Date And Nut Fingers

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 egg whites, room temp
• 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 cups pecans or 2 cups walnuts, chopped and lightly toasted
• 1 cup dates, chopped see note*
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 300ºf, place rack in center of oven.
• 2 line baking sheet with parchment paper.
• 3 combine and sift together powdered sugar and flour into a small bowl; set aside.
• 4 add one tablespoon of sugar flour mixture to chopped dates and toss to coat. use a little more (only if needed) to keep them from being too sticky.
• 5 *note: do not use pre chopped packaged dates unless the pkg states that they are not coated with anything.
• 6 add salt to egg whites in a mixing bowl; beat to a stiff foam (almost to the soft peaks stage).
• 7 add the sugar-flour mixture to the egg whites, one tablespoon at a time, beating constantly, until stiff, glossy peaks form.
• 8 gently fold in nuts, dates and vanilla extract.
• 9 drop from tablespoon onto the parchment paper lined cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.
• 10 shape into fingers, if desired, or leave in mounds.
• 11 bake for about 30 minutes. cookies should be a very pale beige at most, not brown.
• 12 remove the cookies, on the parchment paper, to cooling racks and cool completely.
• 13 when cool, carefully peel the cookies from the parchment paper (a thin bladed knife or spatula helps)
• 14 store in an airtight container; use waxed paper between layers.