I am a huge snacker. That is just how Zoe and I have always been. I love savoring a small bite of something sweet and chocolatey; or savory and crunchy. In high school, it was homemade roasted cashews, seaweed rice chips, leftover meals, melons or dried fruit. Now in college, I usually like to go for boiled eggs, grapes, roasted cashews or almonds OR roasted sweet potatoes. I don’t usually make anything fancy, but recently, I just thought – why not actually make myself some tasty snacks? Now that I’m stuck at home, I find myself walking to the kitchen so often out of boredom looking for something tasty.
Bliss Balls. To be honest, I LOVE bliss balls – you know the kind that you make out of medjool dates and nuts?! But to be fair, dates are just SOO expensive and I don’t own a food processor. 
(recipe for banana muffins is here; black beans brownies is here)
Zoe’s fiance fell in love with deliciously ella’s bliss balls whilst we were in the UK (if you don’t know I’m a huge Deliciously Ella fan!). Unfortunately its not available in the US and my wallet isn’t going to accommodate going to whole foods buying expensive snacks. Also with the virus, Ive been minimizing on trips to the store so I can only resort to staple ingredients already at home.
The idea behind the creation of this recipe is that I wanted something low calorie BUT nutritious. I wanted something I could make regularly now and after graduation. I’ll be traveling a lot for my job so I need something I can pack to bring on the go!
The bulk of the bliss balls is Oats. I also just love the “wheat-y’ flavor that oat gives. It’s a cheap, gluten-free alternative for those of you on a budget/living alone! OATS is probably one of my favorite ingredients of all time. I love it because its high in plantbased protein, fibre, minerals and vitamins.
TO replace the dates… we opted for liquid binders like nut butter and maple syrup and water (because it does the job fine)
Its been a revelation for me that you can make tasty bliss balls WITHOUT expensive dates. I love this because it comes together in like 5 minutes. I can make this often with store cupboard ingredients AND it is so nutritious.
You can replace the flax with more almond flour/nut flour. The flax can be replaced easily, i personally like adding it for additional omega 3 fats and fibre.
Add ins: Feel free to add in chocolate chips/raisins/coconut. Make it YOUR OWN!
- ¾ cup + 2 tbsp oats** (gluten-free, if needed)
- ½ cup almond flour (or hazelnut, pecan, any kind)
- 2 tbsp ground flax (or more almond flour)
- 4 tbsp cocoa powder (get a good quality one, it makes a difference!)
- 2.5 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- ½ tsp vanilla
- Mix quick oats, almond flour, flax, cocoa powder together.
- Add in the peanut butter, maple and vanilla. Mix. Add in 1 tbsp of water at a time to help the mixture bind. I would recommend mixing it together by hand. Add more water to bind the mixture if needed.
- Measure 18 balls (1 tbsp in size). As you make the last few, you'll find that some of it might be falling apart, add a little water at a time to help it bind.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
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