Maple Date Pockets

Total Time: 57 mins Preparation Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 12 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 18
• 1 cup dates, pitted and chopped
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 10 tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 eggs or 1/4 cup egg substitute
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups rolled oats, coarsely ground
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Recipe

• 1 to prepare the maple date filling, add all ingredients to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. immediately, reduce to a low simmer and cook stirring often and taking care that the filling does not scorch. as the dates soften, break them up using the back of a wooden spoon. the filling will be done when the water has evaporated and you can draw the filling into a pile and it will stay without running back down.
• 2 preheat oven to 350 degrees (175c) .
• 3 to make the cookie dough, cream the butter and brown sugar together. add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat until light and fluffy.
• 4 take the oats and place in a food processor, mini chopper or blender, pulse a few times until you get coarse crumbs. do not blend so much you end up with oat flour. in a separate bowl, combine the oats with the pastry flour, salt, and baking soda.
• 5 in halves, add the dry mix to the wet using your mixer. the last half will be quite stiff and should even form a ball. chill the ball for 15 minutes.
• 6 roll out dough until quite thin. since these have a top and bottom you will skill have enough cookie in each bite. using a cookie cutter you can cut out 1 1/4 to 1/12 inch circles. place half the circles onto the baking sheet, topping each with a rounded teaspoon of the date filling. top with another circle and press around the edges and even give the top a light pat. (since i'm never quite sure of the exact yield when i get close to the end of the dough i make just 1 or 2 at a time so there are definitely enough tops to match the bottoms.)
• 7 alternately, you can use a larger cutter, about 1 1/2 - 2 inches, and place the just off center and fold over for lovely crescent shaped cookies.
• 8 bake for 10-12 minutes. remove from oven and place on cooling rack to cool. warning: filling is very hot when first taken from oven. use caution if you decide not to wait.