{"id":3408,"date":"2015-08-27T22:22:30","date_gmt":"2015-08-27T14:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/?p=3408"},"modified":"2017-02-14T15:32:03","modified_gmt":"2017-02-14T07:32:03","slug":"salted-caramel-and-chocolate-bliss-balls-nut-free-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/salted-caramel-and-chocolate-bliss-balls-nut-free-option\/","title":{"rendered":"(paleo\/raw) Salted caramel and chocolate bliss balls (nut-free option)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In my humble opinion, society today feels like a world of\u00a0convenience. \u00a0I know this is rather a serious statement for the start my\u00a0post with but I really feel this dictates many of our daily choices.\u00a0 We all want things faster, easier and with less effort on our own behalf.\u00a0 I’m very guilty of this as time seems to be my most precious commodity.<\/p>\n

Certain things seem to be more commonplace such as\u00a0welling at my computer if it is not going fast enough, not ironing clothes that clearly need it and\u00a0even\u00a0skipping a meal or two just through not having enough time.\u00a0 Now that I say them out loud they all seem rather stupid but shortcuts do start to creep in everywhere.<\/p>\n

However, there is one thing I will not compromise on – the food I eat.\u00a0 I don’t buy premade meals and do cook as much from scratch as I possibly can.\u00a0 I\u2019ve learnt over many years that it is important to fuel your body with the right things to get the best out of it.\u00a0 When it comes to eating, I tend to be a “snacker”, eating smaller amounts more often throughout the day rather than bigger meals.\u00a0 My friends often say \u201cyou\u2019re always eating\u201d, and I guess it seems like I am.\u00a0 So having things on hand that I can grab on the run that keep my energy up is really important.<\/p>\n

The great thing about making your own food from scratch is you can choose exactly what goes into it and what flavours you want.\u00a0 The challenging part is that it can be time consuming to \u201cmake your own\u201d.\u00a0 Luckily this is where a Thermomix can come in very handy.<\/p>\n

When I developed these recipes I knew they had to be really quick and easy as well as packed with flavour and nutrition.\u00a0 Oh and at least one on them had to replicate my favourite flavour, salted caramel.\u00a0 You can use these as a base and change the ingredients to suit you.\u00a0 I know there are possibly thousands of bliss ball recipes, so I hope you enjoy these.<\/p>\n

(paleo) \u201csalted caramel\u201d bliss balls (recipe\u00a0by Fiona at Food 4 Thought).<\/span>
\n Serves 20 \u2013\u00a024 pieces, depending on size.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/span>
\n30g unsweetened flaked or shredded\u00a0coconut
\n200g pitted medjool dates (about 12)
\n150g\u00a0raw or activated\u00a0nuts\u00a0(I did half cashews and half pecan) *see below for nut free version
\n\u00bd teaspoon\u00a0fine sea\u00a0salt or pink Himalayan salt
\n2\u00a0teaspoon\u00a0vanilla\u00a0paste or extract<\/p>\n

Preparation<\/span>
\nPlace all ingredients into TM bowl mix\u00a0for 30 seconds <\/strong>on\u00a0speed\u00a08.\u00a0 <\/strong>Scrape around the sides of the bowl, checking that ingredients are well combined.\u00a0 If needed, repeat for further 15 seconds<\/strong>\u00a0on\u00a0speed 8. <\/strong>\u00a0Press some of the mixture together to make sure it will stay in a ball.\u00a0 If needed do a further 15 seconds.\u00a0 Place mixture into separate bowl and\u00a0refrigerate (see tips below), this will make it easier to roll into balls.\u00a0 Once slightly chilled, take\u00a0a rounded teaspoon\/level tablespoon of the mixture and roll into balls.\u00a0\u00a0Place on a lined tray and refrigerate until firm (a couple of hours). \u00a0Store in an air tight container in the fridge until ready to eat.<\/p>\n

