I spent a couple of hours last weekend throwing together some different ingredients and flavour combinations, and I wanted to share my two favourites with you. The chocolate sunbutter balls (second from left in the photo below) contain a base of sunflower seed butter—my latest obsession—along with the addition of heart-healthy almonds, flax and hemp as well as antioxidant-rich cocoa. The spicy fig balls (second from right) are equally fantastic, combining a nut base with fibre-rich figs, flax and the warming spices of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. Of course, you're welcome to swap any of the ingredients or add sweetener to suite your tastes, but I think they're pretty darn good just the way they are. Enjoy!
1 cup almonds or peanuts
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup flax meal
1/4 cup hemp hearts
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup sunbutter (store-bought or homemade)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
1. In a food processor, process the almonds and sunflower seeds to a coarse meal.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and process until well combined. The mixture should stick together when pressed between two fingers. [Update: A reader kindly pointed out she added agave nectar to sweeten these, so feel free to add some at this point if desired.]
3. Roll the mixture into small balls (I used heaping tablespoons). Store balls in a tightly covered container in the freezer.
Spicy fig balls
8 dried figs
1 cup almonds
1 cup almonds
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 tbsp chopped crystallized ginger
1 tbsp flax meal
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp sea salt
1. In a small bowl, soak the dried figs in hot water for about 15 minutes. Drain, coarsely chop and set aside.
2. In a food processor, process the almonds and walnuts to a coarse meal.
2. In a food processor, process the almonds and walnuts to a coarse meal.
3. Add the remaining ingredients, including the soaked figs, and process until well combined. The mixture should stick together when pressed between two fingers.
4. Roll the mixture into balls (I used heaping tablespoons). Store balls in a tightly-covered container in the freezer.
4 comments:
Do you keep them in your fridge or freezer? I plan to make a batch when I get home to have on hand for busy training days. The fig ginger combo sounds like a dream.
I still need to try sunflower seed butter always looks and sounds great! Love the idea of spicy fig balls!
Pure2raw Twins
I just made the chocolate ones, but I needed to add quite a bit of agave for them to be palatable.
VeganLisa: I tend to keep them in the freezer so they stay fresh longer. The Fig ginger ones are right up your alley :)
aalliemymorab: Thanks for letting me know! I tend to like things less sweet, but perhaps I'll add a note for optional agave.
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