Chai-Spiced Almond Butter Bites

(From MindBodyGreen)

Makes 18 to 20 bites

Ingredients

  • ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons shredded coconut, unsweetened

  • ½ cup raw almonds

  • 2 tablespoons hemp seeds

  • 1 cup medjool dates, pits removed (buy dates with pits in them and remove the pits yourself. Otherwise the dates are really dried out.)

  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil

  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

  • ¼ cup almond butter

  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger

  • ½ teaspoon ground cardamom

  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

  • ¼ teaspoon allspice

  • ¼ teaspoon fine grain sea salt

  • Preparation1. Toast 2 tablespoons of shredded coconut until lightly browned.2. Pulse almonds and ½ cup shredded coconut in a food processor until completely ground (no chunks of almonds!).3. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the 2 tablespoons of toasted coconut, and blend in the food processor until all ingredients are combined into a dough-like consistency.

    4. Press chunks of the dough into a ball in your hands, then roll dough into balls with the palms of your hands. If you’d like, roll them in the toasted, shredded coconut.

    Store in the refrigerator in a glass container. They will firm up in the fridge because the coconut oil will cause them to “set” at that cooler temperature.

    If you want them to be a little softer, feel free to set them out on the counter for 10 to 15 minutes before eating. As you chew them slowly, they will feel like they are melting in your mouth.

Rich Chocolate Torte

(from the upcoming “Wicked Healthy Cookbook”) no-cook, very chocolatey

Crust: 1.5 C pecans, 1 T dark sugar, 1/4 t fine salt, 1/2 cinnamon, 1/4 t cayenne (opt)

Pulse together in a blender until it resembles a graham cracker crust, and then press into a 9″ pie plate.

Filling: 1/2 C date paste (1/2 C dates blended with 1/2 C water to a honey-like consistency. I used my VitaMix), 3T coconut oil, 1/2 C Almond butter, 1 T tamari/soy sauce – yup!, 1 C cocoa powder, 1 t vanilla, 0.5-1 C water. Put all of the above in a high speed blender – again my VitaMix is awesome – and purée to very smooth. Add some more water if it’s a bit stiff. Add maple syrup or honey to taste. The original recipe called for 1/2 C of sweetener; I added less and still found it too sweet, so taste it first before you add the sweetener.

Pour the filling into the crust and either freeze or refrigerate depending on how cold you want your desert. I served it with clementine slices on top. A citrus bite is nice, or maybe raspberries or a little bit of sorbet. dust with cocoa powder, or put a chocolate covered coffee bean on it. Yow! Another way to do it is simply make the filling and pour it into martini glasses for a chocolate-mousse style dessert.

Fruit-nut Balls

Lemon OR Choc-Orange OR Choc-Peanutbutter

Make a base of:
1C dates
1 C walnuts or sliced almonds
1/2 raw cashews
1/2 C coconut
(mix n match nuts to your taste, add more nuts if too sticky)

Put all the ingredients into your blender and pulverize. (I love my vitamix!) Add extras below to customize the balls, or create your own combinations! Cool the dough for easier handling, wet your hands, and make little balls, then roll them in something to quell the sticky factor (coconut, cocoa). These make great gifts. They last days/weeks in the fridge and indefinitely in the freezer (airtight). Freeze them in dough form or in ball form before your roll them in something.

*Lemon balls: 2 teaspoons of zest and 1/4 C lemon juice, roll in coconut or a little sugar
*Choc-orange balls: 6 Tablespoons of cocoa (unsw), juice of 1 big orange, zest of same orange, roll in cocoa or coconut.
*Choc-Peanutbutter (or almond butter – why not?)
- use 1 C peanut butter and 1 C coconut as base, add 1/2 C Choc chips, roll in coconut