My tips:\u00a0<\/span> *To make these nut free simply substitute the nuts with sesame\u00a0or sunflower seeds.\u00a0 *I found putting the mixture into the fridge to chill a little made them MUCH easier to roll into balls.\u00a0 If you don’t have time to do that just press them into a tray and cut them into cubes. You can also put it into the freezer for 10 minutes\u00a0to firm the mixture slightly\u00a0 *If you are lucky enough not to eat these in the first two days, these will keep for approx. 2 weeks in the fridge.<\/p>\n

ease: 9.5\/10.\u00a0\u00a0Does it get any easier?!?<\/strong>
\nprep time:\u00a010 minutes <\/strong>+ chilling time\u00a0<\/strong>
\ncooking time:\u00a00 minutes\u00a0<\/strong>
\ntotal:\u00a020 minutes <\/strong>+ chilling time<\/p>\n

taste: 9.5\/10<\/strong>\u00a0I’ve made a LOT of bliss balls.\u00a0 These got two thumbs up from G and are my absolute, all time favourite.<\/p>\n

would I make it again:\u00a0 Ummm, I’ve already made three!\u00a0 hehehe.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(paleo) \u201cchocolate chia\u201d bliss balls (recipe\u00a0from a friend and adapted by Fiona at Food 4 Thought).<\/span>
\n Serves 20 \u2013\u00a024 pieces, depending on size.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/span>
\n30g unsweetened flaked or shredded\u00a0coconut
\n150g pitted medjool dates (about 10)
\n300g\u00a0raw or activated\u00a0nuts\u00a0(I used almonds)
\n\u00bc teaspoon\u00a0fine sea\u00a0salt or pink Himalayan salt
\n60-80g raw honey
\n20g (2 tablespoons) raw cacao powder
\n30g\u00a0(2 tablespoons) chia seeds
\n30g\u00a0(2 tablespoons)\u00a0melted coconut oil *see below for\u00a0melting easily
\n34g\u00a0(2 tablespoons)\u00a0water<\/p>\n

Preparation<\/span>
\nPlace all ingredients into TM bowl mix\u00a0for 45 seconds to 1 minute <\/strong>on\u00a0speed\u00a08,\u00a0<\/strong>until the mixture forms a ball or sticks together well.\u00a0 Scrape around the sides of the bowl, checking that ingredients are well combined.\u00a0\u00a0Moisten your hands with cold water\u00a0and roll into balls.\u00a0\u00a0Place on a lined tray and refrigerate until firm (a couple of hours). \u00a0Store in an air tight container in the fridge until ready to eat.<\/p>\n

My tips:\u00a0<\/span> *If you are struggling to roll these into\u00a0balls you might want to try the fridge idea mentioned above.\u00a0 *Substitute the nuts for any others and add some extra dried fruit (like dried cranberries) to switch it up a little.\u00a0 *To melt coconut oil\u00a0easily I simply place very hot water into a container so that it will come at least halfway up the jar, slightly loosen the lid and sit the container in the water.\u00a0 Make sure that no water can get into the jar.\u00a0 I do this just before preparing all the other ingredients.\u00a0 This allows time for it to soften before it is needed.<\/p>\n

ease: 9\/10.\u00a0\u00a0Pretty simple<\/strong>
\nprep time:\u00a015 minutes <\/strong>+ chilling time\u00a0<\/strong>
\ncooking time:\u00a00 minutes\u00a0<\/strong>
\ntotal:\u00a025 minutes <\/strong>+ chilling time<\/p>\n

taste: 8.5\/10<\/strong>\u00a0These were delicious.<\/p>\n

would I make it again:\u00a0 Yes, because they are yummy.\u00a0 But only if I didn’t have the ingredients for the Salted Caramel \ud83d\ude42 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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In my humble opinion, society today feels like a world of convenience. I know this is rather a serious statement for the start my post with but I really feel this dictates many of our daily choices. We all want things faster, easier and with less effort on our own […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[89,57,70,28,50,72,61,71,35,29,65,67,27],"tags":[17,127,139,101,122,141,131,140,107,102,135,137,100],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3408"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3408"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3613,"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3408\/revisions\/3613"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}