Creamy date caramel sandwiched between brown butter oat pecan cookies.
Richly sweet toasted oat and pecan cookies with creamy bourbon date caramel.
The idea for these cookies started out as being a “healthy” cookie with low sugar and low gluten. But like so much of my cooking, they ended up being the opposite. What can I say? I tried.
It is important to grind the nuts and oats finely. They are the base for these cookies and make up the majority of their structure.
Making the caramel is easy, but it will give your food processor a workout. If your machine doesn’t seem to be doing the trick, add a bit more cream or water to thin the caramel.
I cut these cookies into squares, but they can be cut into any shape. Any leftover scraps can be pressed back out as many times as needed.
Oat Pecan Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup oats
- 1 cup pecans
- 1 cup flour
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
Date Caramel
- 1 cup dates deseeded
- 2 tsp bourbon
- 1/4 cup cream
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the butter to a saucepan over medium heat. Cook the butter until it is browned and cool. Place the oats and pecans on a sheet pan and toast for 8 minutes. Cool and place in a food processor and grind until fine.
- Add the flour sugar and salt to the nuts and pulse until just mixed. Add the egg, butter, and maple syrup and mix. Line a sheet pan with parchment and press the dough into a 12 1/2 x 9 1/2 inch rectangle 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 40 squares 6×8. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes. Line another sheet pan with parchment. Remove the cookies from the freezer and place them on a sheet pan 1 inch apart. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven, cool, and fill with date caramel.
Date caramel
- Place the dates, bourbon, vanilla, and salt in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Add the cream and blend until just combined. Set aside until ready to use.
