Cacao Energy Balls 🍫
Updated: Apr 23, 2020
After creating Ravneet Gill's seriously naughty chocolate chip cookies, I felt kind of guilty that I couldn't stop thinking about them! If you want a cheat-day cookie, they are perfect for you. Check out her recipe on her Instagram @ravneeteats. Alas if you are here today, it is because you want to know how to make these vegan, raw, and delicious cacao energy balls!
My friend Rachel Olsen (@sehat.ala.rachel) is a certified nutritionist back home in Jakarta so when she posted the recipe to her cocoa balls, I started thinking of the different flavour combinations I could incorporate for fun. In the end I came up with 4 different flavours, all delicious and super easy to create! The flavours are: Salted Almond Butter, Chocolate Orange, Chocolate Mint, and Classic Chocolate. No actual chocolate bar was used in the making by the way, only for the photos! I also used MyFitnessPal and basically each ball is less than 160 calories. Which means if you're trying to avoid the Quarantine Fifteen, this could be the perfect snack for your chocolate cravings. Yeah, YOU WELCOME 😝
My seniors from high school have also started an organisation called Mahayana Permaculture (@mahayanapermaculture) which focuses on profitable reforestation through designing efficient systems and selling organic produce from the forests in Indonesia. So to sweeten these balls, I've used Organic Lontar Sugar which tastes like dark caramel but is actually so so healthy for you. If you're in Indo, and would like to make a purchase please check them out here. If you don't have access to this, I got chu just check the substitutes below. Anyways, let's begin.
Serves: 14-16 balls
Difficulty: Level 0
Wow factor: ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️
To create the different flavours, you will first need to make the Classic Chocolate Balls as this will be the base to the other 3 flavours.
Classic Chocolate - Base Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup of almonds
1/2 cup of cashews
1 cup of dates (if using dried dates, please soak them in water for 30 mins, then discard water before using)
6tbsp cocoa powder
1tbsp chia seeds
2tbsp organic lontar sugar (you can also sub this with maple syrup, coconut sugar, or other healthy natural sugars, if desperate you can also just use brown sugar but just use 1tsp please)
1tsp ground cinnamon
Dash of sea salt
Dash of ground ginger (optional)
4tbsp of water
Vegetable oil for rolling balls
Then what I did was literally toss in whatever 'superfood' I had in the kitchen, you ofc don't have to but I added:
1tbsp sunflower seeds
1tbsp milled flaxseed
Instructions
If you have a big food processor, feel free to chuck everything in and process until it forms into a sticky paste you can work with. Adding water, 1 tablespoon at a time bit by if it is still too sandy in texture. As I have a tiny food processor (you can also use a blender), what I did was:
Grind almonds and sunflower seeds until it looks like powder, take that out and tip into a large mixing bowl.
Grind up cashews until it looks like powder, take that out and tip into the same bowl.
Discard water from dates and grind that up too until smooth, then add it to the bowl.
Then I added the cocoa powder, chia seeds, lontar sugar, cinnamon, sea salt, ground ginger, flaxseed, water and used a spatula to incorporate everything together.
This method takes a bit of time but it works! If the paste is still too sandy, just keep adding water until it forms a smooth paste. Taste it and check if it needs more sweetness or saltiness. Honestly up to you.
Now if you want to try the 3 other flavour combinations, divide this into 4 batches all in their individual bowls and continue reading below. If not, oil your hands with vegetable oil so the paste doesn't stick to your hands and shape these into balls. Pop them in the fridge for at least 4 hours (overnight is best) before eating!
Chocolate Orange
Ingredients
1/4 portion of your base recipe cocoa paste
Zest of 1/2 of an orange (more, if you want the extra strong orange flavours but I suggest not adding too much to start with)
Instructions
Add zest to the bowl where your base paste is, and mix well.
Oil your hands with vegetable oil, roll into balls and pop them in the fridge!
Chocolate Mint
Ingredients
1/4 portion of your base recipe cocoa paste
1/2tsp peppermint extract
1 chocolate peppermint stick to decorate
Instructions
Add extract to the bowl where your base paste is, and mix well.
Break peppermint stick into smaller sizes so they fit on top of the cocoa balls.
Oil your hands with vegetable oil, roll into balls, stick them on top and pop them in the fridge!
Salted Almond Butter
Ingredients
1/4 portion of your base recipe cocoa paste
2tbsp smooth almond butter
Sprinkle of sea salt
Instructions
Add almond butter to the bowl where your base paste is, and mix well.
Oil your hands with vegetable oil, roll into balls, sprinkle some sea salt on top (pressing them down slightly) and pop them into the fridge!
Once you've done the base and have done the Chocolate Orange version, I'm sure you get the drill. Other combos I have thought about:
Adding salted caramel to make it naughty
Adding freeze dried raspberries for extra zing
Adding zest of a lime for some tropical vibes
Rolling the balls in desiccated coconut for Bounty chocolate bar vibes
Adding crushed honeycomb for crunch and fun
Hope you guys enjoy these healthy alternatives to a chocolate bar! I know it's not the same but it does come close. Let us know if you want more of these recipes and I can always ask Rachel for more 😍👩🏻🍳 #SezPK #SezPKuarantined
