2 c. dates

1 c. sugar

1 c. soy-free dairy-free margarine, melted

2 t. rice milk

6 T. aquafaba (equivalent to 2 eggs)

1 t. vanilla

5 1/2 c. rice cereal (gluten-free)

1/2 c. coconut (unsweetened)

In a large pot, combine the dates, sugar, and margarine over medium-high heat. Cook for 5 min., stirring constantly.

Add the rice milk and aquafaba. Cook for 5 more minutes, stirring constantly and rapidly.

Remove from heat and add the vanilla. Stir to combine, and then pour in the rice cereal. Stir until date mixture and rice cereal are well combined.

Allow to cool slightly (~5 min). Form mixture into balls and roll in coconut.

The traditional things to roll these date balls in are powdered sugar or coconut. I don't use the powdered sugar because I think it makes the cookies too sweet. Even the coconut makes it a bit overly sweet if you use sweetened coconut; this year I had unsweeteened coconut on hand so I used that and I really like the result. My mom also rolled some in pistachios for last Christmas and that went really well with the dates. I thought about doing that for the ale (since I have a lot of other nut-free cookies), but I didn't have enough pistachios on hand and needed to just get it done.

Linda Howe

Yield: 53 cookies

Optional: add 1/2 c. chopped nuts along with the rice cereal.