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Coconut date balls are a holiday favorite in our family. My grandmother’s recipe is simple to make, on the stove top with no baking, and the dates impart a luscious caramel flavor. And a bonus: they’re gluten-free!
Are Coconut Date Balls a cookie? Or a candy? How about simply: a treat. An incredibly good treat that comes down to us from my grandmother, Alice Abowd (wife of Richard, confectioner), who had an extraordinary sweet tooth. I don’t know how long Rice Krispie treats have been in circulation, but I have to believe that these are a precursor to them. Made not with marshmallows but instead a heavenly caramel-like base of dates, butter and sugar. Together with the texture of crisp rice cereal, I can’t help but call these chewy-crisp sensations a grown-up Rice Krispie treat!
Why I love this recipe
The main reason I love this recipe is how to prepare it: on the stovetop, no baking required. The cookies come together as quickly as a batch of Rice Krispie Treats–other than the shaping. Forming little balls takes a minute, but what a fun minute it is. They hold their shape readily when the mixture is still very warm. Roll the balls in coconut, and that is all!
Back in the day, at Christmas my mother would roll the little balls in red sugar, shape them like a strawberry, and even place a plastic green stem in the top. Why a strawberry for Christmas, I have no idea! Midwest mid-winter dreaming of fancy fruit? Must be what her mom did because the recipe reads, “Strawberry Cookie.” Then she shifted to rolling the balls in coconut, as evidenced by her revisions in a different colored-ink. I never really knew these sweets had dates in them, or even Rice Krispies, when I ate them with total abandon as a child.
If a date cookie, or date treat of any kind (even the very simple stuffed dates recipe or date nut bread recipe), sends your hand to another corner of the cookie plate, all I can say is: trust—if not me, then the formidable sweet-maker my Grandma Abowd was—and delectable will be yours.
Ingredients
This is a basic recipe with ust a few simple ingredients that make these a holiday sweet treat.
Medjool Dates. Buy pitted dates to make the chopping process even faster. Medjools are very soft and sticky, which helps them break down easily as they cook.
Butter, sugar, and an egg. Old fashioned recipe goodness right here in these simple ingredients.
Crisp Rice Cereal. Rice Krispies or any brand of the cereal will work.
Nuts are optional. I don’t include them but if I did, I would be sure to toast them first. Consider walnuts or pecans.
Shredded Coconut, for the outer coating. Desiccated coconut, which is shredded unsweetened coconut, is the best for coconut date balls because it sticks to the exterior of the balls more uniformly than sweetened flake coconut. Coconut flakes are too large for these little balls. Dessicated coconut looks and tastes wonderful.
Making the Date Balls
There is no baking involved here. Keep in mind one simple tip when cooking the mixture on the stovetop: use low heat to start. It’s important that the butter and sugar mixture warm up enough to melt the butter. But if it’s too warm, the egg which goes in next will scramble instead of incorporating.
The other tip is to be patient once the dates go in. They need to cook and break down into a paste. A caramel-like sauce forms. Use the back of a wooden spoon to break down the dates against the side of the pan as you stir. Incorporate the rice cereal next, until everything is fully coated.
Shaping the balls is fun!! Just be sure the date krispie mixture is cool enough to handle. It is very hot right after it is done cooking.
Substitutions and Tips
Here are some fun ways to change up my coconut date balls recipe:
- Make the coconut date balls nut-free by omitting the nut option.
- Give them a more nutty flavor by adding a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter or almond butter with the dates.
- You can substitute the coconut with toasted sesame seeds or chia seeds.
- For extra flavor, add ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or maple syrup.
- For warm spice flavor, add ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, or cardamom.
- Substitute the butter with coconut oil in equal amounts.
- Make chocolate date balls by adding ¼ cup cocoa powder to the egg. Chocolate coconut date balls are a natural combo! Avoid adding chocolate chips to make chocolate coconut balls, because the texture will be too hard for the chewy texture of these.
- Use toasted coconut for a deeper, toasty coconut flavor.
- Make coconut date rolls shaping the date mixture in a log rather than the sweet balls, before rolling in coconut.
Storage
Store date balls in an airtight container or a zip-top plastic bag the same day you make them. The balls won’t lose their shape or stick together, so no wax paper between layers is necessary.
Date balls don’t freeze well. The Rice Krispies soften. So make and eat these within a couple of days.
Date balls do travel well! They won’t break in a box of treats when shipped!
Coconut Date Balls Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 cup pitted Medjool dates, chopped
- 2 cups Rice Krispies or any crisp rice cereal
- ½ cup toasted walnuts, chopped (optional)
- 1 cup unsweetened (desiccated) coconut
Instructions
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a small, heavy saucepan over low heat, melt the butter with the sugar. Add the egg and combine, stirring until warmed through, about a minute.
