by Karen Swan

I’m quite fond of all these little round morsels that keep popping up in our recipes of late.  From 2 ingredient balls that taste like caramel, to amazing sugar free balls that taste like cookie dough, or my take on my school yard favourite, the classic fruit and nut ball, dare I say, there’s a ball to suit everyone!

Oh dear.  Moving on.

So these have milk powder in them.  I’m not entirely sure why I have milk powder in my pantry.  I think it was from my attempts to use a bread maker and any recipes I had called for powdered milk.  Then again, it could be left over from the rose and lavender milk bath gifts from Christmas.

Either way, I’ve a tin full and I want to use it.  Unless I’m planning on forgoing showers for leisurely baths (unlikely), I’ll have to eat or drink the stuff.

I was thumbing through an old Babies & Toddler cookbook and all the ‘ball’ recipes called for milk powder and boiling water.  I would generally have used either condensed milk or no liquid/milky stuff at all, but considering I have the powder, I might as well bung it in.  Should you care to omit it, please do, but it does lend a lovely flavour to the end result.

Ingredients:

(Makes 24 walnut size balls approx)

2 cups dried apricots

2 cups dessicated coconut

1 cup milk powder

3/4 cup almond meal

4 T boiling water

2 tsp vanilla extract.

Method:

Put the apricots, milk powder, almond meal and half the coconut into a food processor and whiz until it forms a sticky paste.

Add the water and vanilla and pulse to combine.

Roll into the size balls of your choosing and then roll in the remaining coconut.

My batch ended up as the special of the day in my son’s little shop, but you might like to store yours in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

*adapted from original recipe in the Feb 2014 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.