Date & Alm0nd Cookies

Hii,

Wish you all a superb Diwali!!! May the festival of lights, light up your life as well!!!

The new cookies that i made day before, was meant for gifting a special friend. However, the friend will have to wait for more, since all of them have been consumed, thnx to my sister and her colleagues.

The cookies that i have made till now, have always been non-fussy except for the Pinwheel Cookies that i made last October. This bunch of babies however, were a bit complicated, yet once you bite into them, you forget all those hardwork. However, all our hard work gets a gud companionship from the technology that have became a part of our daily life.

There was no prior planning to bake these cookies, but since all the ingrediants were readily available at home, in that way these are budget cookies and non-fussy as well. The recipe and the ingrediants are given below. Try them, you will fall in love with them.

INGREDIANTS:

• Flour (all purpose)........................................ 1 1/4 cup
• Caster Sugar................................................. 1/4 cup
• Unsalted Butter............................................. 8 tbsp, cubed into small sizes
• Iced Water................................................... 3 tbsp
• Dates........................................................... 200 gm, chopped, 
• Almonds...................................................... 150 gm, chopped
• Lime rind & Juice......................................... 1 no
• Milk............................................................. 2 tbsp
• Honey.......................................................... 5 tbsp

METHOD:

• Combine the dry ingrediants: Flour and sugar together with an electric whisk.
• Add the cubed butter to this dry mix and blend till the mixture is crumbly ( your fingers are the best way for that. They work as a stess-buster for me as well ).
• Drizzle iced water (so as to keep of the temp of butter low) over the crumbly mix and make the dough. Pack in a cling film and chill in the freezer for 20 mins atleast.

• Chop the almonds and the dates and mix with a bit of sugar ( the sugar was my idea, as i felt the dough might not be that sweet), lime zest and the juice. Pulse till coarsely ground.

• Preheat the oven at 170 degree C.
• Take the dough out after the required time, and make 1 1/2 inch diameter. Flatten them into approx 2 inch. P circles. Place about a heaped tbsp of the filling mixture into the circle. Fold in half, and then press down the sides with a fork.

• Mix the milk and honey together. Brush them on these folded cookies and place on the greased tray.
• Bake them for about 25 mins, till golden brown.

• Once the cookies come out of the oven, brush them with the honey-milk mixture again, and allow it to cool.

The cookies can be kept in an airtight container upto a week, but i am sure they would not last for a week. you will get around 20 cookies out of this mix. i didnt have all-purpose flour, i had mixed baking powder and soda into it.

These babies can be wonderful gift for friends as well. Pack them in colourful muslin fabric and tie with a nice ribbon!!!

Try them, serve with loads of love!!!!
Happy Diwali to all of you once again.!!!!!