Shredded carrots, nuts, dried fruit, and a few spices give these vegan energy treats the flavor and texture of a moist slice of the real thing. Packed only with natural ingredients, these tasty little balls make the perfect companion to your morning cup of coffee, as mid day pick me up, or an after school treat for the kids. Satisfying and full of flavor, these little guys even serve well as an after dinner treat for those of you watching your waistlines.
Pulse to chop walnuts in the food processor and set aside.
Chop dates.
Add walnuts back in and pulse to mix.
Add spices and molasses, pulse to combine. Transfer mixture to a bowl.
Shred carrots and add to nut and date mixture.
Add rest of ingredients and mix well to completely combine. Use a small scoop or teaspoon to make bite size balls.
Roll balls in toasted coconut.
- ½ cup walnuts rough chopped
- 12 pitted dried dates rough chopped
- ½ teaspoon molasses or honey
- 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
- 2 large carrots peeled and finely shredded
- ¼ cup golden raisins snipped
- ¼ cup pecans finely chopped
- 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut toasted
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Place 1 cup of shredded coconut in a small skillet and toast over medium heat stirring often to avoid burning. Transfer to a plate and allow to cool.
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Place walnuts in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Take care not to process to long, we are not making walnut butter here. Remove chopped nuts from the food processor and set aside.
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Rough chop the dates and then place them in the food processor and pulse until ground. Return chopped walnuts and pulse to combine well. Make sure all the nuts are chopped fine, you will not make nut butter at this point since the dates are combined with the nuts.
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Add the molasses or honey, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and nutmeg. Pulse until everything is mixed together well. Transfer mixture to mixing bowl.
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Peel carrots. Using a microplane finely shred the carrots. Add to mixture and stir to combine. This will take a bit of doing, but it will all come together. Mix until everything is completely combined.
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Add the raisins and pecans. Mix well.
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Using a small scoop or spoon, roll about a tablespoon of the mixture in your hands to create a ball.
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Place the toasted coconut in a shallow bowl. Roll the balls one at a time in the coconut to coat.
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Transfer on to a parchment lined baking sheet to set up.
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Store the energy balls in tightly sealed container in the fridge for up to a week.
Shredded carrots add a lot of moisture. If mixture is too wet, add more chopped nuts. Toasting the nuts will add more flavor but is not necessary. If you prefer use honey instead of molasses. Makes about 18 – 1″ balls.
