Coconut Snowballs

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/8 teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)

3/4 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon milk

1 cup finely chopped dates

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups rice krispies cereal

Coconut (about 1 package)

Directions ~

1.  Combine butter, salt, sugar, milk and dates in a large saucepan.  Cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, and using a whisk to mash the dates a bit. 

2.  In a small bowl, beat the egg with a fork, then add a spoonful of the warm date mixture to temper the egg a bit.  Add egg mixture to the saucepan, stirring constantly, cook about 2 minutes.

3.  Remove pan from heat, add vanilla and stir, then add rice krispies and stir.  Allow mixture to cool about 1 minute.

4.  Pour about a cup of coconut into a bowl, then use a 1 tablespoon sized cookie scoop (or a spoon) to scoop a ball of date mixture into the bowl of coconut.  Use your hands to press coconut onto the date mixture, until fully covered with coconut, shaping into a ball as you work.  Refill small bowl with coconut as needed.

5.  Set finished Coconut Snowballs on a baking sheet or casserole dish.  When all the snowballs have been made, serve immediately, or cover until ready to serve.  These can be stored (at room temperature) 3-5 days.  Recipe yields 30-34 balls.

Fudge Puddles

Puddles Of Yum

Cookie Crust recipe:

1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt

In a large mixer bowl, combine butter, peanut butter, and both sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla Next, in a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add flour mix. to the creamy mixture. Chill in the fridge for at least one hour (or if you're impatient, chill the dough in the freezer for about 15 minutes). Remove from fridge and form into 1" balls. I use a small melon baller scoop to make mine a uniform size. Grease a mini-muffin pan and add 1 ball to each muffin cup: Bake in a 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until very lightly browned. Remove from oven and make an indentation in the center of each ball. Let them cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes and then move to a cooling rack.

Once all of the cookies are done baking, it's time to make the fudge filling. Immediately start filling the cookie cups with the filling. It will start to harden just a bit as you do it, so make sure to give it a good stir once in awhile. Sprinkle with the nuts or just leave plain. Let set for an hour or so. That is if you can wait that long, the wait is definitely worth it.

Fudgy Filling recipe:

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. butterscotch chips
(if you don't like butterscotch, just use milk chocolate chips)
1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 t. vanilla extract
chopped nuts or sprinkles (optional, I omitted this part)

In a microwave safe bowl or saucepan, combine all of the ingredients except the nuts/sprinkles. Microwave for 1 minutes. Stir well. If there are still unmelted chips, continue to melt in microwave for 15 second increments until all smooth: