DATE BALLS – OLD FASHIONED RECIPE
We love these old fashioned date balls, they have a wonderful taste and they are the perfect holiday treat.
If you are a fan of old fashioned candy recipes you have to try our recipe for Martha Washington Candy! It’s a classic for a reason.
❤️WHY WE LOVE THIS RECIPE
I love the sweetness of this recipe, they are not overly sweet but have a definite brown sugar taste! With the pecans and the dates it has a great flavor and one that goes great with the holiday season. We like to really cover these in powdered sugar but you can do a light dusting if you like.
🍴KEY INGREDIENT
You will want to use real dates, not ones that have the covering on them for snacking. You need the dates to have the natural stickiness for them to work well in this recipe. We made these by hand chopping all the ingredients but a food processer would work very well.
⭐TIP
We find that making these balls smaller is the key to them sticking together well. We also keep them in the refrigerator as they are so good cold.
💕MORE POPULAR CANDY RECIPES
STORING & SERVING SIZE
We store these in the refrigerator and they make about 3.5 dozen.
Old Fashioned Date Balls
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter one stick
- ¾ cup white granulated sugar
- 8 ounces pitted dates finely chopped
- 1 cup pecans finely chopped
- 2 cups rice krispies cereal
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar for rolling
Instructions
- In a saucepan over medium low heat, cook butter, sugar, an dates until the sugar has fully dissolved.
- Make sure the dates and pecans are chopped very fine – you can use a food processor if you need, it will make this easier.
- Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, pecans, and cereal. Combine everything then let the mixture cool for several minutes.
- Use your hands and form the mixture into 1-inch balls. Place the balls on parchment paper or a baking sheet. Let them sit in the fridge for an hour.
- Roll them in powdered sugar and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Join 1000’s of others and subscribe today!
A lifestyle magazine that inspires you to create a life you love.. Discover the simple joys that fill our lives with gratitude and inspire a deeper connection to what truly matters.
© The Southern Lady Cooks photos and text – All rights reserved. No copying, posting on other sites, or other uses allowed without written permission of the copyright holder.
These taste exactly like the ones my mother made many years ago. So easy and SO delicious. These were definitely a hit!!!! You won’t regret making these!
YAY!! So glad to hear this!!
Mine won’t stick together to make a ball??
I don’t know what the problem could be.
This time mine didn’t either. This is the 3rd time I have made these and they always stuck together
Can you use walnuts instead of pecans?
Absolutely!
Me and mon would make these every Christmas. Instead of powder sugar we would roll the balls in coconut. I need to try the powder sugar method. I love these and can eat more than my share of these. I make them for my work parties.
My sweet mom-in-love made these for her family their whole lives. Except with coconut instead of powdered sugar. Delicious! I will try them this way also!
I’m wondering if you measure the dates and the pecans before or after they get finely chopped.
Before they get chopped.
I have often wondered about the before and after measure. Thank you for verifying that. I love seeing your online site every morning.
You’re very welcome! We are so glad you are here with us.