The healthy salted-caramel taste without the refined sugar

(Before you scroll down to the recipe, please read this bit first – I promise it’s worth it!)

As discussed with my personal training clients and boot camp superstars, having the occasional homemade gluten-free, dairy-free sweet treat, that is also free of refined sugar, is ridiculously rewarding for the following reasons:

1. You can feel smug that you’ve made it yourself

2. You can rest-assured you’re not consuming any refined sugar or processed nasties

3. You can impress your friends and family with how AWESOME it tastes

4. You can make it for people that follow the ‘paleo’ way of eating

5. You can eat one (maybe two…) at a time and that really REALLY will be enough!

I put together these salty chocolate balls (no, there really isn’t another way of describing them but I am open to suggestions should you have any…) with the idea of recreating a salted caramel taste that leaves you satisfied enough to not then want to eat a whole plateful. And that also doesn’t contain any peanuts!

So here’s what they contain:

(makes one batch)

– 1 tablespoon raw organic cacao powder

– 10 organic pitted medjool dates

– 1 tablespoon organic melted coconut oil

– 2 tablespoons almond butter

– 1 tablespoon pecans

– 1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract

– 2 tablespoons almond flour (aka almond meal)

– 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

– 1/4 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt (or organic rock salt)

– handful of organic desiccated coconut

Blend all the ingredients (except the coconut) in a food processor until smooth. Roll the mixture into balls and scatter the coconut on a board. Roll the balls through the coconut to coat thoroughly. Put them in the fridge for about 20 minutes to firm up.

That’s it! 🙂

Remember to treat your balls with respect, savour the taste by eating slowly and you’ll appreciate them much more as a healthy sweet treat to be enjoyed in moderation. Enjoy!

Gen x