Greetings!
We are home safe and sound from Alberta and are running on little sleep.
I am downing French Press like the best of ‘em, but I’m not even sure this is going to save my lack of sleep. Time changes are always hard to adjust to, aren’t they?
I am also suffering from a bad case of I-miss-my-family-blues.
As I mentioned last week before I left to visit my family, I am featuring a holiday cookie special on the blog called ‘Favourite Vegan Holiday Cookies’ where I promised to show you holiday cookies with a wholesome, vegan twist.
I’ve already showed you My Favourite Snickerdoodle…last week.
I will be making a list on my recipes page of all the holiday cookies that I make, so be sure to check that out.
I also made Auntie Angie’s Soft Peanut Butter Cookies…
Today I’d like to move to a cookie a bit more unconventional…
First of all, it is a ball.
It is no bake.
It is dipped in chocolate.
It is vegan.
It contains no added sugar.
These are also adapted from my Glo Dough balls that I sold at the Farmer’s market this past summer.
This unexpected delight is the perfect holiday party appetizer to serve on a cute little tray, stuck with red and green toothpicks. I served something like this at my Ugly Christmas Sweater Party last December 2009.
I made these last week before I left for my trip and it took all my restraint to wait to blog about them.
The first thing I did when I got home from the airport last night was pop one of these bad boys out of the freezer and into my mouth.
I needed a chocolate fix.
And fast.
I shoved that cookie ball into my mouth and had a moment of sheer bliss as I stood in front of the freezer with my luggage in one hand and balls in the other.
Peace at last.
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Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls
Adapted from my Raw Chocolate Chip Cookies from May 2009. Stick idea from Joy the Baker.
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup cashews
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp regular oats
- 3/4 cup whole grain spelt flour (or other flour)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 5 pitted medjool dates, chopped
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3-5 tbsp pure maple syrup, to taste
- 3-4 tbsp dark chocolate or my homemade raw chocolate, chopped
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate, melted, for dipping
Directions: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a non stick mat. In a food processor, process the cashews and oats until a fine crumble (see picture below). Now add in the flour, kosher salt, and roughly chopped pitted medjool dates. Process until fine.
Add in the vanilla and pure maple syrup and process until the mixture comes together in a ball.
Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the 3-4 tbsp of chopped dark chocolate. Roll into balls and stick with toothpicks.
In a double boiler or carefully in the microwave, melt 1/3 cup of dark chocolate in a small bowl. Be careful not to burn. Now roll each ball into the chocolate and place on parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Freeze for 1 hour to set. Serve immediately.
Yield: Approx. 25 balls.
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Process the oats and cashews until a fine crumble forms like above.
Now add in the flour, dates, and kosher salt:
Process until fine.
Now add in the pure maple syrup and vanilla. A ball will form.
Now add in the chopped chocolate and process until incorporated. Alternatively you can stir this in a bowl if the mixture is too sticky for your processor.
Shape into balls and stick with a toothpick!
They already taste delicious, but we must dip them in chocolate.
This is 1/3 cup melted dark chocolate.
Dip half way and place on the parchment.
Now freeze the balls for 1 hour to set. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve immediately.
These have a nutty flavour thanks to the cashews and spelt flour and a great texture thanks to the chunks of chocolate. They taste like a healthier cookie dough that is wholesome but won’t give you the dreaded sugar crash. They don’t taste exactly like cookie dough, but they are delicious anyways.
And perfect straight out of the freezer.
Mmmmm.
The other day, my nephew asked me, ‘Auntie Angie, why do you take pictures of your food?’
I stopped and laughed for a moment and thought about my strange ways.
I also realized that I had turned into the token weird Aunt. I knew it was bound to happen.
I looked at him eagerly awaiting my reply and said,
‘Because taking pictures of my food makes me happy….just like you do.’
And then I distracted him with a cookie.
It worked for now, but there will be many more questions and I need to think of answers.
I think I shall go clean out my freezer now.
Alllll i want to do is go on a baking spree instead of studying for exams. Argh!
p.s. I recently wrote an article about why I don’t read magazines anymore, and cited your blog as great inspiration for getting past the poor health habits that magazines encourage. You can check it our here – http://carolinegarrod.wordpress.com/2010/12/02/why-i-dont-read-magazines-anymore-part-ii/
keep up the great work and keep making super-fabulous cookies! :)
These are my favourite cookies to date! But anything with maple syrup gets my stamp of approval.
