Christmas Yummy Bite Treats
These healthy energy bites taste JUST like Christmas pudding
and are the perfect treat to get you in the Christmassy mood!
Serves: 12
Ingredients
–For the Christmas pudding energy bites–
3/4 cup ground almonds
1 cup pitted dates
1 cup dried apricots
Zest of half an orange and half a lemon
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp raw vanilla powder or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (not raw)
–For the chocolate coating–
½ cacao butter
3 tbsp cacao powder
2 tbsp raw sweetener
Tiny pinch of sea salt
Half a batch of my “white chocolate coating”
For the “white chocolate” coating
(1/2 cup) coconut oil
(1/2 cup) cashew nuts
1 tbsp raw agave nectar or sweetener of choice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp raw almond milk or milk of choice
To make the “white chocolate” coating, mix all ingredients in a blender or food processor until completely smooth. Add a tiny bit more milk if it’s hard to blend.
–For the marzipan decoration–
150g raw whole almonds soaked in water for at least 4 hours
1 – 2 tbsp raw sweetener
1 tsp spirulina powder (for green colouring)
1 tsp beet juice or powder (for red colouring)
Instructions
Mix all ingredients for the energy bites in a food processor and grind until the mixture starts to clump together. It should be stodgy and easy to roll into a ball.
Take about 1 tbsp of the mixture and roll into a ball. The mixture should make about 12.
To make the dark chocolate coating, melt the cacao butter in 1 qt saucepan on very low heat .Once the cacao butter has melted, whisk in the cacao powder, sweetener and salt. Leave to cool down to room temperature.
Once the dark chocolate has cooled, use a fork or skewer to dip the energy balls into the chocolate and make sure it is fully coated. Let all the excess chocolate drip off into the bowl and then transfer to a sheet of tin foil or greaseproof paper. Leave in the freezer or fridge to set.
After about 20 minutes, it should be fully set. Add a small amount of the white chocolate coating to the top of the chocolates and let it slightly drip down the sides to create the classic custard look. Leave in the freezer to set again.
Meanwhile, make the raw marzipan. After the almonds have been soaking, their skins should be very easy to remove. And once all the skins have been removed, add the almonds to a food processor. Grind until they resemble breadcrumbs.
Add the sweetener then process again until the mixture begins to clump together and is completely smooth.You now have raw marzipan! To add the colourings, simply mix in the colour powders separately. Create pea sized balls with the red marzipan for the berry and small leaf shapes with the green marzipan for the holly.Add the marzipan decorations to the top of the christmas puddings and press down to let it adhere to the top.
Enjoy!
