Tu BiShvat is coming up soon and it’s time to start thinking about a dessert that incorporates fruits to celebrate the holiday. My recipe for date roll cookies is definitely an easy and yummy option. The filling of the cookies is a date spread and chopped walnuts. Traditionally for Tu BiShvat, you want to use fruits of the 7 species (shivat haminim) so the date spread fits perfectly!
The cookies are parve – non dairy and are vegan too so it fits as a perfect dessert for people who are on the vegan diet.
The dough has a neutral vanilla flavor so it's not sweet and not savory. Actually there is no sugar in the cookies at all besides the powdered sugar for a garnish. The cookies are only sweet because of the date filling which makes them a bit healthier too.
The trick for this cookie dough is to use boiling water. When mixed with oil and flour, it creates a very easy to handle dough without cooling it in the fridge and letting the dough rest. This process makes the recipe quicker to whip up and as I mentioned already, it's nondairy dough. So it's even better than a dough made with butter that usually requires cooling time in the fridge.
Last year I shared a fruit cake and fruit sushi for Tu BiShvat, both are parve too, be sure to check them out!
Here is the recipe for these date roll cookies:
Parve Date Roll Cookies
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup boiling water
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste/extract
For the filling:
- ½ cup date spread
- Handful chopped walnuts
For garnish:
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Set the oven to 180°C / 350°F with the fan.
- In a bowl, add all the dough ingredients.
- Mix well to create a unified dough.
- Roll the dough into a rectangle and spread the date spread evenly.
- Sprinkle the chopped walnuts on top.
- Roll the rectangle shape into a roll with a spiral.
- With a knife, make marks on the roll, make them deep to help the inside of the roll bake well.
- Transfer the roll to a baking pan.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Cool at room temperature.
- Sprinkle powdered sugar on top of the roll.
- Cut the roll according to the marks you made before into individual cookies.
- Have a cookie and enjoy!
