Raw truffles, raw balls, protein balls, raw bites, energy bites, laddu… There are so many names for these easy to make delicious treats that require literally two ingredients: dried fruits and nuts or seeds.
They are healthy, completely vegan and easy to take with you wherever you go. They are the perfect snack for school or work when you need to boost your energy and brain.
I didn’t use to like eating dried fruits, but I learnt to love them thanks to this awesome dessert. Another thing I like about these vegan bites is that they stimulate creativity: there are so many ways they can look and taste. My favorites are the ones made with cocoa or cacao powder. What’s better than chocolates that are delicious and healthy? I also like adding shredded coconut and candied orange peel into the truffles mixture; it makes them so rich and flavorful.
You can roll them into crushed nuts or seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, caramelized crushed nuts, shredded coconut, cocoa or cacao powder, powdered sugar, goji berry, oats or oat flour. In my opinion, shredded coconut, cocoa powder and sesame seeds work best. You can dip them in melted chocolate too! It’s all up to you.
I usually like mixing different dried fruits and nuts, but you can make them with just one type of dried fruits and one type of nuts/seeds. Dates are a classic choice, but they are too sweet for me, so I like adding dried cherries and berries too. The nuts I like the most for this recipe are cashew, almonds and pumpkin seeds.
A little tahini makes the mixture smoother. If I use dates, I don’t add any sweetener, but if I have to sweeten the mixture, I usually add honey. If you are vegan switch to any other sweetener you like.
As you’ll see, these treats are very easy to make. The only challenging part is cleaning the food processor after that. 😀
Ingredients
- ½ cup of dried fruit of your choice
- 1 cup of nuts and/or seeds of your choice
- Cocoa or cocoa powder – optional
- Cinnamon – optional
- Shredded coconut – optional
- Honey or sweetener of your choice – optional
- 1 tablespoon of tahini – optional
Instructions
- Soak your dried fruit for a few hours or overnight in the fridge. Some people like soaking the nuts as well, but I don’t do it.
- Grind the nuts in the food processor, but don’t process them too much because their grease may start coming out. Then add your fruits and grind again. Always grind nuts first, otherwise you won’t be able to grind the nuts.
- Add cocoa powder, shredded coconut and other condiments you decide to use. Keep processing until you have a homogeneous mixture.
- Start shaping balls out of the mixture with your hands and roll them in shredded coconut, crushed nuts or whatever you choose. If the mixture is too sticky, wet your hands a bit.
- You can eat them right away, but I promise they become more delicious the longer they stay. I usually keep them in a box in the refrigerator so they can harden and all flavors mix well.
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