Disclaimer:  I don’t ascribe to any particular diet (e.g. Paleo, Atkins, ‘clean eating’, vegetarian/flexitarian/pescetarian, organic, Instagram-edible…).

Yes, some of the recipes I post will be more nutrient-dense than others,  but the common thread you’ll see in the recipes – whether they are created/adapted by me, or shamelessly those of my favourite chefs and food bloggers – is that they are intended to be usually simple to moderate in difficulty and always delicious.

More often than not , I’ll be adding suggestions for variations that you can make depending on your preference, mood and/or food tolerances & allergies.

[If you’re curious to know why I don’t diet, check out The Moderation Movement or Isabel Foxen Duke.  If you just came here for a recipe, scroll down.]

BLISS BALLS

‘Green-T Loves Coco’ & Cacao Bliss Balls

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup pitted dates, diced.
• 3 tbsp nut butter OR tahini (See Notes)
• 2 tsp cocoa/cacao powder
• 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
• 2 tbsp oil – coconut, nut OR melted butter
• Optional: 2 tbsp chia seeds

• Desiccated coconut
• Matcha Maiden Green Tea Powder
• Cacao powder

Method

1. Blend oats in a food processor or blender until finely ground consistency. (Note to self: Oats are breakfast food. Ipso facto, the end product of this recipe will also be a breakfast food).
2. Add cocoa powder, chia seeds to oat flour. Mix in the processor.
3. Add dates, nut butter, maple syrup & half the oil to dry ingredients. Blend until combined into a crumbly, sticky dough
4. Empty the mixture into a mixing bowl and work together with your hands. If the mixture is too dry to stick together, add a little more oil and/or maple syrup.
5. Separate and roll the dough into bite-size balls.

Exterior Decorating

1. Once the dough is all rolled, pour half a cup of your preferred topping into a small, dry bowl.
2. Lightly wet the palms of your hands, and roll the ball in your palms.
3. Dip the ball into the bowl filled with the coating of your choice & roll it around. By using small amounts of the topping at a time, you stop it becoming gluey.
   1. Desiccated coconut
   2. Desiccated coconut mixed with matcha powder
   3. Cacao powder
   4. Crushed nuts
   5. Rainbow sprinkles
4. Optional: Take virtuous photograph with a Ludwig filter for Instagram.
5. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

A Few Notes about the Ingredients

Depending on the extent to which you’ve settled into your hemp beanbag (filled with freshly dried garbanzo beans, of course) on the health-food bandwagon you may find some, all or none of these ingredients in your pantry .

Before you take out a second mortgage to fill your pantry with ‘organically activated chia seeds slowly roasted in the alkaline waters of Mt Everest’s Virgin Stream’, double check you don’t already have some very viable substitutes in your pantry:

• Nut Butter:  Peanut butter (preferably with no added sugar, as the dates already pack a sweet punch) or tahini
• Maple Syrup: Honey, or if diabetes isn’t a concern Golden Syrup.
• Cacao Powder: Cocoa powder, Milo, Nesquik… You get the gist.
• Coconut Oil: Any nut oil or low smell/taste oil. (Or just use a tbsp of the oil from the tahini/nut butter when it’s naturally separated.)

But What If…

‘I want them to be less sweet?’ Use less maple syrup and more coconut oil.  Add crushed nuts.

‘I want them to be a dessert I can take to a friend’s house?’ Dip in melted chocolate and crushed hazelnuts. Serve with fresh berries on a vintage platter.

‘I want them to be nut-free?’  Use sunflower seed butter.

‘I don’t have chia seeds/I don’t have the desire to spend $12.98 on a packet of chia seeds?’ Don’t use chia seeds.  Add crushed nuts, rice crisps, or nothing at all!