Making Raw Chocolate Balls - When there is nothing worth watching on TV

House cleaning and laundry wasn’t keeping me busy on Saturday, so I decided to make some chocolate treats.

I was just tired of flipping channels each time a political ad came on, so I turned the TV off and started some house cleaning. After an hour or two, that got boring, so on to looking for something else to do. 

I have made these balls before, but used all dried plums(prunes).  The taste wasn’t the best, so I decided to mix the dried fruit this time.  This mix works very well and is quite tasty!  They are a little sweet with the amount of chocolate added, so the amount may be reduced to taste.

There is no added sweetener in this version ‘raw’ aka ‘un-cooked’ chocolate balls, as a candy bar is used instead of cocoa or unsweetened chocolate.

Raw Chocolate  Balls - Another Version


Ingredients1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup Walnuts
1/2 cup natural almonds
1/2 cup dried dates
4 large dried plums (prunes)
1/2 cup raisins
1 3.3-oz. Dark Chocolate Bar (or 3-oz. (or less) semi-sweet baking chocolate)
1/4 tsp vanilla powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup Unsweetened shredded coconut (used Let's Do Organic)

Procedure

·         Pulse the almonds to consistency of flakes

 

 

·         Add Remaining ingredients in a food processor, and pulse  about 3 or 4 times or until finely chopped

 

 

 

• forgot to add chocolate, so chopped and added it in and pulsed a few more times

 

 

·         Using (food service grade) gloved hands, shape into balls. 

 

 

They are ready to be stored, freeze spread apart first to prevent sticking together.

 

 

 

·         After freezing, place in a sealed container and return to freezer, restoring to room temp before serving. If not freezing store in a sealed container in the fridge.

 

 

I enjoyed one before returning them to freezer… Each ball is about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, so they can be made smaller.



Servings:  24
Nutrition (per serving): 89 calories, 5.5g total fat, 1.5g monounsaturated fat, 1.7g polyunsaturated fat, 0g trans fatty acids, <1g trans-monoenoic fatty acids, <1g trans-polyenoic fatty acids, <1g linoleic acid, 1.5g saturated fat, <1mg cholesterol, <1mg sodium, 17mg calcium, 96.4mg potassium, 5.3mcg folate, 34.2mg phosphorus, 1.8mg phytosterols, <1mcg lycopene, <1mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, 0mcg vitamin b12, <1mg vitamin b6, <1mg vitamin c, <1mg zinc, 9.8g carbohydrates, 1.6g fiber, 8.3g net carbohydrates, 6.7g sugar, 1.8g fructose, <1g galactose, 1.9g glucose, 0g lactose, <1g maltose, 1.1g sucrose, <1mg stigmasterol, 1.7g protein.

Tips

 

Depending on which dates used, you may have to squeeze the mixture into the balls.

This batch used these chopped dates

 

 

instead of these - this type works best

 

Food service (sanitary) gloves can be purchased in large quantities at warehouses, smaller amounts can be found at stores like Wal-Mart. Read the label to make sure it says “approved for food handling” .

---

© 2012 retiredwithnoregrets.blogspot.com