This is a very Christmassy recipe, but it’s good any time of the year.
Simple to make: all the ingredients are in the picture below. No baking powder or baking soda or salt. Just butter, sugar, flour and an egg, vanilla, dates and nuts (you can do without the nuts if you have an allergy). Recipe is at the end of this post.
You can see that I’ve chopped the dates (except for one to show you) and the pecans (you can use walnuts if you prefer them).
Mix the butter and sugar, add an egg and mix again, add the vanilla and then the flour. You’ll get a gooey batter. Add the nuts and dates.
Drop by spoonfuls, a couple at a time, into a bowl with shredded coconut, and to avoid getting batter all over your fingers, take a big pinch of coconut and push the batter off the spoon with it. Then coat the batter over and over in the coconut, pressing lots of coconut into the batter as you shape it into a roll (a yule log).
Place the logs on a greased cookie sheet and bake them at 350 for 15 minutes.
They should be golden brown when they’re done.
Now all you need is a cup of something to go with the logs.
I copied my mother-in-law’s recipe years ago. She used walnuts, but I like pecans too, so sometimes I substitute.
Easy recipe. Enjoy!
December 8, 2019 at 1:55 pm
These look yummy 🙂
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December 8, 2019 at 2:40 pm
Thanks, Hans. They did turn out good. I used to make them too big and these, being a bit smaller are just a bit crunchier and better.
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December 8, 2019 at 2:06 pm
I have GOT to try those, look great!
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December 8, 2019 at 2:41 pm
The secret is to use the coconut as if it were flour, to stop the batter from sticking to your fingers. Lots of coconut and the level of sticky frustration drops away significantly.
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December 8, 2019 at 3:07 pm
We’re going to try them if we can find dates here? Maybe at the market.
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December 8, 2019 at 3:19 pm
They grow them in Baja, so you’d think they should have some on the mainland side. I suppose any dried fruit might work instead. I wouldn’t mind trying the same recipe with dried apricots. I wonder how that would work out.
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December 8, 2019 at 3:19 pm
Gonna try this Anneli, thanks!
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December 8, 2019 at 3:19 pm
REALLY easy!! And so good!
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December 8, 2019 at 5:23 pm
Looks delicious! Might have to give these a try. Thank you for sharing. (Thank you Myrtle!)
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December 8, 2019 at 6:14 pm
Yes, thanks to Myrtle, I have this recipe that she has made for years.
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December 8, 2019 at 5:25 pm
Sounds tasty!
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December 8, 2019 at 6:15 pm
They’re one of our favourites.
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December 8, 2019 at 6:03 pm
Thank you for the great recipe! They look delicious. 🙂
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December 8, 2019 at 6:15 pm
It’s so easy. That’s what I like about it – and the taste, of course. Good luck with it.
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December 8, 2019 at 7:49 pm
Thanks. 🙂
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December 8, 2019 at 6:36 pm
These look awesome and not too tough t make! I have a similar biscotti recipe – but I like the look of the coconut on the outside – festive!
We are completely off of white sugar and all sugars so I will try this with xylitol and cassava root flour and almond flour – hmmm – keep you posted if I make some
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December 8, 2019 at 6:38 pm
You don’t have to put in sugar. I think they’d be just fine without. I have a feeling this recipe is very forgiving if you make changes.
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December 8, 2019 at 6:52 pm
Well I would want them a little sweet maybe- not sure but will experiment
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December 8, 2019 at 6:56 pm
The dates are sweet. If you used apricots that would also be sweet.
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December 8, 2019 at 7:00 pm
Oh we will leave out fruit – maybe add berries – that is the only fruit allowed (had candidiasis and a heavy metal systemic infection and so dried fruit and revisit fruit like sugar and bananas feed it and pull from immune function) and even with the coconut I have to be careful and use unsweetened and untreated – I was shocked to see how much funk they can add to mere shredded coconut
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December 8, 2019 at 7:49 pm
Sounds like you might have to skip this one. The trouble with berries in this recipe (unless you use dried ones) is that they will go runny and the cookies will spread flat and not be chewy either. I’m sorry you’re having these health issues. It’s not easy when you have to cut out certain foods and their additives. Pretty hard to avoid in many of our foods today (unless we grow our own).
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December 9, 2019 at 1:24 am
oh I see – well maybe dates can slide on once in a while – I might need to check (or I can have a capsule of activated charcoal with it – that is what I do if I really need to have something hahah)
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December 9, 2019 at 8:34 am
I wonder if I can make them with Almond flour instead of wheat. I’ll have to give it a try. 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
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December 9, 2019 at 8:44 am
I don’t see why not. It’s worth a try. Probably add some great flavour.
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December 9, 2019 at 8:46 pm
Almond flour should work, but I think I’d be tempted to add in a few oats. Rice flour might make it too mucky. (that is a highly technical term) Ha ha ha.
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December 9, 2019 at 10:23 pm
I was wondering if it would be good to add a second egg with the almond flour. I guess it takes some experimentation. They sure are good! I will have to make another batch because these first ones are nearly gone.
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December 11, 2019 at 4:51 am
They look so good and easy to make. You know that I don´t bake, but with this recipe even I can do it. Thanks for sharing Myrtle´s recipe.
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December 11, 2019 at 8:42 am
You’re right, Ursula. I think this is a recipe anyone can do. And they’re so good. I may have said that before (haha) as I eat another one!
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December 12, 2019 at 5:56 am
Very unfussy! My kind of recipe! I love the way you have presented the ingredients, and method. I may break my resolution to never do Christmas baking again!
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December 12, 2019 at 10:29 am
Okay, Diane. I’m going to confess – I really hate Christmas baking. But I don’t mind eating the Christmas goodies. So I have a dilemma. This kind of recipe works for me. I didn’t like making these yule logs in the past because they were messy, but now I found out that if I put lots of coconut around the sticky batter, the cookies roll into shape easily and my hands don’t get sticky. The secret is to use lots of coconut to coat the cookies as you work. I just made another batch of these logs and it took no time at all. I love eating them and now I don’t mind making them. Could be trouble … but we won’t talk calories.
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