These easy to make coconut and cacao bliss balls are little mineral bombs. They are an entirely guilt free way to enjoy a sweet treat. High in protein and free of refined sugar, they are perfect also for kids who like a ‘dessert’ after every main meal: my six year old doesn’t feel complete until he’s had his ‘dessert’ (which is usually a handful of sultanas or a dried apricot!). He loved helping me roll the mixture into a ball.
I use Brazil nuts and pumpkin seeds to make mine to maximise the mineral content. Macadamia and walnuts also work well. Brazil nuts are a great source of selenium, (approx 103mcg per 100g, depending on the soil they are grown in). The pumpkin seeds are packed in the minerals zinc, magnesium, phosphorus and manganese. To maximise your mineral content, and improve digestibility, you can ‘activate’ your seeds by soaking overnight in water and either pat dry with a muslin and use, or dehydrate using low heat (I put mine in a muslin on the radiator in winter..!) This method will also neutralise the phytic acid in the seeds which ‘steal’ the minerals.
For your little ones, you can sub the cacao powder for either carob powder (which contains no caffeine), or naturally sweet Lucuma powder, also naturally high in minerals.
To make the coconut and cacao Bliss balls:
Ingredients
- 5 organic dates
- ¼ cup of pumpkin seeds
- ¼ cup of Brazil nuts
- 2 tablespoons of almond butter
- 2-3 tbsp of desiccated coconut
- 1 tbsp of cacao powder, carob powder or Lucuma powder
Method
- To prepare the dates, soak in warm water for 20-30 minutes to soften.
- Pulse the nuts and seeds in a blender to break into pieces
- Add the chopped dates and pulse again to combine
- Mix in the almond butter, and 1 tbsp of the desiccated coconut and either your cacao, carob or lucuma powder.
- When the ingredients are combined, spoon out and shape into individual balls.
- Roll the balls in the remaining coconut to finish.
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