My favorite fruit free bliss balls

I’m not a big fan of majool dates which are used in a lot of bliss ball recipes. They are full of sugar, primarily fructose, so they feed sugar cravings rather than tame them. This recipe does not have dates but is perfectly sweet, yummy, nutty and chocolaty! I have added raw cacao nibs for extra nutrient punch, antioxidant crunch and choccie goodness.

I have created an adaptation of this recipe from Sarah Wilson. I removed the protein powder as I don’t use it much. It’s a bit too processed for me. I used vanilla bean powder instead for the flavour. I found it is very good with tahini instead of or mixed with the nut butter, and the extra cacao nibs really make it blissful.

When using nuts often in these types of dishes its important to mix them up so you are not having just almonds or just cashews etc. every day. For example; As our soils are low in selenium, its a good idea to have a couple of Brazil nuts to help maintain adequate selenium intake. The recommended dose of Brazil nuts is 2 per day, you don’t want to have more than around 6-8 per day, as they have a very high selenium content.  It is also more likely that an intolerance to a certain food can pop up if you have it every day, so it is a good idea to make these with different types of nuts each time. One of the issues with some diets is the repetition of foods, which can mean you overdose on nuts, eggs or something else that might throw the balance of nutrients in the body off kilter.

You will get messy making this dish. I recommend getting everything out and prepared before you plunge your hands in. Otherwise you might end up with a sticky nutty trail following you around the kitchen like I did last night 🙂

• Get out a plate that you can fit in your fridge. If you want to roll in coconut to finish, pour some on the plate now.
• In a food processor, blitz the nuts until they are roughly chopped.
• Place nuts, oats, cacao, cinnamon, maca, vanilla, cacao nibs and salt in a large bowl and mix.
• In a smaller bowl, mix the rice malt syrup, nut or tahini butter and chia seeds in water. Mix until combined.
• Add the chia nut butter mix to the large bowl with other ingredients and mix together by hand until it feels well mixed and not too dry or too sticky.
• If its too dry, add a teaspoon of water or almond milk, mix it and see if it binds well. Add a bit more if required. If too wet add a bit more ground nuts or chia seeds.
• Roll into balls and place in the fridge covered to set for an hour.
• These keep in the fridge for 4 days or freeze really well

NB: *Don’t use maca powder if you are on an IVF program, it can interfere with the hormones.

If you want another bliss ball recipe check out my other one here, Nutritious balls of love.

What do you think of this recipe? Do you have a favourite bliss ball recipe you use?

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