Clockwise from back left: Raspberry Thumbprints, Sugar Cookies, Date Nut Balls, Magic Cookie Bars and Stove Top Cookies
Years ago I gave up making hundreds of dozens of cookies and culled my recipes down to the five essentials, per my husband and the children requests. What I failed to plan was to incorporate a favorite cookie for myself. Each year I enjoyed the baked fare but always felt reminiscent over the things I recalled from my childhood and first marriage years that I had made and enjoyed. This year, I decided to remove one of John's favorites which I make through out the year anyway, and add in one for me. I chose to make Date Nut Balls.
I used a recipe from Flint Electric Membership Cooperative, published dogs years ago when I was first married. Granny had purchased copies for Mama, herself and me. I'd used mine until it literally fell apart and I recently found a copy that apparently went unused all these years. I found the recipe for the Date Nut Balls inside and decided that this year, that would be my cookie.
Date Nut Balls
1 egg, beaten
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
1 8 ounce package of chopped dates
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of nuts
zest of one orange (or use 1 tsp of vanilla extract)
2 1/2 cups crisp rice cereal (the kind that snap, crackles and pops)
Over medium low heat in a deep heavy boiler, cook and stir constantly the egg, butter, sugar and dates. My recipe said cook for 8 minutes and I started the timer as soon as the butter was fully melted. The mixture will thicken as it cooks and be about like a pudding texture. You'll feel the difference as you stir. Cook until you reach that consistency. It will be at a barely boiling stage if the heat setting is just right.
Pull off heat and add in the nuts, rice cereal and flavoring. (I opted for the orange zest). Stir to just combine then walk away and let it cool about 10 minutes or so until it's just warm and not hot.
I found that forming the balls was a bit of work. If the mixture is still warm, taking a small portion of it, sort of compress it into a rough ball in your hand. As it cools in your hands it will become firmer and you can shape it into a round ball. If the dough is almost hot, it will take longer to form. I didn't find it necessary to coat my hands with butter or water to prevent sticking. There's quite enough butter in the mixture to keep it from sticking to your hands.
Set formed balls on a wire rack to complete cooling.
You can coat in one of two ways: roll or shake them in powdered confectioners sugar or in moist coconut flakes (the kind you'd buy in a can). I opted for the sugar coated ones this year since two of my cookies already incorporate coconut. If rolled in coconut, the balls are usually called 'Shaggy Dogs' in our region.
about the coconut: I don't pay a premium price for canned moist coconut flakes. Instead I buy dry coconut flakes when I find them on sale and as I use it, I add a teaspoon or so of water to each cup or 1 1/2 cups of coconut flakes then heat in the microwave for 15 seconds. Results in moist lovely coconut for cakes or cookies.
Other cookies made this year include:
Raspberry Thumbprints
I use half the sugar cookie dough to make these cookies. The bit I've copied from my recipe blog below says Strawberry preserves, which is what I initially made. Katie's developed a strawberry allergy over the years and I switched to raspberry preserves for her sake. She and Sam both love these cookies and fight over who gets the most of them.
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