Lamington Bliss Balls

I think... It's time for another recipe!

As I've mentioned before, I LOVE bliss balls, (obviously it's Leticia here!) and I'm constantly trying and creating new recipes because they're just so much fun! And easy, and delicious!

I actually starting making some Bliss Balls Gift Jars as a way to share my love of them! The jars simply contain all the dry ingredients needed, and have a label with the full recipe showing which wet ingredients to add in order to make them. I've gotten really great feedback from the ones I've gifted to friends and family, so why not offer them for everyone to enjoy!? I currently have 3 different recipes available, with a 4th coming soon (can you guess what it might be!? Hint: it's this one!)

The recipes I currently have are Chocolate Protein Balls, Healthy Apricot Balls, and Vanilla Bliss Balls; pricing is dependent on the jar size/recipe yield, and all orders are plus postage to cover my costs. If you're wanting to get your hands on some to make your Christmas shopping easier, flick me a message and I'll help you out!

Now, back to the recipe...

This one is inspired by a "healthy" snack bar that I bought at the supermarket; now don't get me wrong, this brand was probably healthier than most out there, but there's still something about mass-produced, pre-packaged "health foods" that just aren't the same as fresh, homemade goodies! And at least with these, I know exactly what I'm putting in them, and it's aaaallll good!

The snack bars contained minimal ingredients (which is good), so I was able to model my recipe straight from that. According to the label, they contained dates, cashews, sunflower seed butter, coconut, and coconut "flavour," (alarm bell there, why does it need coconut flavour when there's coconut in it??)

The first thing I did was figure out some ratios - I ended up using a similar coconut-to-date ratio as the Raw Carrot Cake Bliss Balls I've done a previous blog on. Then chop up some cashews and add them in. Now for the chocolate part; of course I used my favourite wholefood chocolate protein powder! So add that in, plus some cocoa for good measure... And now some moisture to bring the mix together!

After soaking the dates, I whizzed them up with some water in order to make a sort of paste (hubby isn't a fan of dates, so I wanted them to be well incorporated into the mix; but if you like your dates chunky, then just chop them up in a food processor and add the water later, and be prepared that the mix might need more water to bring it together if you didn't soak your dates to begin with!) For the sake of making it even more coconutty, I used coconut oil as a binding agent as well... Coconut and chocolate, the classic lamington flavour!

The rest is simple! Roll into balls and pop into the fridge. They will keep for a couple of weeks refrigerated (if they last that long; they always disappear quicker than that around here!)

Enjoy! And let me know when you try the recipe for yourself!

Lamington Bliss Balls - makes approx 20

- 1 3/4 cups (150g) coconut

- 1/2 cup cashews, chopped

- 1 cup dates (150g)

- 4tbsp water

- 4tbsp coconut oil

- 2 serves Chocolate Complete Protein Powder

- 2tbsp cocoa powder

Method:

1. Soak the dates in boiling water for 5mins, drain and whizz them up in a food processor with the water to make a paste.

2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add date paste and coconut oil.

3. Mix well until mixture comes together - add more water if too dry, or more coconut if too wet.

4. Roll into balls, refrigerate and enjoy!