Date and Pecan Energy Balls

Do not make these for school. Make these for yourself, and hoard them in your freezer. Don't tell your husband they are there. I repeat: do not tell your husband they are there. My son said they taste like caramel. I've long held that date and pecan together have some kind of alchemy. Anyway, these don't taste like they are good for you. When you want a sweet bite after dinner or a little nibble to keep you going, these fit the bill.

2 cups shredded coconut
1/4 cup ground chia
1 cup hemp hearts
1 cup pecans

3/4 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp ground vanilla bean
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1 1/2 cup dates


1 tbsp vanilla extract
up to 1/4 cup water


1. process the coconut, ground chia, hemp hearts, and pecans with the sea salt, ground vanilla, and cinnamon.
2. then add the dates, and pulse until fully deconstructed
3. finally, process in the vanilla extract and as little water as you can to form a homogeneous dough
4. let it sit for a little while, then roll into balls, and roll the balls in shredded coconut.
5. store in the freezer.

Fancy Maple Pecan Muffins -- version 2.

So, now I've made a second version of this nut filled treasure trove of abject yumminess. The first was sweetened entirely by maple syrup. This second gives up half of its maple-y goodness for a helping of coconut sugar. The result. Fantabulous. No deliciousness is sacrificed, and the second batch was devoured with ferocity and joy by all who came in contact with them. I took a couple of dozen to a lunch, and the crumbs were fought over, to put it succinctly.

ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut oil

2 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp ground vanilla bean
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1/4 cup ground chia seeds
2 tbsp arrowroot flour

2 cups almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup pecans -- little pieces

pecan half to put on top of each one
coconut sugar to sprinkle on top of each one



directions:

1. combine ingrediens in the order listed
2. scoop into muffin cups
3. bake at 345 for 60 minutes

If Energy Had Balls ... Pecan and date get cozy with some cacao ...

I don't really mean to make off-colour allusions to spherical anatomical areas. Really, these are kind of a riff on our easter eggs. However the chewy fudgey goodness is out of this world, and deserves representation whether it's easter or not.

Pecan and date together do something just a little magical or even perhaps alchemical. Not gold, but certainly more than the sum of its parts.

We left these unwrapped, but for easy snacks on the go, you could do them up in small squares of foil just like the easter eggs.

Simply put, these are a pretty intensely delectable energy-rich snack.

Vegans, go get 'em!

ingredients:

1/2 cup hemp hearts
1 cup raw pecans pieces or halves
1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup raw cacao
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp stevia powder
2  tbsp ground vanilla
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups pitted soft dates

1 or 2 tbsp vanilla extract or water

directions:

1. combine the hemp hearts, pecans, coconut, raw cacao, sea salt, stevia powder, and ground vanilla in a food processor, and process until as homogeneous as possible
2. add the honey dates and the vanilla and pulse and then process until it starts to form a 'dough'. Don't stop processing until this happens!! If you need to add more water for this to happen, add it just a bit at a time.
3. roll the dough into small balls
4. how many you get will depend on the size. I got about 40.

Power Bars -- Power to the People

RAW SUPERFOOD 'POWER' BARS

I realized I had many ingredients on hand that seem to fall into the category of 'superfood' -- that would be food that packs a real nutritional punch. I thought it would be fun to throw a bunch of stuff into the food processor and see what came out the other side. We're on our third batch this week, so needless to say, they seem to be very popular in our house. They are a little high in sugar because of the raisins and dates, but they go down easy, are packed with protein (and fiber, both of which help regulate blood sugar levels), phytonutrients, and deliciousness, and are very quick and easy to make.

ingredients:

1/2 cup organic flame raisins (but any kind of seedless raisins would be pretty much equivalent)

1/2 cup pitted honey dates (that means the pit has already been removed, unlike seeded grapes which mean the grapes have seeds. go figure.)

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

1/4 to 1/2 tsp sea salt (some salts are 'saltier' than others, some tongues like salt more than others)

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 cup pecan meal

1/2 cup blanched almond meal

1/2 cup raw cashews

1/4 cup flax seeds, finely ground (aka linseeds)

2 tbsp salba seeds, whole or ground (aka chia seeds)

2 tbsp maca root powder (they now sell this at bulk barn)

2 tbsp hemp protein powder

2 tbsp raw cacao powder (or cocoa powder)

1 tbsp acai powder

1. using a food processor, puree the raisins and dates (check for random pits before throwing the dates in the food processor)

2. add nuts, seeds, salt, and cinamon, and whirl.

3. add maca, hemp powder, cacao or cocoa, and acai, and mix

4. add coconut oil

pulse until everything is finely and even chopped, and can easily be encouraged to clump together. Press the mixture into a square pan and chill it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

I cut it into 32 pieces and then put them into an airtight container in the fridge. They store well. Who am I kidding? They never last long enough to worry about it.

If you want to skip the maca, hemp, or acai, add the equivalent in extra cocoa, or almond meal.

If you want to use only raisins or only dates, substitute the one for the other. Apricots would probably work too, but stick to unsulphured ones. Hmm. Pistachio and apricot next time?

You can safely skip the salba without affecting the texture enough to worry.

Other nuts are fine to try, although some hard ones (eg whole almonds) can be tricky to work with.

Yummy. My 2 1/2 year old son seems to be in love with them. Then again, he's also been known to pick up the occasional cigarette butt in the park and put that in his mouth.