The Khajur Nut Roll Pinwheel Cookies are inspired by a sweet or mithai that my mom used to make for us all the time. It was a healthy snack that we ate after school, when we were hungry. The mithai she made was essentially a Date and Nut roll, rolled in dried desiccated coconut.
How did my mother make the Khajur Nut Rolls?
My mom would make this sweet, by warming ghee in a pot, then adding chopped dates to it, dried figs, nuts like almonds, pistachios and spices like nutmeg and cardamom. There was no sugar in this sweet. Once cooked for a few minutes. She would let it cool ever so slightly, and then roll it into a log. Once rolled into a log, she would roll it in desiccated coconut to give it an extra flair! It would be wrapped in aluminum foil and stored in the fridge.
She would then cut it into slices and serve to guests, or we would just eat it whenever we felt like it. This mithai gives an instant energy boost with all the ghee, dates, and nuts. It especially helped me when I was breastfeeding my first born. My masi who came from the UK to help me out brought over 4 of the rolls, which truly helped me for that healthy snack to reach for.
I made a riff of these rolls in the form of a pinwheel cookie. The Khajur Nut Roll Pinwheel Cookies start off with a sugar cookie dough with orange zest. The dough is formed into a square and set in the fridge for a bit. I make a date paste with dates, almonds, pistachios, dried unsweetened shredded coconut, nutmeg and cardamom, that is sort of spreadable by adding water and sugar and cooking it on the gas stove.
What are the ingredients of the Khajur Nut mixture?
The ingredients of the date-nut mixture are as follows:
- Pitted dates: I get them pitted so that it saves me the work of pitting them. I get them from the Indian store as they are economical.
- Granulated sugar: to sweeten the final paste
- Ghee: The dates are cooked in ghee for flavor and for softening them.
- Water: To make it paste like
- Nuts like pistachios and almonds: Add great flavor and texture
- Unsweetened coconut: Adds great flavor and texture
- Spices like freshly ground nutmeg and cardamom pods: Cardamom pods are ground in a mortar and pestle and added with the skin. The skin has so much flavor.
The cookie dough is rolled out, and then the date mixture is spread on it. The cookie dough is rolled into a log very gently. The dough tends to break but you have to sort of seal it together with your palms, as you keep rolling it together into a log. Once rolled into a log, I roll it in a turbinado sugar and rose petal mixture. It is then wrapped in plastic and set in the freezer or the fridge for about half an hour.
TIPS to remember when spreading the mixture and rolling out the dough into a pinwheel shape:
- The paste may toughen as it cools. So it is important for the paste to be slightly warm. Also if the paste thickens, add about 1-2 tablespoons of water and microwave for 30 seconds and mix to make it pliable (to be able to spread it on the cookie dough).
- The dough should be chilled for an hour, and then rolled out, since the paste is slightly warm.
- Spread the date-nut paste into a thin layer, all the way to the sides of the dough, leaving a 1 inch border on the top and the bottom.
- When rolling the dough, use both hands and roll gently and tightly to make a beautiful pinwheel shape. The dough may crack in places and that is ok.
- Once rolled into a log, roll it back and forth a few times to make the outside smooth. The heat of the hands helps to make the outside of the dough smooth.
Then onwards, these cookies are essentially slice and bake cookies.
TIP to remember when baking the cookies:
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Remove them immediately and scout them with a cookie cutter in circles a few times for each cookie to adhere them to a round shape (since they lose their shape during freezing and slicing). You have to be quick during this process because as they are out of the oven, they start becoming less pliable.
- I use a cookie cutter like this to use for scouting.
- Put it back into the oven and bake for another 10 minutes, until light golden brown in color.
They are not the prettiest cookies but they are DEFINITELY the tastiest around with all those ingredients in it! They are super addictive, especially when they are freshly baked and out of the oven and they go fantastic with some hot piping masala chai.
How to decorate the cookies?
You can keep the cookies as is, but if you want to beautify them, one tip is to dip in your favorite chocolate be it dark, milk, white, ruby and add a few rose petals on the top, or even edible shimmer for a sparkle.
How to store these cookies?
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container in a cool place for upto 10 days.
What kind of turbinado sugar do you use to coat the cookie log?
I have used this turbinado sugar and it gives a really nice crunch to the cookie.
