Friday, March 02, 2012

Pin It Chocolate Balls! Two Kinds!

I have been really annoyed with the prices of pre-packaged bars. But they're so darned convenient! And I consider Lara Bars a pretty healthy, quick snack for Toddler V. Soooo, I decided to take a crack at these at home. I rolled them all into little balls, or shaped them into square-ish "bites." I'm happy to say, it was easy as pie to make, delicious, and portable! V loved them. Just firmed them up in the fridge and then put a few in a ziploc bag at a time and popped it in my bag. They came out tasting ridiculously similar to fudge. Success.

But.

Then.

I had an idea.

I was wondering what I should do with my leftover almond flour. Before I knew it, I was just mixing ingredients like a madman. And heck, I ended up somehow with a super indulgent-tasting, gluten-free (as far as I know), high protein snack that tasted JUST like peanut butter brownies!

Here are the recipes.  Remember-- First set of balls: Fudgy! Second set of balls: Brownie-y! Both gluten-free as far as I know!

You'll notice that the "brownie" kind uses peanut butter as a binder, and the "fudgy" kind uses dates as a binder. However, you can just add a couple tablespoons of peanut butter to the "fudgy" recipe if you want, too. It's quite versatile.

And sure, you can make either of 'em "salty" if you want. ;) Just add a pinch or two.

I'm including just a pic of the "Lara" balls, since they both looked EXAC the same. And I totally didn't get a pic of the other one. Gobbled them up, I did.

Oh, and you TOTALLY don't have to go out and buy packaged almond flour. Suuuper expensive! Just throw almonds in the blender-- just don't blend too long, or it becomes a paste -- and you don't want that. Why am I writing like a valley girl today? No idea. Sorry about that.






"Lara" Balls

About 10 pitted medjool dates
1/4 cup walnuts (optional, but pretty essential to deliciousness)
3 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Optional: chocolate chips, mint extract, peanut butter to taste

Blend together in blender or food processor. (You could actually chop and mush it all up without either of those devices, to tell you the truth.) Form into balls or more sufficiently chaste shapes. Suuuper easy. There I go again...


Brownie Balls

2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tbs peanut butter (or to taste)
1 tbs vanilla extract
1/4 cup agave syrup (or to taste)
Splash of milk (soy, almond etc) or water if needed

Mix everything in a bowl. You're gonna have to put your back into it to get that peanut butter all up into everything. Work it, 'cause it's worth it.

Form mixture into balls and pop into fridge.


Both recipes should keep for a few hours in a ziploc bag at a reasonable room temp.