For the Cookie Dough:

1. Cream the butter and brown sugar together.  I used my *Bosch stand mixer, but these are easily made by hand, too.)
2. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
3. Add the dry ingredients and mix until completely incorporated.
4. Divide the dough in half and place each half of the dough in a gallon zip-top bag, press it down flat and refrigerate for 1 hour.  You want the dough to be chilled enough that you will be able to roll it out.

For the Date Nut Jam:

1. While the dough is chilling make the date nut jam filling.  Put the dates, water, sugar and salt in a medium sauce pan.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce the heat and allow the jam to continue to boil, very gently, for 10-15 minutes.  Remove from the heat when the date mixture becomes the consistency of soft jam.
3. Stir in the chopped walnuts and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Assembling the Cookie Roll:

1. When the dough is fully chilled, roll each half out into a 1/4-inch thick rectangle, (each rectangle will be 9×12) on a sheet of parchment paper.
2. Spread one half of the cooled jam across each of the rectangles of cookie dough, spreading it to the edges.
3. Working from the long edge, use the parchment paper to help you roll the dough and filling into a log.  The log will be fairly big around, 3 -3.5 inches in diameter.  Because the filling layer is thick, it will not be tight swirls like pinwheel cookies.  Work from the long edge and tuck the dough into the jam as you get the roll started.  Keep rolling, using the parchment to help you, tucking as you go to keep the roll being formed.  In the end the roll will have a swirl of dough at the center, surrounded by jam and then dough encasing it all.  It won’t form the tight pinwheel like the cookies from the past that had just a tiny thin ribbon of filling.
4. Wrap and chill the logs for at least 6 hours.

Baking the Date Filled Cookies with Walnuts:

1. To bake, cut the logs into 1/3″ slices and place on a cookie sheet leaving at least 2 inches in between, for spreading. (If you rotate the log a quarter turn after each slice you make, it will help the cookies stay round instead of going flat on one side.)
2. Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes.  The cookie will be lightly browned around the edges, but still soft and tender.
3. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the *baking sheet for 3 minutes, before removing to cooling racks.