nutty cacao coconut energy balls

Over the weekend the kids and I had some fun in the kitchen making energy balls together.  They really don’t need any more energy.  For real (can I just tap into their energy source… maybe it’s the 12 hours of sleep a night they get…).  But we do like these balls for a sweet treat and I love the energy pick me up from the dates.  Natural sweetness is my favorite way to go, especially when I’m feeding little bodies like theirs.

I made the afternoon a little less messy by pre-measuring out the ingredients into little bowls before we began mixing the ingredients together,  but normal I would have Hunter help me measure them out.

At 3.5 years old he does a great job of scooping, counting how many scoops we’ve done and pouring it nicely into a bowl. Zoe, who is almost 2 now still pours pretty much all of the dog’s food on the floor when she feeds him.  I think she just wants more practice. ?

Hunter helped by pouring the ingredients one at a time into the food processor, then pulsing like a pro.  Zoe was on the counter sneaking as many bites of dates (which she kept calling sausage) and cacao nibs as she could before we got to those items.  When the food processor was running she’d cover her ears from the sound.  And then I captured this sweetness from Hunter kissing his sister and telling her that she would be okay.  He is so, so sweet.

The date/nut mixtures comes together super simply, then the fun part of rolling into balls happens.  Hunter rolled about half of them, Zoe instantly ate whatever I gave her to roll, and I helped with the other half. We all loved these and are already sad about the batch being gone.  They are super tasty, chocolatey and energy packed from the dates.  Plus you also get longer lasting sustained energy from almonds, hazelnuts and coconut’s higher fat content.  So many wins.  Let me know if you try them out and how long they last in your house!

Nutty Cacao Coconut Energy Balls

Makes 12-24 balls, depending on how large you make them

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups dates (soak in water for 1 hour to soften, then discard the liquid)
• 1 cup almonds
• 1/4 cup hazelnuts
• 3/4 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/4 cup cacao nibs
• 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder
• pinch of sea salt

Directions

1. Add almonds and hazelnuts to food processor.  Pulse until ground evenly into small pieces.
2. Add the dates and continue to pulse until the dates are broken down and the mixture is combined.
3. Add the coconut, cocoa powder and sea salt and pulse a couple times to combine.
4. Lastly, stir in the cacao nibs.
5. Roll into balls and store sealed in the fridge.

Want more date sweetened energy ball recipes?  Check these out:

• cocoa peanut date balls
• almond date and coconut energy balls

Do you make energy balls often?  What are your favorite flavor profiles for them?

Heather