Cocoa Coconut Bliss Balls
INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup almonds (whole, slivered, or sliced)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 tablespoons ground flax seed meal (fresh if you use a coffee grinder to grind whole flax seeds into meal)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/3 cups organic old fashioned rolled oats, gluten free if desired
1 pound (16-ounces) pitted medjool (if dates are not soft, soak them in water for 20 minutes first)
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut, optional
3/4 cup almonds (whole, slivered, or sliced)
(Instructions below)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Add the almond slices to a food processor and process 20- 30 seconds, until finely chopped.
Add the cocoa, flax seed, sea salt and oats. Process another 20 seconds or so, until blended.
Add dates and coconut oil. Process for 2-3 minutes or until mixture is well blended. Note: depending on how sharp your blade is, you may need to stop, stir, and blend again every 30 seconds or so, so everything gets mixed equally.
The mixture should now be sticky enough to form into balls. You can test this by squeezing between your fingers. It should stay together, but not stick to your hands, or severely fall apart. If it’s not staying together very well, add a little more coconut oil and process again. If it’s too sticky, you can add a bit of oatmeal or even unsweetened coconut and re-blend. I like to pour the mixture into a bowl and then use a little melon scooper to form balls. The balls won’t be perfect, and I often squeeze each ball in the palm of my hand to make it stick together. As you form them together, place each ball onto a plate or any flat surface.
On a separate plate or other flat surface, add the finely shredded coconut. Press each ball, one at a time, into the coconut with a little pressure until it sticks to all sides. Transfer to an airtight container. Placing them in the freezer or fridge will turn the balls into a more durable consistency. Rolling them in shredded coconut is optional – I forgot last time and they were still delicious. Store in the fridge up to a week.
NOTES:
Use a food processor, and not a blender. I found that the dates stopped up my blender, even my vitamix. A blender will not have enough surface area for the ingredients to move around.
Add a little more coconut oil if necessary. If you add a little too much, you can add a little more oats (or shredded coconut) to balance it out. Also, trust that they will stick together more once refrigerated.
I have a small food processor, so I blend all the dry ingredients, then scoop out 1 1/3 cup, then do two different batches, adding half of the wet ingredients to each batch.
Adapted from Veggie Chick