1 lb. pitted dates, cut up
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. butter
1/2 c. moist brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. white sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. finely chopped nuts

Put first 3 ingredients into saucepan and cook until thick, about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Cool. Sift flour, measure, and resift twice with soda and salt. Cream butter until soft and smooth, blend in brown and white sugar, and add eggs; beat until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla. Stir in flour and place dough in refrigerator to chill at least half an hour. Turn half of chilled dough out onto waxed paper and pat out with floured hands to form a rectangle; then roll carefully with a lightly floured rolling pin to a rectangle 10 x 14 inches and 1/8 inch thick.

Combine cooled date mixture with the nuts, and spread half the mixture over the sheet of dough. Roll up like jelly roll, the long way of the sheet, removing the waxed paper as you roll. Then wrap the roll snugly in the waxed paper. It should be slender in proportion to its length. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Chill wrapped rolls in refrigerator until firm; then slice thin, using a sharp, slender-bladed knife. Place on lightly greased cookie sheets and bake in a moderately hot oven (400 degrees) for 7 minutes, or until lightly browned. Transfer to cake racks to cool. Makes 5 to 6 dozen cookies, depending on diameter of rolls and thickness of cookies.