My friend Cindy dropped me a line yesterday with a link about sugar plums and some handy dandy Christmas confection facts. Did you know that more than 150 million chocolate Santas and 1.8 billion candy canes were manufactured last year? (Must have been a jolly 2003 for dentists!)
Anyway, it got me to thinking, which eventually led me troll around the Internet for an honest-to-goodness recipe for sugar plums. So, for all of you out there who are ready to forget about next week's pumpkin pie and skip ahead to tinsel and caroling, this one's for you:
Sugar Plums
2 cups whole almonds
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp. grated orange zest
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup finely chopped dried apricots
1 cup finely chopped pitted dates
1 cup confectioner's sugar
(Makes about 75 cookies)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Arrange almonds on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast in oven for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool, then finely chop.
While almonds are baking, combine honey, orange zest, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg in a medium mixing bowl.
Add chopped almonds, apricots, and dates to honey mixture and mix well.
Pinch off rounded teaspoon-size pieces of the mixture and roll into balls. (Rinse your hands often, as mixture is very sticky.) Roll balls in confectioner's sugar, then refrigerate in single layers between sheets of waxed paper in airtight containers for up to one month. Their flavor improves after ripening for several days.
Sugar plums tend to absorb the confectioner's sugar, so re-dust just before eating if you like.
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