Healthy chocolate balls. With dates, almonds and coconut.

Do you want something sweet and satisfying, yet healthy and delicious?
Make chocolate balls with almonds and dates.

Vegan and almost raw chocolate balls. Why almost? I am out of raw chocolate powder. I didn't let it stop me and used regular cacao powder instead. If you can get your hands on raw cacao powder, by all means go for it. It is an excellent source of manganese and iron.

I am happy when my children eat chocolate balls. The reason is that every ingredient is nutrition dense - soaked raw almonds, hemp seeds, unsweetened coconut, goji berries, dates, raw cacao. I serve them for snack and for breakfast.

Chocolate ball, covered, ingredients, chocolate date almonds mass

Raw chocolate snow balls

Ingredients

For 'dough':
almonds, raw - 1 cup
dates, pitted 1 - 1 1/2 cups (I used Medjool extra moist dates)
raisins, 1/3 cup
raw cacao powder,  2 table spoons
vanilla extract, few drops (optional)
shredded coconut, 1/3 cup 
goji berries, 2 table spoons 
raw shelled hemp seeds, 2 table spoons (optional)
cacao nibs, 1 table spoon (optional)

For coating:
1/2 cup  shredded coconut

Method

Soak nuts for 12-24 hours in cold water in refrigerator. Drain. Nuts can be kept for few days at this point.  Process nuts in food processor until coarse ground. If you process everything together, nut pieces will end up big and you will need to open food processor and move the dough closer to knife and operate it again. Add the rest of dough ingredients and process to sticky mass.  Put coconut for coating in a small bowl. Take small amount of dough and form it into bite size ball with your hands. 

Place balls, one at the time, into shredded coconut bowl and rotate it gently to cover in coconut. Do the same with the rest.

Enjoy or refrigerate. Chocolate balls will keep well for few days.

Served!

Another coating idea - use cocoa powder.

If you or your family member has a nut allergy or no nuts are allowed in lunch box sent to school - almonds in the recipe can be replaced with raw sunflower seeds. Use the same method to prepare, including soaking of the seeds for a shorter period of time. 5-6 hours is enough.