Fast And Easy Cookie Recipe

These scrumptious cookies are rich and chewy with fresh walnuts and yummy dates. Although these make a great holiday gift, I just make them whenever the bug hits me. Oops! NO BUGS! I hate bugs. I hate to think about bugs. I hate to see bugs on television. I don’t even care whether they’re just cartoon bugs. I don’t care what little jobs they’re doing in our ecosystem. I don’t care that they work together well. I don’t care a darn thing about bugs. If it were left up to me, I’d put them all on the space shuttle. I’d even light the match that sends that shuttle into outer space. Do they use matches or lighters? I have a nice browning torch that I use to make really nice marks on the top of my cheesecakes. I could use that. Yeah…just give me half a chance.

Date Nut Cookies (makes 2-3 dozen)

Your Ingredients:

1 stick butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/2-cup brown sugar, packed tightly (to pack tightly means to push the brown sugar tightly down into the measuring cup before you even off the top, unlike when you’re measuring flour and you just stick your measuring cup into the flour lightly and use a knife to even off the top without pushing it down)
1-cup flour
1/2-tsp baking soda
1/8-tsp salt
1/4-tspn cinnamon
2-tbsps fresh orange zest
1-1/2-cups coarsely chopped dates
1-cup coarsely chopped walnuts

PREHEAT oven to 350˚F.

ADD butter and egg to a large mixing bowl and beat until well mixed (you can also mix by hand).

ADD sugar, flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and beat until blended.

REMOVE bowl from mixer and add the remaining ingredients. Stir well until orange zest, dates and walnuts are incorporated.

DROP by rounded teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Leave about an inch between each cookie. (if you have several cookie sheets, go ahead and fill them too)

BAKE cookies for 9-12 minutes. (sorry that I can’t be more exact with the baking time, but oven temperatures vary… you should start watching your cookies around 9 minutes)

REMOVE cookies from oven and allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for about a minute. Then use a spatula to transfer cookies to a cookie cooling rack. (or use whatever you have in your kitchen to cool their tops and bottoms at the same time)

HIDE them.

Always Enjoy!