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Grandma's Oatmeal Date Cookies


My Grandma Boldt used to make these thick and chewy Oatmeal Date Cookies.
I came across the recipe in my binder the other day and I remembered sitting at Grandma's big kitchen table writing out the recipe as she gave instructions. I was a teenager back then, already collecting recipes and I'd marked these as "Really Good!!"
She used the large flake oatmeal for them and although I've made them with regular oatmeal, they really are better using the large flake.

Make the Date filling first:
  • 1/2 pound dates
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  1. Cut up dates and place in a saucepan.
  2. Add water and brown sugar and mix well.
  3. Bring to a boil and cook until mixture is thick (about 7-10 minutes).
  4. Set aside to cool.
For the cookies:
  • 1 cup butter or margarine
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups flour
  • 4 cups large flake oatmeal
  1. Beat together the butter and brown sugar.
  2. Add eggs one at a time and mix well.
  3. Stir in dry ingredients except for oatmeal and mix until blended.
  4. Add oatmeal and mix well.
  5. Refrigerate for an hour or so to make it easier to handle the dough.
  6. Roll out dough on floured board and cut circles. 
  7. Place on cookie sheets and bake at 350ºF for about 10 minutes.
  8. Remove to rack or brown paper and let cool.
  9. Spread date filling generously on one cookie and top with another.
  10. Store in tightly covered container.  The cookies will soften when they are stored.
  11. These cookies also freeze well.

10 comments:

  1. Oh yummy; I love Oatmeal Date Cookies. I'd love one or two for breakfast; they are after all
    made with oatmeal.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My grandmother also made a delicious oatmeal date cookie. I have never been able to duplicate them even though she gave me the recipe. (Perhaps she bought them at the bakery! 🙂)

    ReplyDelete
  3. These look delicious! Two related questions:
    What size is your cookie cutter and what is the yield from this recipe?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cookie cutter was about 2 1/2 inches. I can't remember how many it made - I'm going to guess 24-30 sandwich cookies. I've also rolled the dough into logs like you do for refrigerator cookies and cut them into slices. The only thing is that they look different as you slice through the large oat flakes. They are good no matter how you cut them!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What exactly is 'large flake' oatmeal? Is that like the rolled oats instead of minute oats, or is it something I'm not finding in beautiful Kansas? They do look good and I'm very fond of dates and date filling.

    thanks

    Alice E

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think "large flake" means old-fashioned rolled oats, and "small flake" means quick-cooking oats.

      Delete
  6. My mom made a delicious oatmeal cookie. Instead of the date filling she made a brown sugar icing filling - we devoured these almost as fast as she could make them at Christmas time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. My Mom used to make these as a "special treat" when I was a little girl in Manitoba, more than 50+ years ago. I think the recipe came from the Robin Hood Flour Co. And yes, all oatmeal was "large flake" then because instant didn't exist!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oatmeal cookies delicious. The addition of dates I'm not familiar with. I usually have oatmeal on hand in the freezer (we enjoy a bowl of hot porridge in the mornings). My one question that I'm wondering about - to be honest I'm not thrilled about rolling out cookie dough and cutting them out. I've got a couple of cookie scoops (like the old ice cream scoops) - am wondering if I might try making them using the cookie scoop - an experiment for sure to try.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. An alternative to rolling the dough is to make it into logs like for refrigerator cookies. Refrigerate the dough for several hours, then slice and bake.

      Delete

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