Grandmothers Date Nut Roll Food

GRANDMOTHER'S DATE NUT ROLL RECIPE

Steps:

• Line four baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Stir milk, sugar and 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter together in a heavy bottom pan over medium high heat. Add dates. Stir constantly while cooking until the temperature reaches 235º F on a candy thermometer or when drops of the mixture into a bowl of cold water reach a soft ball stage.
• Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter and vanilla. Beat until starts to thicken and add chopped pecans.
• Divide onto four baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Carefully spread across parchment paper to form a roll. Roll smoothly and cool completely before slicing.

DATE NUT ROLL

Steps:

• Mix the sugar and vanilla in a medium saucepan on medium heat.
• Boil gently until mixture reaches 240 degrees.
• Take off the heat, and add rest of ingredients, stir well.
• The mixture will thicken as it cools.
• Pour onto dampened cloth or waxed paper forming a log.
• Allow to cool or refrigerate.
• If desired, coat with chopped nuts or powdered sugar and slice.

MY GRANDMOTHER'S DATE NUT ROLL

Steps:

• 1. Chop dates. (Do not buy or use dates that are already chopped.)
• 2. Combine sugar, milk, and dates in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture reaches soft ball 234 degrees.
• 3. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and nuts. Stir until candy starts to thicken. Divide candy in half, by shaping it into logs on two damp tea towels. roll and shape into 10"X2" logs. Let cool. Slice to serve.

GRANDMA'S DATE FILLED COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix in a sauce pan the dates, sugar and TBSP of flour, water, and lemon juice. Cook this for about 5 minutes on a medium heat, until all are blended well.
• Mix together the shortening, sugar, and eggs.
• Stir in the 2 Tbsps. thick cream and l teaspoons vanilla.
• Sift together the 2 1/2 cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Add to shortening mix to form dough.
• Chill dough for at least 1 to 2 hours.
• Roll out dough in thin layers in small batches and cut with round cookie cutter.
• Put mixture (about a tbsp.) in the center between 2 thin cookies pressed together.
• Bake at 350 degrees on lightly greased sheet pan for 8-10 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned.

GRANDMA SUSAN'S NUT ROLL

Steps:

• DISSOLVE the yeast in ½ cup of the scalded milk (still hot) and 1 Tablespoon of sugar.
• COMBINE the rest of the dough ingredients and knead BY HAND until the dough is soft and elastic.
• REFRIGERATE the dough for a minimum of 10 hours. Don't keep the dough in the refrigerator for more than two days.
• DIVIDE the dough into eight balls and let rise in a warm place for 2½ - 3 hours.
• PREPARE the filing ingredients by mixing them all together in a medium-size bowl and beat the eggs (in a separate bowl) while you are waiting for the dough to rise.
• ROLL the dough out onto a well-floured surface into a rectangle, no more than ¼" thick. Brush the dough with some melted butter. Be liberal with this application - remember you have 1 cup of melted butter for eight rolls. The butter helps the filling stick and keeps the rolls moist in the middle.
• SPREAD the filling out on top of the butter. Sprinkle some cinnamon on top of the filing. Put as much on as you like, this is just fo taste, and not absolutely necessary to the recipe. Then, drizzle the honey over top of all of this. Again, be liberal in applying this.
• ROLL UP the dough loosely. The length of the roll doesn't matter, it just needs to fit onto your cookie sheet. Make three or four small slits diagonally across the top of the roll.
• BRUSH with beaten eggs.
• BAKE at 350º for 24-30 minutes. Your cook time will depend on how thick you rolled out your dough and how much filling you piled up inside. When done, your dough will be a beautiful golden brown color on the outside, and the slits which you cut in the top will have opened up and some filling will probablystart to bubble out. Try baking one roll first. When you think it's finished, cut it in half. You will be abl to see whether the dough in the middle is cooked. If not - just adjust your baking time accordingly.
• SERVE the roll, by cutting slices off about 1" thick. With the filling that we used here, butter works GREAT as a spread.
• Please let me know if you have any questions! Good luck and enjoy!

GRANDMA RENEE'S DATE NUT LOAF

Steps:

• Boil sugar, milk and butter until it forms a soft ball in cool water (grandma's exact words) -- around 240 degrees.
• Fold in chopped dates and pecans, continue to cook until it pulls away from the pan (around 255 degrees).
• Pour onto wet cloth in log form - dust with powdered sugar and roll.
• Cool and cut into 20 pieces.

GREAT-GRANDMA CATHY'S DATE LOAF CANDY

Steps:

• Stir sugar, milk, and butter together in a saucepan; bring to a boil without stirring once the boiling begins. Heat until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a rigid ball or until the mixture reaches 250 degrees F (120 degrees C), about 20 minutes. Immediately remove saucepan from heat and stir dates, pecans, and vanilla into the milk mixture.
• Thoroughly wet a piece of cheesecloth and lay out onto a flat work surface. Pour the candy mixture into the middle of the cloth and roll the cloth around it to shape into a log.
• Refrigerate until hard, 8 hours to overnight. Remove log from cloth and slice.

COCONUT DATE ROLLS

Steps:

• Chop coconut on large mat or cutting board and set aside.
• Place almonds into food processor. Add the dates on top. Whir in the food processor until these form a paste. You will still see some crumbs or large pieces of almond - this is OK.
• Once paste is mixed it will start to form a ball. Remove from food processor and roll into 2" logs or balls.
• Roll and press thru chopped coconut. While rolling your hands may become sticky due to the sugar in the dates - just rinse your hands with cold water and you will be able to handle the mixture easily again.
• Serve chilled. Store in fridge up to 2 weeks.
• Prep time is chopping coconut and processing paste. Cooking time is rolling.