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Bon Bons from Dorothy Dean files reminiscent of Reese’s

Carolyn Lamberson

Lynne Kent, a reader from Portland, came across a reference to Dorothy Dean and it sparked a request.

“I grew up in Spokane with those recipes and for years have looked for a candy recipe for a peanut butter cup-type candy that had raisins in it,” she wrote, adding that the treat tasted much like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

After diving into the old Dorothy Dean Homemaker Service files, I came up with something close – the recipe for Bon Bons, the prize-winning entry in the Dorothy Dean 1966 Recipe Treasure Hunt.

It called for peanut butter, powdered sugar, chopped nuts and chopped dates all rolled in a ball and dipped in melted chocolate and butterscotch chips.

There was a difference – dates vs. raisins – but I couldn’t imagine that the flavor difference would be pronounced.

In making the recipe at home, I made half a batch with raisins and half with chopped dates. Turns out, any difference in taste was indistinguishable.

Sure enough, however, these easy bons bons taste like a peanut butter cup. I used pecans, which I had on hand, and liked the crunch they brought to the confections.

Use whatever kind of nuts you like. I suspect, however, that using peanuts would increase the treats’ “tastes like a Reese’s” quotient.

One final note: I used natural peanut butter, which doesn’t have any added sugar. With the addition of a cup of powdered sugar, the peanut butter filling was sweet enough. If you do use a sugar-added peanut butter, consider cutting back on the powdered sugar in the recipe; otherwise they could be too sweet.

Bon Bons

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup chopped dates (or raisins)

1 cup chopped nuts

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

Mix together peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter, dates and nuts. Shape into balls, about 1 heaped teaspoon each.

Meanwhile, melt chocolate and butterscotch chips in a double boiler over simmering water.

Dip balls into chocolate mixture to coat completely; lift out with a fork. Place on a wax-paper-lined baking sheet and refrigerate until chocolate is set, about 15 minutes.

Yield: About 60 candies.

Looking for a recipe? Have a food question? Carolyn Lamberson would like to hear from you. Write to Cook’s Notebook, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210, or e-mail to cooksnotebook@ spokesman.com. As many letters as possible will be answered in this column; sorry, no individual replies.