Chocolate coconut balls

By: Louise Fulton Keats
From: Something for Everyone
Makes: 36
Photographer: Ben Dearnley

These look and taste like a delicious chocolatey treat, but actually they’re filled with goodness from the fruit, almonds and coconut and there’s very little chocolate in them. Plus, because of the natural sweetness of the dried fruit, they have no added sugar.

The best bit is they’re incredibly easy to make – your child could happily get involved. If you need to make a nut-free version, replace the ground almonds with extra coconut or some nutritious wheatgerm, or you could use a ground seed mix.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
100g	pitted dates
170g	raisins
or 170g	sultanas
55g	ground almonds
2 tablespoons	raw cacao powder, (see note)
or 2 tablespoons	cocoa powder, (see note)
2 1/2 tablespoons	fresh orange juice
45g	desiccated coconut, plus extra for coating

Method

Place the dates and raisins in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add the ground almonds, cacao powder, orange juice and coconut and blend until the mixture forms a smooth paste.
Spread the extra coconut onto a clean surface. Using your hands, separate the mixture into small balls and roll in the coconut to coat. Store the chocolate coconut balls in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Tip

Raw cacao is similar to regular cocoa – both come from the cocoa bean – except that it’s less processed and hasn’t been heated to high temperatures, so it retains more nutrients including vitamin C, iron, fibre, polyphenols and other antioxidants. Just like cocoa, raw cacao does contain some caffeine and another stimulant called theobromine, so it should still be consumed in moderation.

Baby’s serve

Because the cacao does contain small amounts of caffeine, you should ideally wait until your baby is over 12 months before offering these to her.

Toddler’s serve

Serve as is, broken up if needed. Again, because of the small amounts of caffeine in the cacao and the high levels of natural sugars in the dried fruit, offer these in moderation.