In my quest to have more fun and to get creative, I have been trying out some new ideas in the kitchen. I am also trying this year to replace my dependency on sugary snacks with more nutritious options and so lately I have been making a lot of these little balls of sweetness and goodness. I bought myself a very basic food processor and it has opened up a whole new world of deliciousness. I took the basic idea I had read about – to mix together a few basic ingredients and make snack sized balls and have been experimenting ever since.
They are so easy to make and taste great and I also love that they can be kept in the freezer for those moments when I just need something sweet and delicious. There are so many variations on the basic theme below that I have tried but I like to start with walnuts as a base so I thought I would share these first. I read once that you can tell that walnuts are good for your brain because they look so much like it .. ..we also know that walnuts contain protein, healthy fats, fibre, antioxidants, and many vitamins and minerals along with being very tasty indeed so they are a perfect base for a tasty, nutritious treat. Everything else I add to these balls is designed to give me a boost and treat my body. The dates provide sweetness, the cocoa makes them chocolatey, the oats give slow release energy and the spices add warmth along with being my favourite flavours. They are packed full of goodness and I just adore them- I hope you enjoy them too!
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Brain boost balls
Ingredients:
1 cup walnuts
1 cup dates
half cup cocoa powder
half cup rolled oats
1 table spoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
What to do: Add the ingredients to the food processor and mix until everything is broken down into fine sticky breadcrumbs. You know the mixture is ready when you can easily form into balls and it should make about 12 medium sized balls. As soon as they are made, I put them in the freezer on a baking sheet to freeze. After about 3 hours I put them in a freezer bag and having them pre-frozen means they won’t stick to each other in the bag! They can be eaten almost straight from the freezer or allowed to thaw completely. Enjoy!
Thanks for sharing, I tried to make these and they didn’t go very sticky and were quite dry. Should I add more dates or do I need a liquid to soften them up?
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It seems to depend on the moisture content of the dates – it’s fine to just add some water to help them bond together or as you suggest, extra dates would also do the trick! You just need to wait until you can mould them into balls without them falling apart. Good luck!
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