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I love these date cookies so much, I included them in my holiday cards to friends and family! They are rich, buttery and chewy and pretty easy to make. Take a break from oatmeal raisin cookies and try these Mediterranean inspired cookies full of naturally sweet dates. And if you have dates left over, be sure to try my pecan date bars – so fun for the holidays!
How to make date cookies
This is a pretty standard cookie recipe, so it’s easy to follow along. Think of it like oatmeal raisin cookies, but instead of the raisins and oatmeal, we’re adding dates and pecans.
The pecans were super quick to chop up. The dates on the other hand were a bit of a sticky situation. But I had my kids help me pit them, and then it took me about 5 minutes only to chop them up. Making cookies is totally a family effort sometimes!
For best results and to ensure that everything is well incorporated, use a stand mixer or hand mixer. Cream the butter and sugars together, then add the flour mixture. When you have a smooth cookie dough, fold in the pecans.
Give it a good mix and then fold in the dates.
And now you’re ready to bake the cookies, or you can chill them and bake them at another time. You can also roll them into a cookie dough log, freeze it and then slice and bake when the cravings set in. The result is chewy, sweet and decadent date cookies that are perfect for the holidays!
Tips for making date cookies:
- Make sure to use fresh soft dates. If the dates you’re using are a bit dry, you can place them in a bowl of water and heat them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds. You can also heat them on the stovetop with a few teaspoons of water. Either technique will soften them up. They will also soften more as they bake.
- Use half the amount of butter for more a dense and crisp cookie. If you want to lower the fat content, you can swap half the amount of butter for applesauce or you can really just cut the butter in half and the result is still delicious with a slightly more crunchy texture.
- Don’t over bake the cookies. When the timer goes off (between 8 to 11 minutes depending on the size of the cookies), they may not look completely done, but as long as the edges are brown and they have puffed up, remove from the oven. They will continue to slightly cook as the cool.
- Chill the dough. If time allows, it really helps to chill the dough for at least two hours before baking. Chilling the cookie dough allows the butter to solidify. So when the cookies bake in the oven, the butter takes longer to melt and keeps the cookie more compact.
More cookie recipes:
- Pistachio Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies
- Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Lebanese Ghraybeh Cookies
- Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
Overall, these date cookies are easy-to-make, rich in taste and total crowd pleasers! Some people even think they taste like pecan pie. It’s that gooey baked dates with the crunchy pecans that gives that effect. What I love about them is that they are a festive treat that is not so common and uses up dates, which we also have an abundance of in my house. Move over oatmeal raisin cookies, and make room for these delicious date cookies!
If you’ve tried this feel good Date Cookies recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
Date Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 ½ cups roughly chopped pecans toasted
- 1 ½ cups chopped pitted dates
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until well combined, about 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture. Mix on low speed until the flour is well incorporated. Stir in the pecans and dates.
- If time permits, cover the dough with plastic and chill for 2 hours or overnight. This allows the cookies to be thicker more chewy.
- Scoop the chilled dough using a spring-loaded cookie scoop onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. It should make about 48 cookies
- Bake 8-11 minutes, or until golden brown and cookie is puffed.
- Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
These date cookies were amazing! I thought they came out best after rolling into a log and resting in the fridge overnight. They are easy to slice up and bake that way too!
Love this tip, thanks!
Could I make it without adding the two different sugars? And add more dates?
I haven’t tried that myself. I do think skipping one of the sugars would negatively impact the texture of the cookies so I would suggest making them as written.
Oh my goodness, these cookies got RAVE reviews from everyone I gave them to for Christmas! One friend took one bite and said (with her mouth full of cookie) “Oh my, I’m going to need this recipe.” A gentleman at church won them in our white elephant gift exchange, and when I saw him a few days later, he said “Those cookies were AWESOME. If you ever make them again, I want some. You don’t even have to bring them to me; I’ll come get them.” I had leftover dates from making stuffed date appetizers and I was looking for a recipe to help me use them up. I typed in “date cookies” and liked the ingredients I saw in yours (I LOVE pecans), so I decided to give it a whirl. Glad I did! I’ll be making these again for sure!” Made exactly as directed. I do use a baking stone instead of cookie sheets, and I think that makes a huge difference. People are always asking what my secret to baking such good cookies is, and I tell them it’s using a baking stone.
Wow I love this! So glad they were a hit!
My husband loves dates and pecans so this was perfect. I did leave them in the oven for 12 minutes as they did not seem set enough even after 5 minutes of setting on cookies sheet. I used date spread. It was very easy, The date flavor was spread throughout the cookie.
The date spread most likely added more moisture so that’s probably why it didn’t seem as set as they should be.
These are fantastic!!
Thank you so much, Bill!
I made these tonight and they were pretty good. I didn’t have time to chill the dough, but they still baked up nicely. I didn’t have any pecans on hand so I used some slivered almonds instead. This gave the cookies a slight amaretto aftertaste which was really good with the sweetness of the dates. If I use almonds again, I might drop in a little bit of amaretto or almond extract for a slightly extra kick.
I snuck one right after I took it out of the oven and I thought it didn’t have much flavor. It turns out you need to let them cool a little bit and then you can really taste everything.
I did have to cook them for the full 11 minutes. I was worried because they were still pretty pale. I was concerned that they’d still be doughy on the inside when they cooled, but they were the perfect baked consistency.
So glad you liked them! You do want to let them cool before you eat them to get the full flavor, and they do continue to cook while cooling so pulling them out at 11 minutes ensures that they don’t get overbaked. Thank you for sharing your advice and feedback!
I just made these over the weekend and my husband can’t stop himself from eating not one at a time but 4 lol. The recipe is simple, accurate and delicious! A brand new favorite and will be baking another 4 dozen this weekend
So happy to hear these have been a hit!
Theses look amazing ! Do you think I could use date paste with nuts already incorporated ? I have left over from a previous recipe.
Yup! That’s a great idea!
My husband is the Ultimate Cookie Monster and VERY selective when it comes to cookies. I tried this recipe today. The first words out of my husband’s mouth after the first bite were, “OH MY GOD THESE ARE DELICIOUS!!!”
Ha! So happy he enjoyed these.
Can you freeze these after baking?
I wouldn’t recommend as it may affect the texture of the dates. You can make the cookie dough up to 2 days in advance and keep it in the fridge, or you can roll the cookie dough into logs and freeze them for baking at a later time.