Date and Raisin Energy Balls

Date and Raisin Energy Balls

I have recently been trying to cut down the amount of sugary snacks I eat.  This simple energy ball / bliss ball, recipe is super easy and the best thing is you can have fun with the decoration and ingredients.  Although these balls contain some fruit sugar from the dried fruit, they contain no refined sugar and the oats help keep you fuller for longer.

The recipe below is for the basic ball recipe, I have not included decorations as you can feel free to use whatever you have available.  Just a few examples include coconut, cacao nibs, bee pollen, dried flowers, fruit powders, pistachios and toasted almonds.  I love the combination of medjool dates, raw cacao and maca powder as I think it gives the balls a malted chocolate caramel flavour.

Date and Raisin Energy Balls – makes 15 – 20 balls 

90 g raisins, soaked overnight or see note below

90 g medjool dates, destoned

100 g gluten free oats

3 tbsp almond butter

2 tbsp cacao powder

2 tsps maca powder

1 tbsp pumpkin seeds

1 tbsp whole almonds (you can easily swap these for pecans, hazelnuts, walnuts etc)

a pinch of salt

1 tsp of vanilla essence (you could use a few drops of almond essence if you prefer)

Drain any remaining water from you raisins and add along with the other ingredients to a food processor.  Pulse until the mixture begins to come together.  If you mixture is too dry add a few drops of water.  It should be sticky and chewy, but not so sticky that you cannot roll it into balls.

Roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls and then roll again in any decoration you wish.  You can also leave the balls plain, they are still super tasty.

Store in an airtight container or jar to prevent them from drying out.

If you are in a rush and forget to soak your raisins overnight, you can shorten this step by covering the raisins in boiling water and leaving them to soak for 20 -30 mins.  However I would recommend leaving them to soak as long as possible, so the balls are extra juicy and nice.