Your balls look lovely.
Yay! I have most of those ingredients at home! I’m going to give these a try, I love cookie dough and chocolate. Its win win.
I raced home from work to make these yesterday – oh my, delicious! I could not stop eating the dough pre-dip in the chocolate bath, and then I couldn’t stop eating them out of the freezer later that night… Needless to say, I LOVED THEM! ….and there should be a lock on my freezer with some sort of tester to ensure I am not suffering from a cookie-induced high in order to open.
hahah what a perfect housewarming treat it sounds like. These are definitely book-marked by the way. No sugar and no bake? They sound like perfection
i have a nut allergy and was wondering what i could use as a substitute for the cashews and dates? these look absolutely amazing and i would love to try them.
Do you think I could sub the spelt flour for peanut flour? I have some from Trader Joe’s that I’d like to use, and I am a peanut butter addict so it just seems right…
I’m not sure, I havent used PB flour before! My guess would be that it might not hold together as well? Is it more crumbly?
Honestly I haven’t even opened the package yet – but I will tomorrow, and will let you know how it goes! Thanks!
Ok, so I used 1/2 cup peanut flour + 1/4 cup WW flour (didn’t have spelt and it’s not particularly easy to find near me) and you were right, it was more crumbly. I ended up adding an addition tablespoon of maple syrup. They were yummy and peanutty. I may try them with all peanut flour, but may need to add more dates or perhaps a big spoonful of nut butter to help bind it without adding more syrup. Thanks – definitely a keeper!
Made these tonight – they were AMAZING! cant wait to eat them allllll week long :)
wow, these are delicious! and they got rave reviews from the boyfriend too :)
Wow I can not get enough of these!!! I’m newly vegan, and these are incredible to combat cravings! I love them, and I’m sure they’ll always be in my freezer : )
I made these today using dried cherries (1/2 cup), almonds, a scant 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, and a little almond meal with the flour. Those are the ingredients I had on hand. I arrived at 1/2 cup dried cherries by squeezing about a tablespoonful to the size of a date, and measured 5 of those to equal (approximately) 5 dates. They are delicious, even my husband loved them. I’ll make them again according to your recipe, as I love dates and cashews but didn’t have them in the pantry today. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I think if I am going to be making more of your recipes, I need a better food processor! lol
Can you substitute the pure maple syrup with something else? or omit it? It’s just I have all the other ingredients except that and I don’t want to go out to the store in this heat lol.
Hmm good question! Do you have another liquid sweetener like agave? If so, use that. Otherwise you will have to increase the sugar by a couple tbsp and also add in a bit of liquid until the consistency is right. Maybe a touch of almond milk?
I made these and they are delicious!! I used 100% white whole wheat flour because that’s what we had on hand… I’ll try spelt flour next time. After years of consuming pounds of raw cookie dough, I can say that these come very close to the taste, AND they are healthy. The cashews lend a buttery flavor, unlike other nuts. We store them in the freezer and pop one in the mouth for a quick snack. Thank you!
Wow. These are utterly amazing. They rocked my world. So good. What I love about Ange’s recipes is that I can eat healthy vegan food and never feel deprived. I can’t wait for the cookbook.
Like all your recipes I’ve tried but was surprised how similar these taste to real cookie dough. I don’t care for maple so I used agave. LOVE this recipe!
Would love to try this recipe, but need to omit the cashews due to a nut allergy. Is there something else I can use or use more of?
Good Morning Angela! This morning I had a craving for your Cookie Dough Balls with a nice cup of tea. But when I got home, I found I didn’t have rolled oats, or raw cashews. I decided to take a walk on the wild side and substituted the cashews with peanuts and pecans (half and half), and instead of the oats these Cinnamon Os that I bought for my son that he no longer likes. Since I was using peanuts, I decided last minute to also substitute almond butter for peanut butter to keep up with the theme. Result: Cold, creamy, nutritious peanut butter deliciousness. I wasn’t sure how forgiving this recipe would be, but it turns out- quite forgiving! Great recipe, Angela.
Hi Aimee, Oh that’s so great to hear! Don’t you love when swaps work out so well. Thanks for letting me know!