Sunday, December 20, 2009

Sugared Dates





















My grandfather tells the story that his older sister Ruth went off to College in the late 1930s and returned home one semester with this simple yet wonderful method for preparing sugared dates. He was eleven at the time and the treats made quite an impression on him.  My grandfather has always had a knack for creating comfort foods and these dates are among the top three recipes I think of when I think of him. 

I can't imagine Christmas without envisioning a bowl of these sitting around.  They are easy and an especially great "busy" task for children. Package some up for host/ hostess gifts or bring along with cookies to the office party. Sugared dates are a unexpectedly tasty treat that are reminscent of Christmases past.





























INGREDIENTS:


pitted dates
walnut halves
granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1 – Fill shallow dish with granulated sugar (approximately one cup)

2 – Break walnut halves into pieces small enough to fit snugly inside opening left when dates were pitted.

3 – Stuff approximately 2 grams (1/2 teaspoon) of walnuts into each date, making sure to put walnuts in each open end.

4 – Roll in sugar.

5 – Store in an air tight container; will last for several weeks.


































Nutritional info for one (1) stuffed date (incl. 2 g walnuts, 1/4 tsp. sugar):   


Nutritional information calculated per ingredients and deemed close but not exact. 

2 comments:

  1. Ooh, those look so good! I used to make date balls, but it has been years, wonder where that recipe is? I think they had a little coconut in them - SO good! Where do you get those little wax paper bags? I made ginger chip cookies and doggie treats, but have not ventured out yet to get containers in which to deliver them - those look great! I also need to get some little canning jars for the pumpkin butter...I have big ones, but the little guys are all gone. Looks like your girls must have been busy forEVER! That's a LOT of dates there Lynn! lol

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  2. Susan, I found those wax or glassine envelopes at a wholesale restaurant supply a couple of years ago. It's one of those things I picked up and wonder if we will wever see the end of it. Kind of like that bin of dates (they'll disapear quickly though!)

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