HOME TOUR

Happy holidays friends. I’m know I am lagging far behind on the holiday content. It’s been ages since I could be creative in my home, for a variety of reasons. But yesterday I had had enough and got myself in the kitchen and created a new holiday cookie recipe. I don’t think anyone is going to pretend a holiday cookie is healthy, but I’ve used more healthful ingredients here that I’m really excited about. I’ve been baking with date sugar for over a year now but never attempted to make a cookie. I usually use it in the banana cake recipe or baked oatmeal for the kids. But I created this sugar cookie recipe with date sugar and it was a smashing success. The kids and husband LOVED these date sugar star cookies. Give them a try today!

Why Date Sugar?

Date sugar differs from cane sugar in that it is whole dried dates ground into a powder. It’s considered a whole food with fiber and nutrients and considered a low glycemic food so it doesn’t spike your blood sugar the same way cane sugar does. It has an almost brown sugar-like flavor. I love it. The ones I can find at my local store are almost powder sugar-like in consistency and sometimes clumpy.

Notes about the recipe

The butter and date sugar didn’t quite cream the same way as regular cane sugar, it was more pasty but it did get fluffier when I added the eggs. I did not chill my dough and had no problem rolling them out (about 1/2 inch thick) with some flour. I was very purposeful to not over bake them. This is my number 1 tip for a soft cookie. I set my alarm for exactly 8 minutes and took them out at that time, letting them cool for 5 minutes on the pan before moving to the cooling rack. They are quite soft cookies. I broke a few while dipping them in the frosting. Last tip, if you can try to get the Trader Joes Roasted and Salted Pumpkin Seeds. They’re hands down the best. Make sure your cardamom is fresh.

INGREDIENTS

1 C Salted Butter, Room Temperature

1 C Date Sugar

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

2 C Flour (1 C Whole Wheat + 1 C All Purpose)

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 C Chopped Dry Roasted + Salted Pumpkin Seeds

FROSTING

1 C Powdered Sugar

1/4 C Maple Syrup

3/4 tsp Ground Cardamom

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, mix flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda together. Set aside. Finely chop the pumpkin seeds and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat room temperature butter with date sugar. Unlike regular sugar, it doesn’t get “fluffy” in quite the same way. I beat the sugar and butter for a minute or two and then added in my eggs. Mix in the vanilla and pumpkin seeds reserving just a spoonful to sprinkle over the top of the cookies once frosted. Mix until combine. Add dry ingredients being careful to not over mix.

I rolled out the dough with some light flour to about 1/2 inch thick. I used two different star cookies.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring them to the cooling rack. While they are cooling, mix the frosting together. I dipped 1/2 the cookie or the full cookie in the frosting, let the excess drip off and then sprinkled some chopped dry roasted pumpkin seeds and maple sprinkles on the top.