Festive Bliss Balls
Raw, vegan, free of gluten and of added sugar, these Festive Bliss Balls are the perfect little pick-me up snack or sweet yet healthy capper at the end of a good meal.
Whether you are looking for a quick little snack or cute petite sweet bites to put on the table following a good family meal – or even a Christmas feast, maybe – these adorable festive bliss balls are totally guaranteed to be a hit. It’s not because they happen to be raw, vegan and paleo friendly, completely free of gluten, dairy or refined sugar and filled with nothing but superfoods and wholesome ingredients that they are not absolutely delicious and insanely addictive!
Honestly, they’re almost better than chocolate! Except they’re good for you. Completely, totally, utterly good for you! And they’re super easy to make, too.
Try them once, you’ll probably want to have a batch in the fridge all the time after…
To start, soak 1/2 a cup of dried apricots in an equal amount of hot water for 15 minutes; meanwhile, get busy prepping the rest of your ingredients.
Here’s what you’re gonna need:
- 4 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup date paste
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 1 tsp pure pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp pure almond extract
- 1/2 tsp pure orange extract (or a few drops orange essential oil)
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
Transfer the soaked apricots along with the soaking water to the bowl of your food processor; reduce them to as fine a puree as you can.
Haha! Now don’t you go throwing rocks at me please: I know I’m not being really helpful with the above picture… Initially, that was just supposed to be a test shot. But apparently, I managed to forget to take a picture AFTER I had reduced the apricots to a puree. So well, erm… yeah. I guess now you’ll have to IMAGINE that those apricots have been processed down to a puree.
Once your apricots are good and pureed, add the shredded coconut and almond flour to the bowl and process until a sticky mixture forms, about 3 to 4 minutes. You will most likely have to stop and scrape the bowl 2-3 times during the process.
To be sure that the mixture is ready for the next step, you can test it by squeezing about a tablespoon in one of your hands: if it sticks and forms a “ball” (or more like a football that has seen better days), then you’re good to go.
It’s now time to add all of the remaining ingredients to the bowl…
…and process on pulse until a malleable paste of even consistency forms.
With the help of a small ice cream scoop, form balls of 1″ in diameter.
Of course, you could totally get the job done without the ice cream scoop, but trust me, it’s so much easier if you use it! Not only does it pre-shape the balls for you, it also ensures that all your balls are the exact same size!
To finish shaping your ball and make them perfectly round, roll them between the palms of your hands.
Technically, if you wanted to, you could be finished right here: these bliss balls are perfectly good to go (and eat) as they stand right now!
But to make them even more yummy and super festive, roll them into your choice of finely chopped shredded coconut, finely chopped dried cranberries or pistachios, almond flour or even cocoa powder. That last one would be my own personal favorite!
If you want to get super fancy, you can place your finished balls into cute little mini muffin paper liners.
Keep your finished bliss balls in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 month, or up to 4 months in the freezer.
Just be sure to put them way in the back of your fridge, otherwise you might have none left when comes the time to put them on the table to share with your friends and family.
Well, that’s if you intended to share in the first place, right? But of course you did! ‘Tis the season after all, isn’t it?
Besides, you can always make another batch later: they’re so crazy easy to whip up!
Festive Bliss Balls
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dried apricots
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 4 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup date paste
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp pure almond extract
- 1/2 tsp pure orange extract, or few drops orange essential oil
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Soak the dried apricots in the hot water for 15 minutes; meanwhile, prep the rest of your ingredients.
- Transfer the soaked apricots along with the soaking water to the bowl of your food processor; reduce them to as fine a puree as you can, then add the shredded coconut and almond flour and process until a sticky mixture forms, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stop to scrape the bowl as needed.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and process on pulse until a malleable paste of even consistency forms.
- With the help of a small ice cream scoop, form balls of 1" in diameter; Roll them between the palms of your hands to shape perfectly round balls.
- To make your balls even more festive, roll them in finely chopped shredded coconut, cranberries or pistachios, almond flour or even cocoa powder.
- Keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a month or up to 4 months in the freezer.
Nutrition
If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!
You can also FOLLOW ME on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and TWITTER for more delicious, healthy recipes!
6 Comments on “Festive Bliss Balls”
Woah! A perfect Wholesome recipe with all organic and healthy ingredient.
These really sound good. Is it really 4 cups of shredded unsweetened coconut?
Yes, that’s really 4 cups of shredded coconut!
YUMMY!
Thanks so much for this fabulous recipe, was wondering how much of this date paste would I need to replace 1 cup of sugar, made the Festive Bliss balls and they are so good.
Have a great Xmas and New Year 🌲😊
What is the best dairy free cheese to use for baking and in casseroles