Chocolate Peanut Butter Bliss Balls (formerly Chocolate Peanut Butter Energy Bars)

Hello all!!! 

If you have followed this blog from the start then you may recognise this recipe although you may not recognise this incarnation. This post is a revamp of one of my old recipes which has come about due largely to my food photography course. The homework was to re-shoot one of our old photos or blog posts. I chose these bars, now balls, and if you click here you can see why!

The recipe for these first came about when I was on a pre wedding health kick. They are a great healthy snack to grab when you are on the go and they make a great pre or post workout snack. They tick all the boxes;

• Gluten Free
• Dairy Free
• High Fibre
• No Added Sugar
• Refined Sugar Free
• Low Salt
• Raw
• Vegan

Because of the low salt and no added sugar and because they are refined sugar free these are (without the added extras) great for the kiddies too. Wee man loves them. If all that isn't enough these couldn't be easier to make. The bliss balls themselves are just 4 ingredients - dates, cashews, peanut butter and cocoa. 

The decoration is purely optional but it really transforms the balls from feeling like a health food to feeling like a treat. I posted a picture on Instagram a few days ago and one friend thought they were a chocolate truffle. And hell why not make your energy boost a little more special?!

I used peanut butter powder for the first time to dust some of the balls. If you are not familiar with it it's pretty much all in the name - powdered peanut butter but if you go slightly deeper its actually peanuts that are roasted then pressed to remove around 85% of the fat before they are then powdered. If you add water it turns back into peanut butter albeit low fat! The ones rolled in this really upped the peanut butter flavour. Others were dusted in cocoa but the really special ones were the ones I dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with freeze dried raspberries. They really looked that little bit extra! I think if you had a friend who is vegan or just a bit of a health nut that a nice box of these would make a really great gift.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bliss Balls

Makes 36

Ingredients

450g Dates, chopped
70g Cashews
200g Peanut Butter
2 tbsp Cocoa Powder

To Decorate
Cocoa Powder
Peanut Butter Powder
Melted Dark Chocolate
Crushed Freeze Dried Raspberries

• Put half the dates in the food processor and blend until they break down and start to form a paste. Remove and put in a bowl and do the same with the remaining dates. NOTE - You could do this all in one go but it can be pretty tough going on your food processor. I did it in two batches so that my machine would live to fight another day.
• Throw the reserved dates, cashews, cocoa and peanut butter in the food processor and whizz everything together until the cashews are a fine crumb and everything has come together.
• With lightly greased hands pinch off portions of approximately 20g and roll in to balls. You can leave the balls as they are or you can roll them in extra cocoa powder or peanut butter powder. To make them even more of a treat you can dip them in melted dark chocolate and sprinkle them with crushed freeze dried raspberries. Pop in the fridge or freezer to firm up for an hour or so.
• I find these are best stored in an airtight container in the fridge where they will keep for a week or two but you can equally keep them at room temperature or wrap them well in clingfilm and freeze them.

For more images of my cooking adventures and sneak peaks of what's to come on the blog follow me on Instagram @_cooknoevil_