[vegan] [dairy-free] [gluten-free] [paleo] [keto-friendly] [blood sugar-balancing][diabetic friendly]
If you follow along with my page, you might notice that this recipe is used on repeat throughout the entire year! For the holiday season, I make them double-chocolatey and with shredded coconut around the outside to make them look a little more festive!
Let me tell you about how this recipe is deliciously chocolatey AND why it's actually a healthier version than some of the other treats we see over the holiday season. This recipe is originally from my favourite recipe book, "Discover the Power of Food" by Janet Jacks, but I tweaked it a little bit to make them extra chocolatey! #becausechocolate These little treats are loaded with real ingredients, healthy fats, and no artificial sugars. And the beauty is, they're actually so nutrient dense, you won't be able to eat more than 1 or 2 at a time, so they're naturally portion controlled! No baking required, and kid-friendly if they want to help out! Here's how it goes:
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup hemp hearts
1/4 cup ground chia seeds
*place in a coffee grinder if you have one, until the seeds turn into a flour.
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut(save 1/4 cup for topping)
1/2 cup cocoa powder + a bit more if you like it extra chocolatey!
1/2 cup almond butter
1/2 cup coconut oil, softened
1/3 cup pure maple syrup(put half the amount to make it keto, or use a bit of stevia instead).
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips(or cacao nibs to make it vegan)
DIRECTIONS:
Place all the dry ingredients(everything besides the almond butter, coconut oil and maple syrup) in a mixer or food processor(or mix by hand if you don't have either). Mix thoroughly, and don't forget to save 1/4 cup of shredded coconut for the end! Add almond butter, coconut oil and maple syrup, and continue mixing until it all sticks together like dough. *TIP: sometimes I find that in this phase, no matter how hard I try, it never turns into a dough consistency. So to help it along a little bit, I put the entire bowl, with the mixture, into the freezer for about 15-20 minutes or in the fridge for 30 minutes. Take out of the freezer, and using your hands, form dough into 1 inch balls(or smaller if you prefer), and roll them in a bowl of shredded coconut. Place them on a cookie sheet and put back into the freezer for at least 1 hour before serving. To store them long-term, I place the hardened balls into little zip-lock baggies and keep them in the freezer for any future snacking or hosting needs.
Enjoy your holidays! And please let me know what you think if you try this recipe!