These are made from dried apricots, dates, pecans, cereal flakes, honey, and butter.  They are easy enough to make and even easier to enjoy.  The recipe dates to about 1977 from the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Taste Section.

A friend brought me some fabulous medjool dates from Arizona last spring that needed to be used; I had Mediterranean apricots on hand although I prefer Trader Joe’s dried California Blenheim aps.  I chop the fruit in my food processor.  Sprinkling a bit of granulated sugar on top helps keep the fruit from sticking and getting gummy.  This year’s batch used rice flakes instead of corn flakes or the other cereals mentioned in the recipe. 

Apricot Snowballs

   2 cups uncrushed corn flakes (or bran or wheat

flakes)

⅓ cup diced pitted dates

⅔ cup diced dried apricots

½ cup chopped pecans or other nuts

¼ cup honey

3 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

granulated sugar (optional)

strips dried apricots or red glacéed cherry

halves (for garnish)

Crush corn flakes between two sheets of waxed paper with a rolling pin. (See note below.) Stir crushed cereal, dates, apricots and pecans until well mixed in a large bowl. Melt honey and butter in small pan. Blend in vanilla. Pour over cereal mixture. Mix thoroughly. Chill 30 minutes.

Press mixture into small balls and roll in sugar, if desired. Garnish with fruit. Serve immediately or cover and chill until needed. Makes about 30 snowballs.

What I actually do:  I chop the fruits finely in a food processor, using a bit of granulated sugar to help prevent sticking. Chop very finely, then dump the *uncrushed* cornflakes in and process to crush/mix/combine. Have also used dried cranberries; dried cherries would be good, too—I forgot to put them into this batch. I don’t do the garnish. From Minneapolis Star Taste section, 1977-78, I think.

I increased the amounts of everything without paying an awful lot of attention to how much more.  Shoot me.  I wound up making about 40 snowballs.   Now to put them away for distribution in my gift boxes.  On the other hand, making another batch would use the rice flakes and more of the dates.  Life is full of hard choices.

I like ‘em!  I hope you will, too.  They’re nice with a cup of coffee.