Greetings, from my hometown! It remains unclear how
long will be my California stay, but needless to say it will be filled with
citrus and strange fruits if it carries on much past this week. In the
meantime, there isn’t much that needs to be justified about these pudgy little
oatmeal sandwich cookies that I made in Baltimore last week—they’re delicious,
and so stupid cute. Melissa Clark gets it right again, as always, by adding
some toasted coconut and swapping out the classic but insipid raisin for a
totally charmed handful of dates. Dark brown sugar, as it should be, and honey,
as I love it to be, round out the sweetness profile, and this cute little
cookie is stuffed with a roly-poly rope of filling that really brings it all
together. You may be stuck whiling away your winter in the sun or even stuck
under a pile of snow, but either way, these cookies belong on your counter and
in your belly—make ‘em today!
Coconut
Date Oatmeal Cookies with Cream Cheese Filling
Adapted from
Melissa
Clark
Yield: 24 2-inch cookies, enough for 12 sandwiches
Only thing is, the photo of Clark’s recipe shows
her cookies are as being much thinner. Mine turned out nice and thick and
domed—I have no idea why—and I didn’t change much except to toast the oats.
They’re undoubtedly good either way! I also cut her recipe in half, and I used a different filling that didn't require mascarpone (because I'm poor)!
Coconut
Date Oatmeal Cookies
40 grams shredded sweetened coconut flakes
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
165 grams packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
95 grams all-purpose flour
4 grams fine sea salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
4 grams ground cinnamon, divided
130 grams rolled oats
50 grams dates, pitted and chopped
30 grams granulated sugar, for rolling
Cream
Cheese Filling
Yield: enough to fill the recipe above!
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1.5 ounces powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Heat
oven to 350 degrees. Spread coconut flakes and oatmeal on a rimmed baking
sheet. Toast, stirring occasionally, until coconut is lightly colored and both
oats and coconut are fragrant, seven to ten minutes. Set aside to cool. Raise
oven temperature to 375 degrees.
2. In the
bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until
light. Beat in brown sugar and honey, then beat until very fluffy, about five
minutes. Beat in the egg until well mixed, then vanilla. Scrape bowl.
3. In a
large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and one gram of the
cinnamon. With the mixer set on low, beat flour mixture into butter mixture
until combined. Mix in the oats, dates, and toasted coconut by hand. Be certain
that everything is evenly combined!
4. In a small bowl, stir together granulated sugar
and remaining three grams cinnamon. Roll heaping tablespoonsfuls of dough into
balls, then roll balls in cinnamon sugar; transfer to parchment-lined baking
sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of space between dough balls. Flatten tops just
a little bit, and bake until cookies are golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes.
Let cool in the pan for two minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool
completely.