Mrs Avers Date Walnut Pie Food

DATE-AND-WALNUT BARS

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 325, and line a 13-by-18-inch sheet pan with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until well mixed and no lumps remain. Tip about 1/2 cup of the flour mixture into a medium bowl; add the dates, and toss well to coat, breaking up the dates as you go. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with both sugars just until smoothly incorporated, about 2 minutes on medium speed. Add the eggs in 3 batches, mixing well each time and scraping down the sides of the bowl and the paddle between additions.
• Add the flour mixture and date mixture, and mix gently on low just until incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer, and use a spatula to fold in the walnuts. Transfer the mixture to the parchment-lined sheet pan, and use an offset spatula to spread it in an even layer, pushing it into the edges and corners and smoothing the surface. Bake until brown and set, about 45 minutes.
• Cool completely in the pan, then remove and cut into squares. Serve right away, or store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

DATE WALNUT LOAF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F; spray a loaf pan with nonstick baking spray like Pam, and set aside.
• In a small bowl or measuring cup, pour boiling water over baking soda so that soda dissolves.
• Place dates in a mixing bowl and pour water/soda mixture over dates; let cool.
• In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
• In a different bowl, beat the egg with an electric mixer, then slowly add the brown sugar, beating well after each addition.
• To the egg/sugar mixture, add cooled date mixture, toasted nuts and vanilla; mix well.
• Stir in the dry ingredients.
• Now, add the melted butter and mix well.
• Pour this mixture into the prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for approximately 55 minutes, or until loaf tests done.
• Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan, then cool completely on a rack.

DATE NUT COOKIE PIES

Steps:

• To prepare the pastry, combine the flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the egg yolks and 3 tablespoons of the cream and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Add more cream if necessary but stop before the dough is too wet. Tip half of the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and form it into a disk. Repeat with the remaining dough. Chill the disks for at least 2 hours.
• To prepare the filling, bring the dates and the water to a simmer over medium heat in a small saucepan. Cook until the dates are very soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer the dates and the water to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and add the pecans, walnuts, honey, orange zest, cardamom, cloves, and salt and pulse until you have a chunky paste. Let cool completely.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Working with one disk at a time, roll the dough out to a thickness of 1/8 inch on a very lightly floured surface. (Less flour means a more tender cookie.) Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and set them about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining disk. You can reroll the dough once if you like.
• Scoop about a rounded 1/2 teaspoon of filling onto half of the dough circles. Brush the edges of the filling-topped circles with a bit of cream and top with another dough circle, gently pressing the edges to seal. Once you've sandwiched all of the cookies, use a fork to crimp all of the edges.
• Chill the cookies until firm, about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Brush the top of each cookie with cream and sprinkle with a bit of sanding sugar. Bake until the cookies are golden and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Let the cookies cool completely on a rack.
• Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

ENGLISH WALNUT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
• Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Mix in sugar, salt, vanilla, and corn syrup. Melt the butter and whisk it into the egg mixture. Stir in the nuts. Pour filling into pie shell.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes.

BRANDIED DATE AND WALNUT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Fold edge under; crimp. Pierce crust all over with fork. Freeze 10 minutes. Line with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights.
• Bake crust until sides are set, about 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake until bottom begins to color, piercing with toothpick if crust bubbles, about 10 minutes longer. Cool on rack 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, stir dates and brandy in small bowl to blend. Mix brown sugar, butter, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl until paste forms. Whisk in corn syrup, then 3 eggs. Add nuts and date mixture. Beat 1 egg to blend in small bowl for glaze.
• Brush inside of crust with some of glaze. Pour filling into crust. Bake 15 minutes. Cover edges of crust with foil. Continue to bake pie until filling is puffed and set in center, about 20 minutes. Transfer pie to rack; cool. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)
• Serve pie with whipped cream.

CHOCOLATE WALNUT PIE

Steps:

• Position rack in lower third of the oven and preheat to 375°F . Stir the butter and 1/3 cup of the chocolate chips in a heavy small saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool until warm.
• Beat the eggs, sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl until blended. Whisk in the butter mixture. Stir in the walnut pieces and the remaining 2/3 cup chocolate chips.
• Pour the filling into the pie crust. Bake until filling is set and crust is golden brown, about 45 minutes. Cool. (Pie can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover loosely and keep at room temperature.).