These are pretty much anything you want them to be: dessert, snack, energy bite, whatever. Heck, eat them all for dinner if you wanna. They are dense, nutritious and chocolaty, and really quick to make. I tried to keep the ingredients simple and, as usual, there are a ton of substitution options in case you don’t have all the ingredients. —EvE
MAKES ABOUT 12 BALLS
¼ cup (27 g) cacao powder
Pinch of Himalayan salt
¼ tsp vanilla powder or extract
1 tbsp (7 g) maca powder (see Note)
1 cup (120 g) walnuts, preferably soaked for 4 hours in water, then rinsed
1 cup (80 g) rolled oats
1 cup (170 g) pitted dates
2–3 tbsp (28–42 g) coconut oil, as needed
1–2 tbsp (15–30 ml) water, if needed
COATINGS
Sesame seeds
Hemp seeds
Maca powder
Cacao powder
In a food processor, grind the dry ingredients into a rough flour. Add the rest of the ingredients and keep processing until a moist dough is formed. Ideally it will form itself into a ball, or at least when you press some of the mixture between your fingers, it will hold its shape and your fingers will be slightly oily. If the mixture is too crumbly, add more water, coconut oil or dates. If it’s too moist, add some more oats.
Roll the dough into balls and then coat in whatever you like! I used sesame seeds, hemp seeds, maca powder and cacao powder. Other ideas: cinnamon, berry powder, coconut flakes … it’s up to you! Leave them in the fridge for a couple hours or eat them right away.
Note: If you don’t have maca powder, don’t sweat it—just leave it out. You can use vanilla extract instead of vanilla powder. You can use cocoa powder instead of cacao powder. You can use any other nuts or seeds instead of oats and walnuts.