Other date and Diwali mithai recipes are here:
I am very thrilled with these cookies and I hope you get a chance to make them too!! 🙂 If you do make them please do not forget to tag #thejamlab on Instagram and/or leave a comment on this blog post!
XO
Amisha
First shared this recipe on 10/16/2019
Edited and re-posted on 10/24/2024
Khajur Nut Roll Pinwheel Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie dough
- 4 cups (560 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (65 grams) brown sugar
- Orange zest from one orange
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup whole milk, room temperature
Date-Nut Spice Paste
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 1 pound pitted dates, chopped into medium pieces
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup water
- ½ cup (65 grams) whole pistachios
- ½ cup (78 grams) whole almonds
- ½ cup (45 grams) unsweetened shredded coconut
- ½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- 4 cardamom pods, crushed completely in a mortar and pestle
Outside crust
- 1 cup turbinado sugar
- 1/4 cup crushed rose petals
Decoration
- 1 cup ruby chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- Edible rose petals
Get Recipe Ingredients
Method
Cookie dough
- In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking soda, and salt and whisk to combine.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, with a paddle attachment, add the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and orange zest and mix at high speed for 2-3 minutes until the mixture looks fluffy. Use a spatula to clean the sides of the bowl. Use a spatula to clean the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and whisk again. Add the flour mixture and milk alternately in two batches and whisk to combine.
- Divide the dough into two batches, and wrap individually into plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge for atleast an hour.
Date-Nut Spice Paste
- In a medium saucepan, on medium to high heat, add the ghee, dates, granulated sugar, and water. Bring it to a boil, then cover with a lid and let cook for 8 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for another 2 minutes. Switch off the gas. Cool for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile add the pistachios, almonds, coconut, nutmeg, crushed cardamom pods in the food processor and pulse for a minute, until it forms a fine mixture. Remove in a bowl and set aside.
- Add the date mixture into a food processor and pulse for a minute. It should look like a paste. Add the nut mixture and pulse to form a homogenous mixture. It should be pastey in texture. Add a couple of tablespoons of water if not pastey.
- Remove it in a bowl and set it aside.
Assembly
- Dust a working surface with flour. Place the dough on the work surface. Dust the dough with flour as well. Roll the dough into a 13×11 rectangle. Let it sit in the fridge for 15 minutes. Cut off about ½ inch from all sides to form a perfect rectangle. Spread 1/2 of the filling, evenly over the rectangle using a rubber spatula. Spread the date-nut mixture to the ends of the roll lengthwise, leaving an inch border on the top and the bottom (width wise). Gently roll from the bottom up, using both hands to form a tight pinwheel. You have to work fast here. The dough outside may break but don’t get worried, keep pressing gently with your palm to seal the dough and keep rolling until it forms an even log.
- On a quarter baking sheet, mix the turbinado sugar and rose petals. Roll the log over this mixture and with your hands, gently push the sugar-rose mixture into the log. Roll until there is a nice layer formed on the outside. Wrap each log into a plastic wrap and set in the freezer for half an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Slice each log into 1/3 inch slices using a clean sharp knife. Keep two half baking sheets with parchment paper ready. Add the slices 1 inch apart on the baking tray. Place each baking sheet in the lower rack of the oven for about 18 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove at the 10 minute mark, and using a round cookie cutter, scout each cookie quickly to regain the round shape. Place it back into the oven for another 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on a wire rack.
- Repeat step#4 for the second log.
Decoration:
- Place the ruby chocolate and coconut oil in a glass bowl and microwave for 1.5 minutes at 30 second intervals. Stir with a rubber spatula after each interval. After the 3rd round in the microwave, stir the mixture until it is completely pliable and smooth.
- Dip the top end of each cookie into the chocolate, remove the excess and place it back onto the tray. Add a bit of edible rose petals.
- Set the baking sheet in the freezer for 5 minutes, until the chocolate is set.
- Place the cookies in an airtight container after about an hour or so.
Note: The cookies will stay fresh for about 10 days.
Notes
How to decorate the cookies?
- You can keep the cookies as is, but if you want to beautify them, one tip is to dip in your favorite chocolate be it dark, milk, white, ruby and add a few rose petals on the top, or even edible shimmer for a sparkle.
How to store these cookies?
- The cookies can be stored in an airtight container in a cool place for upto 10 days.
What kind of turbinado sugar do you use to coat the cookie log?
- I have used this turbinado sugar and it gives a really nice crunch to the cookie.