- Add the dates and increase the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick, 5-7 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add the rice cereal and nuts, if using. Stir until the cereal is completely coated.
- When the mixture is cool enough to handle but still very warm, shape heaping teaspoons of the mixture into cohesive balls, about 1-inch in size, between the palms of your hands.
- Place the coconut in a small bowl or dish. Roll the balls immediately in coconut.
- Cool, then store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More recipes to try
I love all things dates! Try my Sticky Date Cake for a special dessert.
I love old-fashioned recipes like this, and that includes my Thumbprint Cookies, shortbread with a dollop of jam in the center.
Try Sesame Cookies for a Lebanese tradition, a crunchy little cookie with pistachios on one side and sesame on the other.
Thank you so much!
Thank you Jenna!
These were sooo good!! They were like healthy rice krispie treats. Love the texture!!
So very delicious!!! Thank you Christina for your review!!
Could you omit the sugar?
Interesting idea. I’m not sure how the batter would perform without the sugar but I suspect the flavor would still be great!
Very fortunate to have learned several recipes from my Lebanese mother-in-law (aka Sito) and this one is a favorite. Her recipe did not call for an egg and she used pecans. This will be the perfect time of year to make a batch and try out your version! I always look forward to your posts. Merry Christmas!
We just made a batch yesterday…oh my gosh these are such a treat. I bet delicious with pecans!
Strictly Southern girl here but this has long been a favorite Christmas cookie in my family and has always been one cookie that little hands were allowed to help make by rolling into balls. Our only difference was that Mamma’s recipe stirred the coconut into the date mixture with the Rice Krispies and then the balls were rolled in confectioner’s sugar.
Love all your recipes. Thank you for sharing.
Oh I love that Mary, thank you! I bet the coconut in the cookie is fabulous.
Hi Maureen, Can these Date Crisp Balls be frozen? I am Lebanese and love your website!
Hmmm, I wonder if the crisp rice would survive the freeze. The rest, the dates and etc, would be fine but I worry about texture. Worth a test to see! Thank you for your kind words and for being here!
maureen,
your recipes are wonderful. it’s such a pleasure to watch you prepare them. and the photography is an inspiration in itself.
as an a side, i’d love to see the rest of your home as your kitchen is perfect. (maybe a video tour?!)
Well thank you so much! That’s an intriguing idea…..
I found the Skillet Strawberry Cookie recipe in the Woman’s Day magazine in about 1962. It has been a most requested recipe when I serve a plate of cookies and the “strawberries” are on the plate.!
Love your site. Learned to love Middle Eastern treats living in Toronto. Thank-you for having this great site; I can cook all my delights.
Have you made any recipes using authentic Jasmine Hydrosol?
Sumac will have a commercial breakthrough………………
I used to make these with my mom and sisters when I was young! She called them “Fancy Strawberries”. She had the little plastic stems, wherever she got them I don’t know, but we would store them in a baggie and use them over every Christmas. Since my sisters and I will be together this Christmas for the first time in years, I thought I would surprise them with these. My mom passed away years ago and I could not find her old recipe. On a whim I googled “chewy nut balls shaped like strawberries rolled in red sugar” and here it was. Thank you so much for posting this. I am thrilled to have found it! They are yummy!
I’ve never met anyone else who knew about these as strawberry cookies! How delightful! Thank you for sharing, Karen, and Merry Christmas!
Please add my mom to your blog list! …….Martha shaker
Done! Thank you! xxx
Yes, nice handwriting that, to me, shows confidence and style.
I remember well our nuns teaching penmanship…..how to hold the writing instrument and how to move your whole arm when writing such that your wrist looks like a turtle’s neck going in and out of its shell (or shirt sleeve).
I also observed that you females always did a lot better than us males. To this day that is true of my poor handwriting, so I often print. And to this day I always notice when someone holds the writing instrument in a way other than the way we were taught. Some times in addition to holding it differently I see them wrapping their arm around such that they are wort of writing upside down. I suppose that is OK too but I always notice the difference.
Yes the date nut rolls do look like candy and we are getting a bit closer to fudge. 🙂
Not to eclipse the delicious recipe, this handwriting is known as the Palmer Method and was taught in most schools in the 20th century until the 70’s or so. It then became popular to teach or encourage a more free-form of penmanship.
Can’t wait to try the recipe, thank you!
Grandma’s handwriting and my mom’s really resemble each other!
Your mom has beautiful penmanship — a lost art these days.
I was thinking the exact same thing — penmanship used to be a separate grade on everyone’s report card. It looks remarkably like my mother’s handwriting also, as if the recipe had been pulled from her beloved, beat-up metal recipe box.