The Vegan Dates and Cocoa swirl Cookies are simple, crispy and delicious. Enjoy the combination of the crispy cookies and the slightly chewy swirled filling!
Swirl cookies are one of the most loved cookies in my house hold. I usually make them very simple with vanilla and cocoa but I wanted to make them somewhat different and slightly healthier. An opened bag of dry dates was sitting in the kitchen cupboard so I chopped them into tiny pieces, mixed them with peanut butter, cocoa powder, icing sugar and soya milk to make the filling for the swirl.
The Vegan dates and cocoa swirl cookies are
- Made healthier with dates and peanut butter
- Delicious combination of the crispy and slightly soft texture
- Not too sweet
- Perfect for a snack, dessert and packed lunch
The flavour of the dates are not very strong in the cookies as it’s mixed with peanut butter and cocoa powder so even people who are not keen on dates would enjoy them! My son doesn’t like dates but he couldn’t stop munching on them after he had one, they were all gone in one day!! Take a look at my VEGAN CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD COOKIES recipe, which is similar to this one but chocolaty and rich in flavour.
Ingredients needed
The filling
- Dry dates
- Peanut butter
- Cocoa powder
- Icing sugar
- Soya milk
Cookie dough
- Plain flour
- Vegan margarine
- Coconut oil
- Icing sugar
- Vanilla extract
If your dates a hard, soak them in hot water for a few minutes to soften and drain before use. Other sweet dry fruits such as figs and raisins will work as well. The icing sugar for the filling can be replaced with syrup if you want to. For the cookie dough, the icing sugar gives a fine, melt-in-mouth kind of texture. You could try with different types of sugar but I highly recommend to use icing sugar.
Quick making guide
- Chop the dates into small pieces and mix with the peanut butter, cocoa powder, icing sugar. If it’s too dry, add a little amount of soya milk to adjust. It should be like a chocolate spread kind of consistency. Set aside.
- Whisk the margarine, coconut oil, icing sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until pale and fluffy for at least 1 minute.
- Add in the flour and combine with your hand to form a slightly dry dough, like a shortcut pastry dough.
- Place a sheet of baking paper on the table and roll the dough to a rectangular shape, about 8mm-1cm in thickness.
- Spread the filling over the middle of the rolled dough and carefully roll up, starting with a long side using the sheet of baking paper underneath. Make sure you roll tight!
- Wrap in cling film and pop in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (gas mark 4.5) and line a baking tray with baking paper. Cut the slightly frozen dough into about 1cm slices.
- Place the cookies on the prepared tray and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The cookies are still soft after coming out from the oven but they become crispy after 10-15 minutes so allow to cool before serving!
VEGAN DATES AND COCOA SWIRL COOKIES
Ingredients
For the filling
- 30 g Dry dates
- 1 tbsp Peanut butter
- 1 tbsp Cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp Icing sugar
- 1 tsp Soya milk you might need less or more
For the cookie dough
- 50 g Vegan margarine
- 50 g Cocont oil Not melted but soft
- 70 g Icing sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 170 g Plain flour
Instructions
For the filling
- Chop the dates into tiny pieces and mix with the peanut butter, cocoa powder, icing sugar. If it’s too dry, add a little amount of soya milk to adjust. It should be like a chocolate spread kind of consistency. Set aside.
For the cookie dough
- Whisk the margarine, coconut oil, icing sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until pale and fluffy for at least 1 minute.
- Add in the flour and combine with your hand to form a slightly dry dough, like a shortcut pastry dough.
- Place a sheet of baking paper on the table and roll the dough to a rectangular shape, about 8mm-1cm in thickness.
- Spread the filling over the middle of the rolled dough.
- Carefully roll up, starting with a long side using the sheet of baking paper underneath.
- Make sure you roll tight!
- Wrap in cling film and pop in the freezer for 30 minutes.Preheat the oven to 180°C (gas mark 4.5) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Cut the slightly frozen dough into about 1cm slices. Place the cookies on the prepared tray and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
- The cookies are still soft after coming out from the oven but they become crispy after 10-15 minutes so allow to cool before serving!
