Last Christmas, while gathered around the dinner table at Aunt Faye’s, we got talking about Mammy Flanders’ Date Balls. My husband said it was one of his favorite snacks Mammy made. Aunt Faye didn’t like it much, so it was always missing from her dessert spread during the holidays. My husband wanted to have a taste of them again.
Aunt Faye brought out (gasp) Mammy Flanders’ recipe box, filled with handwritten recipes from several generations back.
“Here,” she said. “You can take that home and go through it. It’s gotta be in there somewhere.”
The cousins all looked longingly at Mammy Flanders’ recipe box. I myself was astounded at how easily it was to pry that heirloom recipe box from Aunt Faye’s hands, but she must have known it was in good hands. My husband felt a responsibility to give back to the family, so he transcribed Mammy’s recipes and posted it as an ebook for everyone to enjoy.
Since then we’ve been going through the recipes one by one and trying them out. Give this one a try.
Date Balls
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup ground dates
3 cups rice crispies
Cook all ingredients except rice crispies in frying pan over high heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly to keep from burning. Remove from heat, then add the rice crispies and mix well. Once cool enough to touch, form into tight balls and roll in shredded coconut.
Enjoy!