7. Brenda Bolton says

    December 20, 2015 at 8:53 pm

    5 stars
    I can tell this is a good recipe just by reading it. I had a catering business for 20+ yrs thanks for the real home made recipes . They are hard to find these days everyone seems to be using cake and cookie mixes these days. Brenda

    Reply
  8. Brenda Bolton says

    December 20, 2015 at 8:48 pm

    I love sites that have ”real homemade” recipes not recipes using cake mixes and ready made and cookie mixes . Thanks so much I love baking and cooking when I have more time I will share some of my own recipes with you .. Brenda

    Reply
    • jo says

      December 20, 2015 at 9:04 pm

      I would love that Brenda!

      Reply
  9. Kat says

    December 24, 2014 at 4:01 am

    I’ve been looking for what my husband called a pecan pinwheel for years. I came across this a couple days ago and my daughter and I made them today. He says this is almost exactly to what he had as a kid. We made one with the chocolate and one without and he loved them both. Thank you for the recipe!

    Reply
    • jo says

      December 24, 2014 at 5:17 am

      You’re welcome 🙂

      Reply
  10. Heidi @ Food Doodles says

    December 17, 2011 at 8:52 pm

    Beautiful! And I think the chocolate, date and nut mixture looks amazing on it’s own 😀 The cookies look delicious too though!

    Reply
    • jo says

      December 17, 2011 at 10:01 pm

      Thank you, I hope you guys will try them. They are really good. I ended up taking them to work and they were gone in no time.

      Reply

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I'm Joanna (Jo for short) and this is my blog where I share with you my culinary adventures. Here you will find a variety of recipes using simple everyday ingredients and creating wonderful, delicious and comforting meals, including some decadent desserts.

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