There seem to be thousands of bliss ball recipes on the internet and I have made many different versions of them. This is just one of my favourite combinations but you can really use any dried fruit, nuts and seeds that you have on hand. And they seem to be all the rage in cafes now, charging anywhere from $2-$7 a bar/ball which seems a little crazy, seeing as you can make a whole batch for less than $10. You may also know them as “raw balls” or “raw fruit bars”. This is to do with the raw cacao that is included that is super healthy for you and gives it a chocolately taste without the fats and sugar. I find that including dates and cacao together works well as the dates are very sweet and helps bring the cacao flavour out. I personally love figs as the seeds give you a little pop when you crunch them.
My daughter gets very excited when making these with me. She loves to sit on the kitchen bench and help tip everything in the food processor and then watch it all whiz around together. And then gets equally excited rolling them into balls or making bars: I think she genuinely thinks we are making chocolate bars. They are a great way to get the kids cooking as well as nutritious treat for them. And equally a great treat for the adults too to carry in your bag for a day away from home.
As I said, the options are endless and I usually do not measure anything, just throw it in and add a bit more dry ingredients if it is too sticky. Some other options that you could add:
Oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, linseeds, chia seeds, any kind of nut, any type of dried fruit such as apricots, peaches, prunes, sultanas, apples, mango, pineapple.
And I have made these with normal cocoa powder and even melted dark chocolate which both worked out really well.
Raw Cacao & Fig Bliss Balls Recipe
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150g soft dried figs
150g pitted dates
1/2 cup muscat or juice (apple, orange, mango or peach) or water
50g Brazil nuts, pecans or any other nut you prefer
100g almonds
3 cups shredded or flaked coconut
200g raw cacao powder
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Soak the dried fruit in the muscat or juice for at least 30minutes, and up to overnight. Reserve 2 cups of coconut and then place the fruit and the rest of the ingredients in a food processor and process until the ingredients form a smooth paste. Dampen your hands (so the mixture doesn’t stick) and roll the mixture into 1 inch balls. Roll them in the coconut and put them in a sealed container in the fridge.
Makes 28 balls.
