These coconut balls are just 'Wow!'. One thing I like about vegan "baking" and trying new things is the excitement. I never know how the end product will taste. And I am always super-happy when it comes out delicious. This time it did exceed all my expectations!
Coconut balls were all time favorite since childhood. The only combination though was the one with cocoa and coconut. Unhealthy versions and then later healthier ones.
For the first time I tried something new, without the cocoa powder (although I love chocolate in any form). And for my biggest surprise, the taste of the almond and the taste of the coconut complement each other in such way that the taste of the balls are unbelievable! Do you know the commercial Raffaello balls? Ah, how I loved them couple of years ago! I could eat the biggest size of box of it in an hour, while watching Sex and the City :D I haven't had any of them in the last 4-5 years at least. Can you imagine how happy I was now when tasting my newest creation, and I felt again that heavenly Raffaello taste in my mouth?
And I think that the feeling of pleasure when you eat something delicious, added the thought that it is good for your body, good for your health, cannot be compared to anything! That feeling is priceless!
Most of the ingredients I used were organic. I try to by organic whenever possible.
And one very important thing about the ingredients below: the almond butter I used was raw almond butter. Most of the almond butter you find in health shops are made from roasted almonds. I only wanted to emphasize this because it is a huge difference between the taste of the raw versus toasted almond butter. And I think the taste of the raw almond is what makes these balls so amazing. Next time I will use toasted almond butter and update the post.
Ingredients (makes 11-12 balls):
-1/2 cup ground almonds
-1 cup shredded coconut
-dash of salt (I used a slightly bigger dash of it, so you can nicely feel the salty taste behind the sweetness, which makes it even more irresistible)
-2 heaped tablespoons of raw almond butter
-1 tablespoon of whole chia seeds
-3 tablespoons of whole goji berries
-3 tablespoons of agave nectar
1. Mix together the ground almonds, shredded coconut and salt.
2. Add the raw almond butter and start to work them together with your hand.
3. Add the agave nectar and continue mixing the whole doughy mixture with your hand.
4. Add the chia and the goji berries.
The mixture will not form a dough but it will be sticky enough to form balls with your hands.
Tip: Taste it, and adjust the sweetness. If the dough is not sticky enough, add some more almond butter, or agave (bare in mind that this will make it sweeter), or a little bit of plain water. If it is too sticky, add some more shredded coconut or ground almonds. The above amounts gave the perfect consistency for me.
Roll the balls in shredded coconut, place them on a plate and they are ready to eat! :)
The only time consuming part of making these kind of balls is the process of forming the balls. The above was ready in about 15 minutes with everything. If you want to make double, triple etc. portion, don't forget to calculate the time for making the balls. Children will be happy to help I think! :)
Enjoy!
