The last few days have been unbelievable! Thanks for all the support and positive feedback on my NEW SITE! It has been incredibly invigorating to have finally launched my new site and to have all of you guys support me so well. I have been in the process of building this site for the last year, but certain events got in the way of fully finishing it, aka Asia travels! But THANK YOU for sticking with me this entire time.

This week’s recipe is a keeper among keepers. It is a butterscotch orange pecan date cookie with so much flavour that you may fall over with the first bite. The first bite I took, my mouth felt like exploding from all ends, due to the intense taste. This is my first recipe with dates in it and I think I will be going for dates more often. The consistency of  the cookie is more like a muffin top, with a delicious added crunch from the butterscotch. Enjoy!

Makes 36 butterscotch orange pecan date cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups                   All purpose flour

1 tsp                               Salt

¾ tsp                             Baking soda

1 ½ cups                      Pitted whole dates, chopped

8 tbsp                            Butter, unsalted

½ cup                           Packed brown sugar

3 tsp                              Grated orange zest

½ cup                          Orange juice, freshly squeezed preferably but boxed is fine

2                                     Large eggs

1 cups                          Butterscotch chips

1 cups                          Pecans, chopped

½ cup                           Butterscotch chips for topping

½ cup                           Pecans, chopped for topping

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 375F and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
• In a large saucepan, bring the dates, butter, brown sugar, orange zest, and orange juice to a simmer. Cook until the mixture has thickened slightly and measures 2 cups, about 5-7 minutes.
• Transfer mixture to a large bowl and let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
• Whisk eggs into the date and orange mixture, one at a time, until incorporated.
• Fold in the butterscotch chips and pecans.
• Drop generous tablespoon size portions of dough onto prepared baking sheets, space about 2 inches apart. Each pan should place around 12 cookies.
• Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of butterscotch chips and pecans onto the tops of every cookie.
• Bake the cookies until they are beginning to brown on the tops and around the edges, about 10 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway.
• Let the cookies cool on the pans for 5-7 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack. Now take a bite and let yourself think about how much flavour these cookies are full of! Enjoy!

Adapted from Lost Recipes (Cooks Country)