Coconut Snowballs

I love dates....in a dessert that is, my mom used to made a date bar when I was little and I had eaten these at a Christmas party years ago and they reminded me of those. But since then I had been in search of an awesome recipe for a good coconut date ball. I ran across this one evening when browsing recipes on the Internet and it looked Yummo! I made them to go with my plate of goodies that I take to neighbors and friends at Christmas time. I toasted the coconut because I LOVE toasted coconut, but you don't have to. They were delicioso!!

Coconut Snowballs
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup finely chopped dates
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups rice krispies cereal
coconut (about 1 package) toasted (follow directions on the package to toast)

Combine butter, salt, sugar, milk and dates in a large saucepan. Cook about 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, and using a whisk or wooden spoon to mash the dates a bit.
In a small bowl, beat the egg with a fork, then add a 2 spoonfuls of the warm date mixture one at a time to temper the egg a bit (whisking while adding in the hot mixture so your egg doesn't scramble) then add the egg mixture to the date mixture in the saucepan, stirring constantly, cook for about another 2 minutes.
Remove pan from heat, add vanilla and stir, then add rice krispies and stir again until all are incorporated. Allow this mixture to cool for about 1 minute.
Place your coconut (toasted or not) into a bowl. Then using a 1 Tablespoon sized cookie scoop (or spoon) scoop a ball of the date mixture into the bowl of coconut. Use your hands to press coconut into the date mixture until fully covered shaping into a ball as you work. (refill the bowl with coconut as needed)
Place finished Snowballs on a baking sheet or in a casserole dish. When all have been made, serve or cover until ready to serve. These can be stored at room temperature for 3 to 5 days. This makes 25 to 30 balls depending on the size you make them. Enjoy!!