Ok. We said it.
When we named our company, CORKY'S NUTS we knew what we were getting into. Truth be told, coming up with our name was easy and we really didn't think too much about it. The only time things get a little "fun" shall we say, is when sharing about what we do with someone new and when we develop a recipe with the word balls.
For those who can't keep a straight face when serving these dusty nut balls, we came up with an alternative name for you, "Chocolate Moon Bites". See, they do look like little chocolate moons, don't they?
So, laugh along with us or judge us like we're still in high school. That's ok. We know who we are and we're proud of our nuts!
Now...onto the recipe.
We're not the first people to make these raw balls, treats, moons, snacks, whatever you want to call them and we certainly won't be the last. They're super easy to whip up, healthy, and if you make a bunch, you can throw them into your freezer and pull out when you need. A nice little protein snack when you're on the go or binging on Netflix.
INGREDIENTS:
2c organic walnuts or walnut meal
4 dates, pitted
3 Tbsp organic shredded coconut
1 Tbsp organic raw cacao (or cocoa) powder
1 Tbsp organic maca powder
2 Tbsp organic coconut oil
2 Tbsp organic walnut butter
sea salt, pinch to taste
small handful of chopped/broken up walnuts
water
We made this on the fly with ingredients we had on hand. Most of what we had was organic and pretty much everything, except the walnuts & butter of course, was from good ol' Trader Joe's. If you don't have maca powder handy, it'll be ok. Maca is made from a turnip-like root from Peru and is great for boosting energy and is high in antioxidants. You don't need to sub anything for it of you don't have. If you don't have walnut butter, just add another Tbsp of coconut oil. Think of this recipe as a launching point for you to create a version that works for what you have on hand at home.
What prompted this adventure was some walnut meal we had leftover after our foray into making walnut milk and creamer. Which, by the way, is divine. We ended up drying the meal and using that for our base/flour. To make your own walnut meal, put 2 cups of walnuts in your food processor and blend until fine and fluffy making sure to not let it get too wet or sticky.
DIRECTIONS:
Mix walnut meal, pitted dates, shredded coconut, cacao & maca powder, coconut oil, and walnut butter. Blend/pulse in the processor until mixed. If it looks dry, add a little bit of water or more oil to blend. You'll want the consistency to be at the point you can portion out and roll between your hands to form the balls.
Once you have it mixed to your liking, you'll add a pinch of sea salt and chopped/broken chunks of walnuts to the mix. For this step, we recommend hand mixing as we enjoy biting into those nice chunks of walnuts in our dusty balls.
Scoop out and form into 1" balls between your palms and set onto tray. Place in the fridge covered for about an hour. Once chilled, dust with cacao powder and serve. The oil in the balls will show on the dust, so we advise dusting before serving. Serve chilled or our preference, room temperature. Makes about 18.
Our balls aren't super super sweet as some recipes out there as we only used 4 dates. You can increase the amount of dates and coconut, or add some honey if you have a more intense sweet tooth. Just pay close attention to your mix if you do go this route as you don't want it too sticky. Adding more meal will balance the stickiness. The great thing about these healthy bites is that they're raw and you can sample the flavor as you go depending on your sweet tooth.
Now don't forget to have fun putting these balls (or moons) in your mouth!
