My Favorite Christmas Cookies - Thumb Cookies & Date Pin Wheels

I have loved Thumb Cookies, aka Angel Thumbprints, since I was little. Mother made them and then I started making them for my family. Then I realized that I was the only one eating them. My good fortune. I love the way the walnuts taste baked on the outside of this cookie. You can also fill the thumbprint with jelly, but I prefer frosting.

THUMB COOKIES
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Mix all together then add 1 cup sifted flour, 1/4 tsp. salt. Mold into balls the size of a walnut, then roll in egg white and finely chopped nuts. Bake five minutes in 350°F oven. Take out and make a depression with the thumb in each cookie then return to oven and bake until brown. Then take out and cover with colored icing.

My other favorite cookie is Date Pin Wheels. This is also one that Mother made every year. The recipe was from a newspaper clipping. I know my sisters make this cookie, but it's not one that I have made very often. The recipe wasn't very specific in the instructions. You need to roll the dough out before you spread it with the date mixture. Then you roll it up and wrap it in waxed paper. Chill it a couple of hours, and then slice the roll with a sharp knife in 1/4 inch slices. I loved the way they turned out! This is probaly another cookie that I would eat all by myself. And that's OK!

DATE PIN WHEELS
1 cup chopped pitted dates
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg (beaten)
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
Cook dates, sugar and water slowly until thick. Add nuts and cool. Cream shortening, brown sugar and vanilla. Add egg. Sift flour, salt and soda. Add to creamed mixture, making a stiff dough. Spread dough with date mixture and roll up like jelly roll. Chill in refrigerator for two hours. Bake at 375°F from 10 to 12 minutes.