The holiday season is upon us, festive decorations are on display in every mall, and there's excitement in the air.
Those of us celebrating Christmas look forward to a special day with family and friends. Elsewhere, people get together to enjoy the holiday period and celebrate the year gone by.
Gifts are exchanged, but I believe gifts from the heart cannot be bought in any store!
I hope to share some gifts from my kitchen with you in the next few weeks.
Today, it's all about Dates!
The word dates, of course, has multiple meanings - days of a month, romantic liaisons, or it could be a fruit
Of course, I'm talking about the edible kind for this week's Qurator's: Hive Top Chef! | Dates.
I was not going to let this one pass me by, as I love Dates. It is an excellent alternative to sugar in baking. Traditional bakes contain sugar-Date and Nut Loaf, Tipsy Tart, Date Squares, and Crunchy Date Balls that I'll share with you today.
Gorgeous plump Medjool dates have become one of my favourite sweet treats, tastes just like caramel, and of course is way healthier than traditional caramels.
I used sundried pitted block Dates, traditionally used for baking.
The recipe is based on an old one from my ancient Flop-Proof Baking recipe book, published by Stork in the early 70s. I changed it slightly, as you'll see.
Shall we start baking?
...or rather cooking...
The bonus with this recipe is that there's no baking, it's all done on the stovetop, and then refrigerated. I shaped the mixture into small balls, rolled them in coconut, and also made date squares as the mixture started cooling quickly, making it difficult to shape into balls.
I could only find Vanilla Rice Krispies, which of course has a sweet coating, so I used less sugar.
Ingredients
Crunchy Date Balls
Note - I halved the recipe, and it yielded 4 dozen date balls/squares
- 125gram Butter
- 100ml Sugar
- 2ml Salt
- 250gram Pitted Dates, diced
- 600ml Rice Krispies
- Approx 100 gram fine desiccated Coconut
Place all ingredients except Rice Krispies and Coconut, into a large pot, on medium heat.
Stir till it's melted and becomes like a smooth paste.
Stir in the Rice Krispies and mix lightly till the cereal is coated.
Spoon into a bowl to allow it to cool to a manageable heat. Not too long!
Place coconut into a flattish bowl for rolling the rolls.
Take a spoonful of mixture, roll it into balls by hand, and then in coconut.
I had interruptions halfway through rolling little balls, so my mixture cooled down. I pressed it into a small bread pan sprinkled with coconut, added extra coconut on top, placed it in the refrigerator, and cut it into squares once cold.
Yummy-licious and addictive Crunchy Date Balls and Squares
A different kind of presentation.
I could not resist and sneaked a bite;)
I hope you enjoyed today's treats made with Dates!
𝘽𝙊𝙉 𝘼𝙋𝙋𝙀𝙏𝙄𝙏 𝙁𝙍𝙄𝙀𝙉𝘿𝙎!
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This looks like an easy-peasy recipe, if one isn't interrupted while rolling the little balls! 😁 Thanks for sharing yet another yummy holiday treat! 😋
Easy-peasy it is for sure, and that interruption showed one can make it even quicker if you don't have time to roll all the little balls. Thank you for popping into my kitchen @thekittygirl, pity we can't send treats across the airwaves😉
Uff rice Krispies and dates, sounds amazing! I love everything that has to do with dates and of course I think you are absolutely right, there is no better gift for the holidays than one made by oneself, where we put love and time to share. That interruption during the preparation came in handy, because having balls and cubes make the gift even more fun.
The date squares are much quicker if one doesn't have time, they are super yummy best eaten straight from the fridge. I'm definitely making gifts this year.
Nice seeing you @ninaeatshere, thank you for the visit 🤗
Noted for eating them out of the fridge, they sound delicious next to a cup of tea.
It is always a pleasure reading you, I am sending you a big hug!
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These dates may mean the edible kind, but you made these snacks look truly romantic.
Nice and crunchy with the rice crispies. I would never have thought of that.😊
You could make a vegan version if you can find Rice Krispies without added Vit D. They're yummy
Well Carolyn, I'm sure you had some hot dates in your youth who also looked good enough to eat😅
These date balls always look pretty.
I hope you're having a good Monday my friend🤗
I didn't know about the vitamin D thing. My boss uses rice Krispies in some of his dishes, which are suppose to be vegan, and they appear to be the regular ones. I need to check this out. Interesting.
I wanted to make a vegan version but checked and was surprised to see that. I once used red wine for a vegan dish, then someone pointed out that even wine has some animal product in that they use in the making of it.
Oh wow! Those look and sound delicious. I say that every time you show us anything you cook, though! Ha! I just recently learned I really like dates. Like I really like them. I want to eat them all the time and I was until I read that on the Keto diet, you can maybe have 1-2 a day because of how many carbs they have. Ha! Now I'm limited, but I still love them. They're so yummy, so why did I not even try them for years? Because of the humidity here, Rice Krispies just get stale as soon as they're out in the air. It's sad. I love that you give these away as gifts from the heart. That's so sweet and kind. I love handmade gifts!
So you're on a keto diet? My son and husband went on years ago, and both of them lost weight so fast and felt so much better! The only thing with hubby was that he had to lower his insulin (a good thing) but he sometimes misjudged and would have an extreme hypoglycemic attack, especially in the night, so he stopped.
I only buy Rice Krispies when making these, they're super yummy!
I love getting handmade gifts, one friend has been doing it for years. I always tell her I think of her every time I wash my hair; she made me two hair towels that are still going strong <3
I'm on and off Keto - depending on my mood. Ha! I do Keto with fasting, so when I'm not in a fasting mood, I just eat what I want.
Oh, now I have an idea to make coconut date bars! Looks like healthier version than the instants snack bar at the market :)
Once you taste the homemade version, you'll always be disappointed with the ones in the store. It's so quick and easy to make as well!
Thank you for visiting my kitchen @anggreklestari 😉
That looks very delicious, for some reason I can feel Christmas through those photos 😁
Good recipe and very well written post @lizelle ❤️
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Thank you very much for popping into my kitchen and for the nice feedback @dimascastillo90! Haha, yes very Christmassy, a little early🎄😉
It's never too early for Christmas hehe ☺️ It was a pleasure visiting your post dear @lizelle 😉
It looks very delicious crunchy and healthy. We use plane rice crunch called puppy rice with cane jaggery.
Good luck with the contest. Sure it is the winning recipe, dear @lizelle. :)
Thank you @hindavi. they are yummy too! I wonder if the rice crunch you use is vegan? One could then make this a vegan treat by using plant butter.
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This looks so yummy. I wish I could have a taste of this deliciousness.
Its a delicious treat, thank you for popping in @fredaa
😍
it looks really easy to prepare and really delicious all at once! 😃
Here it's hard finding dates during the year but it's a very popular food during Christmas and yes your sweets looks so Christmas style ❤️❤️
The pressed dates for baking are available year-round, but Medjool dates are seasonal, they are so good! I should freeze them when they're in season again.
Very Christmassy😉 Thank you for popping in @noemilunastorta
These are delicacies and I'm very sure they will taste divinely too!
I can smell Christmas in someone's home 😁
They are divine, I'm determined to make Christmas gifts this year. Thank you for popping in @edith-4angelseu 🤗
@lizelle, I paid out 2.515 HIVE and 0.477 HBD to reward 8 comments in this discussion thread.