Orange Date Cookies Food

ORANGE DATE PINWHEEL COOKIES

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, combine the dates, 1/4 cup sugar, a pinch of salt, orange juice and water. Cook, stirring frequently until the dates have softened. Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon orange zest and pecans. When mixture has cooled, process in a food processor or blender until pecans are finely ground. Set aside.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt; set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, 1/2 cup white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time then stir in the vanilla and 2 teaspoons orange zest. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients to form a smooth dough. Divide dough into thirds, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm.
• Roll each third of the dough out into a rectangle 1/4 inch in thickness. Spread 1/3 of the filling over each rectangle leaving a 1 inch strip of dough uncovered on one of the long sides. Starting at the edge opposite of the uncovered strip, roll the dough up jellyroll style and press lightly to seal. Wrap the rolls in waxed paper and refrigerate until firm.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. slice chilled rolls of dough into coins about 1/4 inch thick. Place slices 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly golden. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

MAAMOUL: STUFFED DATE-ORANGE COOKIES

Steps:

• Dough: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• To make the filling: Puree the filling ingredients in a food processor until evenly combined, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove and set aside. Clean the processor bowl.
• Put the flour, baking powder, the 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar, and salt in the bowl of food processor and pulse 3 to 4 times to mix. Add the butter, oil, and milk pulsing until the dough just comes together. Take care not to overwork the dough; it will be slightly wet.
• Remove dough from the processor, and roll into 20 equally sized balls. In the palm of your hand, press and pat each ball of dough into a 2 3/4-inch round. Place a rounded teaspoon of filling in the center of each round and draw the edges up and around the filling. Pinch the dough together to make a sealed ball, and then carefully roll the cookie between your palms to make a smooth round ball. Press gently to flatten the cookie slightly, then place them seamed side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Gently prick the cookies with a fork or a wooden skewer in a decorative pattern taking care not to pierce the dough to the filling.
• Bake the cookies until firm and slightly puffed, and the tops are pale but the bottoms are just beginning to turn slightly golden, about 25 to 30 minutes. Dust generously with confectioners' sugar, cool and dust again.
• Apricot Golden Raisin Nut Filling:
• Puree in a food processor until evenly combined.
• Quince-Walnut Filling:
• Puree in a food processor until evenly combined.

ORANGE DATE-NUT COOKIES

Steps:

• To make the cookies:
• Line a 9- x 5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, allowing enough to extend over the edges of pan so they can cover the dough for refrigerating. Set aside.
• Position knife blade in food processor bowl; add dates, orange zest and orange juice. Process 45 seconds, or until dates are finely chopped.
• In a medium bowl, beat butter at medium speed until fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating until well blended.
• Add the egg and vanilla; beat well.
• In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together to combine.
• Gradually add flour mixture into the butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
• Divide the dough into 3 portions. Knead ½ cup of the pecans into 1 portion of dough; press this portion into prepared pan.
• Knead the date mixture into 1 portion of dough; press in pan over pecan dough.
• Knead remaining ½ cup pecans into remaining dough; press into pan over date dough.
• Cover and chill at least 2 hours or freeze up to 1 month. (If freezing, defrost again in refrigerator for 2 days before making cookies.)
• Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
• Invert loaf pan onto a cutting board; remove and discard plastic wrap. Cut dough lengthwise into 3 lengthwise logs. Cut each log of dough crosswise into ¼-inch thick slices. Place the slices 1-inch apart on parchment lined baking sheets. (Each log yields about 20 cookies)
• Bake for 10-11 minutes until still soft and NOT brown at edges (I like these a little more chewy, but if you want them as tea or coffee dunking cookies, bake an additional 2 minutes until the edges are browned).
• Cool slightly on baking sheets; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

DATE AND ORANGE DROP COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift flour, baking soda & salt together 3 times. Add dates & walnuts.
• Cream shortening & then blend in brown sugar, then add egg and beat well.
• Stir in orange rind to the shortening mixture.
• Add the flour mixture, combining until well mixed.
• Drop dough by spoonful, well apart on greased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 350F for 10 minutes.

