Name: No-Bake Dark Chocolate Coated Cashew Balls
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 2 min
Total time: 12 min
Ingredients: ½ cup Salted Cashews (65g); ~20 dates 140g; ¼ teaspoon vanilla; 1 tablespoon Dark Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (5g (Regular cocoa would be great too)); ⅛ teaspoon powder sugar

It's holiday cookie season! I love this time of year because it forces me to get creative in the kitchen. Sure, I could make all the standard cookie recipes out there but where's the fun in that? I'd much rather experiment and come up with fun, healthy ways to indulge while still getting some good stuff in the kids.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against all the traditional baked goods out there. Give me a standard chocolate chip cookie or double chocolate brownie and I'm good to go, but in a way I find baking that stuff at home boring and well, monotonous. It's what everyone bakes. It's what every store carries.

I'm much more motivated to cook and bake when I move past the old standbys and try to come up with something new that hopefully my family will embrace and I can feel good about them eating.

Yesterday these fit the bill and I'm IN HEAVEN!

Don't they look so festive?! The best part? Well, I can't pick ONE. First, they are no-bake. Total bonus during the busy holiday season. Second, there are only 5 ingredients and that includes the sprinkle of powdered sugar on top. Third, 3, let me repeat, THREE, are only 130 calories! And let me tell you, 3 are totally satisfying. Rarely do I stop at a single serving but my belly was full after eating these. Of course I did go back for more a few hours later but still. 😉

Oh! and the kids? Well both loved them!

Ryan had 3 after school.

Yeah, that's "The Toddler" all grown up giving old mom the look while calling his friend on the phone after finishing his homework. *sigh* When did THAT happen? Anyway, notice the chocolate lips. Evidence. lol

Little Bean, well, he was also caught red handed, err, faced.

But he attacked the plate during the photo shoot.

Of course he was taking bites of them and then putting them back before grabbing another one. Please tell me your kids do that too.

Anyway, how do they taste? Well delicious! The dates and cashews make a great indulgent combo, similar to the cashew cookie flavor of a Laura bar. The cocoa on the outside isn't sweet but gives that tart cocoa flavor which by itself isn't yummy, but once you bite into the sweetness, it all comes together for the perfect bite. I loved them at room temperature but kept the leftovers in the fridge only to realize they are even better cold. The dates almost takes on a caramel texture. Delicious!

Okay, lets get down to the recipe. I'm excited about these, can you tell?

Ingredients

½ cup Salted Cashews (65g)
~20 dates 140g
¼ teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon Dark Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (5g) (Regular cocoa would be great too)
⅛ teaspoon powder sugar

Instructions

I'm obsessed with nuts at the moment and cashews are on the top of the list.

If you don't have salted I'd add a pinch to the recipe.

Put the cashews, dates and vanilla in your processor or bullet.

Pulse until all the major chunks are broken up a bit.

Then keep going until the mixture forms dough balls while it's processing.

It took about 2 minutes for me shaking the bullet a bit to get things back down towards the blades.

Roll the dough into small balls around 10 g each. According to my calculations you should get 20 - 10g balls but I was only able to make 18. You lose a bit during the process and that includes nibbles. 🙂

Now you could stop there but I wanted to make these a bit more festive so I pulled out my secret weapon.

I LOVE this stuff. If you can't find it near you, regular cocoa powder would work great too. I'm just obsessed with all that is dark chocolate.

Put the cocoa powder on a plate and loosen any clumps with a fork.

Roll the balls until coated well and then tap to remove some of the excess.

I thought they looks just like truffles!

It was a last minute decision to add the powdered sugar. Just a touch for holiday effect.

I'm calculating the batch to make 6 servings of 3 balls each to be safe. If you get an extra 1 or 2, well BONUS! 🙂

Happy NO-baking. 🙂

📖 Recipe