Pecan Date Cookies (Vegan)
These are simple oil-based cookies made with pecans, oats, and maple syrup. They are vegan as-is and are very versatile, as the jammy date center can be replaced with any type of jam.
Servings: 12 medium cookies
Calories: 275kcal
Ingredients
- 4 ounces (roughly ½ cup) pitted dates roughly chopped
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup pecans preferably raw unsalted; see note #1
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats AKA rolled oats; plus more for garnishing
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour see note #2
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon see note #3
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup canola oil see note #4
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (optional).
- Transfer the chopped dates and ¼ cup water to a small sauce pot. Simmer gently over medium-low until the dates are softened, about 5 minutes. Mash the dates with a fork or potato masher to break them down into a jammy consistency.
- In a food processor, pulse the pecans and oats together until they resemble coarse sand.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the broken-down pecans and oats, flour, cinnamon, salt, oil, and maple syrup. The mixture will be sticky and oily but should hold together easily.
- Form into cookie dough balls using a 1-ounce cookie scoop or by measuring out a large spoonful of dough (roughly 2 tablespoons). Flatten the cookies. Use your thumb to indent the center of the cookies, then transfer ~½ teaspoon of date jam to the center.
- Leave 2-3 inches between each piece of dough on the cookie sheet. The cookies will spread a little while baking. Garnish the tops of the cookies with oats (optional).
- Bake at 350F for 10-13 minutes. 10 minutes yields very soft cookies, while 13 minutes yields cookies that are drier and a bit crumbly.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Nuts: Also works with walnuts or cashews.
- Flour: Using 1 cup of flour yields thinner, crisper cookies, while 1 ¼ cups yields softer and fluffier cookies. Both methods taste great; Lynn typically makes them with 1 cup, while I prefer 1 ¼ cups. From my experience, cookies with 1 cup require 1-2 more minutes to bake.
- Cinnamon: Optional. Lynn prefers these without cinnamon, while I find that the combination of maple syrup and cinnamon gives the cookies a really lovely fall flavor.
- Canola oil: Any neutral oil (as in the flavor isn't obvious) works here.
- A blender can be used in place of a food processor, as needed.
Nutrition
Calories: 275kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Sodium: 51mg | Potassium: 168mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 19IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 1mg
