You'll need a large sauce pan, a VERY strong spoon, a bowl for the coconut, a large plate and a measuring cup.

This recipe takes about ten minutes to prepare.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 container of pitted dates
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups rice crispies
• 1/4 water
• 1/4 cup of crushed nuts (optional)
• shredded coconut
• 2 tbsp margarine

STEP BY STEP

1. put the coconut into a bowl and set aside
2. melt the pitted dates slowly over medium heat stirring often
3. when the dates are melted and mushy - add the nuts
4. when the nuts are combined, check the thickness - it needs to be thin enough to coat the rice crispies but thick enough that it doesn't soak them.
5. if it's too thick to put the rice crispies in, add water a very tiny bit at a time until you can
6. if you add too much water, cook it down a bit to thicken back up
7. when it's all combined, remove from the heat and let stand for one to two minutes
8. coat your hands with margarine and roll tbps size spoonfulls of the mixture into balls
9. roll immediately in the coconut

TIPS AND HINTS:

Once the dates start to melt, it goes really quickly.

When you start to make the balls, the mixture is HOT - the margarine helps keep the heat from your hands and it keeps the mixture from sticking to you.

This is a GREAT fun messy project for the kids too!

If you let the mixture cool too much, the margarine won't melt and the coconut wont stick as well since the balls are dry.

Too much water makes these gooey and hard to hold their shape.

I prefer almonds or peanuts if I put nuts in - which I don't always.