Soft Date Nut Cookies

Bite into these super Soft Date Nut Cookies for a delicious treat. Flavors of brown sugar, chopped dates, and nuts make this dessert yummy without being too sweet. The texture is soft, chewy, with a little bit of crunch from the nuts to leave you feeling oh-so-satisfied.

Now this is an old recipe. It’s written in my mom’s handwriting, which is why I encourage people to gift a loved one with My Collected Recipes, a blank recipe book you write your favorite recipes in. Handwriting is so personal, and this recipe has my mom’s handwriting all over it. I feel like I can almost hear her voice when I read it. I don’t make any money from the sale of the book, I just love the idea of it.

In the top corner, it says, “Theresa,” who was my aunt, my mom’s oldest sister. Those two were the best of friends and shared recipes often, which is why it’s an honor to share this recipe with y’all.

Making Soft Date Nut Cookies

Mix those dry ingredients together, then set them aside. There’s only the flour and baking soda, so this won’t take long.

Note that there is no salt in this recipe, which is why I used salted butter. If you feel so inclined to add salt, start with just 1/4 teaspoon. I stayed true to the recipe by not adding salt, and I thought they turned out great.

So, beat the salted butter with both sugars until well combined, about two minutes.

Then, stir in the eggs, hot water, and vanilla. Once this is fully mixed, reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture.

I’ve gotten into the habit of hand stirring the flour mixture into my recipes, because it makes a mess even when I turn the speed down. I don’t like seeing that white cloud going all over my kitchen, besides, hand stirring is just good therapy.

Lastly, add the nuts and dates. I chopped them up into small pieces, but here’s what I wanted to tell you about chopping dates. Chop the nuts first, then chop the dates last, because dates are sticky. Yes, sticky. That knife is going to need some serious soap and hot water to get rid of the stickies.

Fold the nut and dates into the cookie dough, then get ready to bake.

Set the oven to 350° and you don’t need to grease the cookie sheets.

Drop cookies 1 1/4″ in size a couple inches apart from each other, so that they have room to spread. Let them bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until they start to turn a light golden brown.

Let them cool slightly on the cookie sheet, then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Adding a Glaze

If you like a cookie that’s not too sweet, you’ll love these cookies. You taste the nuts and dates, and while we both know there’s sugar in there, it isn’t over-powering.

Some of you may prefer a little more sweetness, which is why I added an optional glaze.

Mix the powdered sugar and milk together until you have the right drizzle-consistency you want, then drizzle away.

Alternatively, you could skip the drizzle and simply dip the top half of each cookie into the glaze, and call it a day.

As you can see in the pictures, I drizzled mine, first in swirlies, then stripes. I couldn’t make up my mind.

If you want to add sprinkles, make sure you add them before the glaze sets up, because they won’t stick once it’s set up.

Bring on the Cookies

For more cookie recipes, enter “cookies” in the search bar, or check out some of these favorites:

• Best Ever Gingersnap Cookies
• Chocolate Cutout Cookies
• Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies
• Molasses Crinkles
• Chocolate Cherry Crinkle Cookies

If you tried and love this recipe, please leave a 5-star rating on the recipe card and consider leaving a comment below. Thank you so much.

Soft Date Nut Cookies

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In the meantime, I hope you have yourself a blessed day.