ORANGE, OAT & SULTANA COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Cream the butter and sugar together until well blended and smooth. Gradually beat in the banana, vanilla extract and egg. Add the zest. Mix well with a wooden spoon until thoroughly blended.
• In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking powder, oats, coconut, walnuts and sultanas or chocolate chips. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet and mix thoroughly until a thick dough is formed. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Drop heaped tbsps onto the sheet, leaving a 5cm (2in) space around each one, and press down lightly. Bake for 15-20 mins until lightly browned. Cool.

ORANGE OATMEAL COOKIES

Steps:

• In large bowl of mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy; beat in egg, orange zest and juice.
• Gradually beat in flour, baking powder, soda, salt and nutmeg until mixed.
• Add oats (I used quick-cooking oats, but I think that old-fashioned or rolled oats would improve the texture.).
• Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls on greased cookie sheets.
• Bake in 350° oven until golden around edges.

OATMEAL DATE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars at medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the salt, baking soda, and cinnamon and mix until well combined, 1 minute. Add the egg and mix for another minute. Add the flour and oats and mix on low speed until combined. Finally, add the dates in two additions to make sure they're distributed evenly throughout. The dough will be very soft at this point.
• Transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Flatten into a disk with your hands, then wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (and up to 2 days)-​chilled dough will be much easier to handle.
• Place two racks in the middle positions and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Divide the dough into 16 equal portions, about 1½ ounces (45 g) each. Working quickly so that the dough doesn't warm up, shape each portion into a ball with your hands. You can freeze the cookie dough balls for up to 2 weeks in a freezer bag to be baked from frozen at a later time. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheets, at least 3 inches apart to prevent the cookies from touching as they spread when they bake. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the baking sheets and switch their positions in the oven, and bake for another 6 to 8 minutes, until the edges are brown and the middle is golden. Rotating and switching the sheets halfway through the baking process will ensure that the cookies bake evenly. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheets. The cookies keep well for a couple of days stored in an airtight container.

MA'AMOUL MED (ORANGE AND ESPRESSO DATE COOKIE BARS)

Steps:

• To make the dough: In a medium bowl, combine the flours, salt, sugar, mahlab, and yeast. Add the butter to the dry ingredients and mix by hand or in a mixer until it forms a paste. Cover with plastic wrap or a dish towel and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
• To make the filling: While the flour mixture rests, immerse the dates in hot tap water and allow them to soak for about 10 minutes or until softened. Once they are soft, drain thoroughly and pulse them in the bowl of a food processor along with the butter, espresso powder, cinnamon, orange zest, and cardamom to form a sticky paste. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, about 15 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, the dough will have hardened, so use a wooden spoon or other utensil such as a dough cutter to break up the dough a bit. Pour the milk and orange blossom water into the flour mixture and mix until smooth. Let stand at room temperature for another 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 300°F. Cut four sheets of parchment paper to fit an 8-by-11-inch sheet tray. Form the dough into a ball and divide it into 2 equal parts.
• Press half the dough onto one of the sheets of parchment. Layer a second piece of parchment on top and, using a rolling pin, roll an even ¼-inch crust to the paper's edges. Remove the top layer of parchment and flip the dough into the sheet tray. Re-use the sheets of parchment and roll out the second ball of dough. Set aside.
• Sandwich the date filling between two new sheets of parchment and roll into an even ¼-inch layer, out to the paper's edges. Remove the top sheet and flip the date layer onto the dough. Remove the remaining parchment. Flip the remaining dough over the date filling and remove the final sheet of parchment.
• Transfer the sheet tray to the oven and bake, rotating the tray once, until the bars are light golden brown on the edges, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and, when it is cool enough to touch, cut the bars into 2-by-2-inch squares. Transfer the tray to a wire rack to finish cooling. When the ma'amoul is completely cool, dust with the confectioners' sugar before serving. The bars can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.