Chocolate Date Drops

## Book Reference

Lake Eden's Cookbook

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

### Ingredients

* 1 and 1/2 cups chopped dates *(You can buy them chopped in the store or chop pitted dates  yourself.)*
* 1 and 1/2 cups orange juice *(If you've chopped the dates yourself, use only 1 cup of orange juice)*
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* 4 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour *(don't sift -- just scoop it out and level it off with a knife)*
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
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* 1 cup softened butter *(2 sticks, 8 ounces, 1/2 pound)*
* 1 and 1/2 cups white *(granulated)* sugar
* 3 eggs, beaten *(just whip them up in a glass with a fork)*
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* 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
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* Approximately 1/2 cup white *(granulated)* sugar for later
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* Walnut halves to decorate the cookies

### Directions

**Hannah's 1st Note:** *Hank, the bartender down at the Lake Eden Municipal Liquor Store, suggested that you could use 1/4 cup orange liqueur mixed with 1 and 1/4 cups of orange juice to plump the chopped dates*. *(It was snowing and I didn't have orange liqueur when I tested these, so I used straight orange juice.)*

* Put the dates and the orange juice in an uncovered saucepan on the stove top. Heat on MEDIUM HIGH until the liquid just barely begins to boil. Quickly turn the heat down to SIMMER. Simmer the mixture on the stove top for 20 minutes. Then pull the saucepan off the heat, turn off the burner, and let the mixture cool for another 20 to 30 minutes.

**Hannah's 2nd Note:** *If you're in a hurry, you can speed up this cooling process by sticking the pan in the refrigerator until the mixture is approximately room temperature.*

* In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. *(I stir mine gently with a whisk so that everything's mixed together.)*
* Set the bowl aside.

**Hannah's 3rd Note:** *I used an electric mixer for this part of the recipe. You can do it by hand, but it takes some muscle.*

* Mix the softened butter and sugar together until they're light and fluffy.
* Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until the mixture is a uniform color.
* Check the date mixture to see if it's cool enough so that it won't cook the eggs. If it is, you can work with it now. If it's not cool, have a cup of coffee and let it cool a little more.
* Take your bowl out of the mixer and blend in the date mixture by hand.
* Fold in half of the flour mixture carefully. The object is to keep the dough fluffy.
* Fold in the chocolate chips.
* Fold in the remainder of the flour mixture.
* Put approximately 1/2 cup sugar into a small bowl. Drop the dough from a teaspoon *(or Tablespoon if you want larger cookies)* into the bowl of sugar. Form the drops into balls with your fingers and move them to a lightly greased cookie sheet *(I lined my cookie sheet with parchment paper and sprayed it lightly with Pam)*, 12 cookie dough drops to a standard-sized sheet.
* Place a walnut half on top of each cookie, pressing it down slightly.
* Bake the Chocolate Date Drops at 350 degrees F. for 9 to 10 minutes, or until just lightly browned. *(Larger cookies will take a bit longer to bake.)*

**Yield**: 5 to 6 dozen deliciously soft cookies.

## Conversion Charts

See Baking Conversion Chart for non-USA baking conversions.