This recipe was contributed to the Centenary of Federation celebrations in 2001 by the great-granddaughter of Henry & Isabella Parkes.
Having cooked with dates before I decided to pure them first (as in a sticky date pud) and they ended up like little cakes. So I made them same again and made them in paper cups in a muffin tin and the husband and kids loved them! have made 'Federation Muffins' many times now. - 18 Mar 2011
I chose this recipe for my son's International Week at school. His class was studying Australia and he wanted an Australian dish for the potluck. When you are baking these cookies, the wonderful aroma just permeates throughout the whole house. And they taste wonderful too! - 04 Feb 2002 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
I wanted a fairly simple and quick cookie recipe to bake and give as a hostess gift. This recipe fit the bill, but I did not get 50 cookies. Maybe I was too generous with the dough. Nonetheless, these are terrific. They almost melt in your mouth and are wonderful with coffee, tea or hot chocolate. I didn't have pitted dates on hand so I increased the raisins and chopped walnuts. Next time I'll use dates also. Watch the baking time! 8-minutes was all it took. - 05 Dec 2011 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)