Filled cookies

My Mother used to make a filled cookie when I was a child, but in one of the moves she made, a box with cookbooks was lost. She remembers that they were a soft, chewy cookie. She rolled out the dough, placed a spoonful of filling in it, then placed a second round of dough on top and pinched them together. She remembers the filling as having dates, nuts, orange zest and raisins.

One of my best friends Mom made a cookie similar to this for him. He thinks her filling may have had figs, and reminded him of mincemeat. She is now in her late 90's and has Alzheimers and they can't locate her recipe files anywhere. No clue what she did with them.

I tried a recipe from Cooking from Quilt Country, by Marsha Adams. It was ok, but the cookie part was flavorless. It was also the most bland looking cookie when finished. Sort of looked like a round pierogi. It had two filling recipes, one for a raisin filling, one for date. I made the recipe, but made half a recipe of each filling so I could try both out.

I also bought a box of mincemeat filling at the store yesterday, figured I could add some dried cherries and nuts to it to make a filling.

So, I need a good, soft cookie recipe to put the filling in.... or a recipe that includes a filling.

Thanks so much if you can help me out! I know I could search the web, but I would much prefer to use a recipe that someone I ""know"" has already tried and recommends.

Mom says that I should note that she used to cut a small hole, perhaps a bit smaller than a half inch across in the top cookie for decoration and to let steam escape. The recipe I used from Marsha Adams book did not call for a hole. Perhaps if I had done that, it would have made them a bit more appealing.