These dried fruit candies are incredibly tasty and good for you, and they're really simple to make. Many of you are probably familiar with that wonderful, wholesome dried fruit mixture that mom used to make when you were a kid. Personally, I ate it quite often growing up — and honestly, well into adulthood too :-) It was usually kept in a jar and doled out by the tablespoon, with tea or just as a treat. Here I'm suggesting shaping it into little candies — the result is delicious, beautiful, and nutritious, and neither kids nor adults will be able to resist. These candies are great for fasting, suitable for vegetarians, and even strict vegans if they eat honey (though you can leave it out). This recipe made 30 candies for me.
Ingredients:
- 100 g dried apricots
- 100 g raisins
- 100 g prunes
- 100 g walnuts
- half a lemon
- 3–4 tsp honey
- Coating (your choice):
- sesame seeds
- shredded coconut
- crushed nuts
How to cook dried fruit candy
Rinse the dried apricots, raisins, and prunes thoroughly in hot water. If the dried fruit is very dry, soak it in hot water for 5–10 minutes. Run all the ingredients except the honey through a meat grinder (preferably with a fine plate). If you don't have a meat grinder, you can use a food processor, but the grinder is easier and produces a smoother, more uniform mixture. Grind the lemon whole as well. One thing to watch out for: if you're adding the lemon this way, make sure it isn't bitter (bitterness usually comes from the white pith just under the skin). If it is bitter, I'd recommend grating the zest separately on a fine grater (yellow layer only) and squeezing the juice from the lemon half instead.
With damp hands, pinch off small pieces from the mixture and roll them into balls. As a reminder, I got 30 pieces.
Roll each ball in a coating of your choice — or several different ones. Here's one coated in sesame seeds.
And in crushed nuts. Refrigerate for 1–2 hours to chill — they taste even better cold (store the candies in the refrigerator as well). My personal favorite was the shredded coconut version, though having a variety is really the best part.
I also want to mention that you can make these candies with virtually any dried fruit. If you don't like dried apricots or prunes, for example, swap them out for figs, dried cranberries, dried pear, and so on. You can use any nuts you like as well — they should be raw rather than roasted, which is much healthier and, at least in my opinion, tastier. You can also roll the candies in crushed cookies, dip each one in melted chocolate, or tuck a nut or a berry inside. The sky is truly the limit — let your imagination run wild and treat yourself and your loved ones!
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