Date Balls are definitely a crowd favourite where I come from - at least it used to be!
It is super easy to make and tastes amazing, so here we go - You are going to need:
500g Pitted Dates
200g Sugar
230g Salted Butter
2 Teaspoons of Vanilla Essence
2 Packets of Marie Biscuits (Which you can order right here if you are in Canada >>>Marie Biscuits<<<
250g Shredded Sugared Coconut
(Note: you can half the recipe if you want to make less - but for us this is a good batch size)
How to make it:
- Add the butter and sugar to a pot over medium heat and let it melt for a few minutes.
- Chop the dates - I like to slice it into small slices, some people only chop it into quarters because chopping dates is a mission...
- When sugar and butter is melted, add the chopped dates.
- Next add the vanilla essence
- Let it all simmer and melt down into a gooey blob.
- Crush the Marie Biscuits - biggest pieces should be as big as a finger nail and the rest crumbs.
- Add Marie Biscuits to the mix in the pot and stir through.
- Grab a small piece of the mixture and gently roll it between your hands to form a small bite sized ball. Be careful the mixture is hot. The hotter the mixture, the stickier the balls, the better the coconut sticks
- Now roll the ball in the shredded coconut until it is covered in coconut. If the coconut stops sticking to the ball you need to heat your mixture up a bit.
- Pack in a dish ready to serve once it has cooled to room temperature.
- Do not refrigerate before serving as it will turn rock hard - You can refrigerate but then take it out about 2 hours before serving to get to room temperature.
Here is a video showing the process:
Hope you enjoy the recipe!