Date Filled Oatmeal Cookies

I used to love Archway date filled oatmeal cookies, but never realised how easy they were to make at home! Introducing my simple recipe for cinnamon oatmeal cookies and a quick date filling. This is sure to keep you in a good supply of these classic oatmeal sandwich cookies.

Archway Date Filled Oatmeal Cookies

Archway was an American cookie company that specialised in a wide variety of oatmeal cookies. Founded in the 1930s, the brand expanded into nationwide production, but unfortunately went bankrupt following a bit of a scandal in 2008.

One of the brand's staple products was the date filled oatmeal cookie. Soft chewy oatmeal cookies, which were filled with a layer of date jam. They were one of my favourites growing up. Unfortunately, following the bankruptcy, Archway was subsumed by other food manufacturers and their product line dramatically reduced. Part of this reduction saw the discontinuation of the date-filled cookies.

Now, without the option to buy them, the best way to get a date-filled oatmeal fix is to make them at home!

Date Filling for Oatmeal Cookies

The first step in the date filled sandwich cookie is the filling itself.

Ingredients for Date Jam

• Dates - I like to use fresh medjool dates, but you could also use other varieties in this recipe, including dried.
• Sugar - dates are naturally sweet, but the addition of sugar will help to create a nice jam-like filling.
• Water - to help to break down the fruits and create the sauce. The water is particularly necessary if you are making this with dried dates as you will need to rehydrate them.
• Liquid glucose or corn syrup - optional, but a small amount will help bring the jam together.

Method for Making Quick Date Jam

This date jam can be made in one medium saucepan in about 15 minutes.

First, cut the dates in half and remove the pits before roughly chopping. Add these to a saucepan with the other ingredients and cook over a medium heat. Stir occasionally to help the sugar dissolve and the dates to begin breaking down. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook down until its thickened to your desired consistency.

You can add a bit extra water if it seems to become too thick and similarly, cook longer to reduce if needed.

Once done, allow to cool while you make the cinnamon oatmeal cookies.

Ingredients for Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

My easy one bowl cinnamon oatmeal cookies are a quick and versatile cookie. They're great on their own, but even better sandwiched with some date filling!

All you need is:

• Unsalted butter - you can use softened butter, but to make soft and chewy sandwich cookies, its best to melt this. Handily, that also means you don't have to have remembered to take the butter out of the refrigerator before starting!
• Sugar - a mixture of caster sugar and dark brown muscovado, tightly packed. The dark brown sugar will give an added molasses-y note to the cookies.
• Baking soda and salt.
• All purpose flour or plain flour.
• Vanilla extract.
• Rolled oats.

Making Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

This is a simple one bowl recipe for soft and chewy oatmeal cookies, made even simpler by the melted butter.

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190C/170C Fan) and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat. This recipe makes about 16 individual cookies (8 paired sandwich cookies), which will take two to three baking sheets dependent on the size of these and the capacity of your oven. I only actually have one baking sheet and a tiny oven, so I just make this in three batches.

In a large mixing bowl, add the sugars and butter. Beat this together until well blended. Add the egg and vanilla extract, beating to incorporate.

Next add in the flour, beating until just combined. And finally, add the oats. You will want to stir the oats through with a spatula rather than using a whisk as the dough will become quite thick.

Scoop the dough onto the prepared sheets using a tablespoon or a cookie scoop. The larger the cookie, the longer they will need to bake and also the fewer cookie sandwiches you will have overall. I like to use a large tablespoon to dollop these roughly 2" apart.

Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for about 8 minutes, watching for the edges to start going a bit golden. Due to the dark brown sugar, these are a fairly dark bake, but you will be able to see the edges turning.

When ready, remove and allow to cool on the baking tray for about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool. This step helps to keep oatmeal cookies cookies soft.

Repeat as needed to finish baking all the dough.

Assembling Date Filled Sandwich Cookies

Once your cookies and date filling are cool, its time to sandwich them!

Sandwiching cookies is best achieved by pairing up your cookies first into sets, which I talk about a bit in my Oatmeal Cream Pie recipe.

You want to flip one of the pair over so that the flat base is facing up. Spread some of your date jam onto this and sandwich together with the base of the other cookie.

This recipe is sufficient for a generous filling (a heaping tablespoon or so), but you can use as much or as little as you want. Any leftover jam is great with toast or scones.

FAQs for Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies with Date Filling

If you like these, check out some other cookies:

• Giant Oatmeal Cream Pies
• No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies without Peanut Butter
• Classic Spiced Oatmeal Cookies