Day 5 of holiday baking, and deeply immersed in cookie mode. Today’s offering, bursting with flavor and pecans, is a wonderful traditional cookie ideal for the holiday season.

Some times, old habits die hard. For me, no baking spree is complete without a cookie like this. Simple, traditional and, more importantly, full of pecans. I first came across this recipe while I was getting my hair cut. Sitting under the dryer is a great time to flip through magazines. This particular magazine was Southern Lady, and there were so many appealing recipes that I went to the bookstore and bought my own copy.

I picked this particular recipe because it seemed so much like a holiday cookie. With cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, these couldn’t be more perfect for this time of year.

Besides my beloved pecan, these cookies also feature another of my favorite ingredients – dates. I have a sentimental attachment to them because of my mother’s wonderfully delicious Date Balls. Of course, they’re just good, too. Not being a big fan of raisins, I often substitute dates for them in recipes. To quote one of my culinary heroes, Alton Brown, why would you want to eat anything raisins have to be in?

These cookies turned out to be extremely good. The spices offer a wonderful combination of flavors. The pecans offer crunch, while the dates add chewiness. Quinn has proclaimed these his favorite cookie. I’m a little partial to them myself. In fact, we liked them so much that we kept most of them for ourselves.