14/02/2020
Valentines Love Pops ❤️
Raw and vegan
INGREDIENTS
* 1 cup of dry almonds
* 1 cup of dry cashews
* 1/2 cup of oats (certified gluten free if needed)
* 6 medjool dates
* 1 tablespoon of peanut butter (almond butter will work too)
For OPTIONAL chocolate covering:
* roughly 1 cup chopped of raw cacao paste
* 3 tbs of agave at room temperature* (or maple syrup) to sweeten the raw cacao paste which is naturally very bitter.
* If you don’t have access to raw cacao paste, you can also use regular store bought vegan chocolate chips and melt them.
* Or, if you don’t mind using oil – you can also use 3/4 of a cup of melted coconut oil and 1/2 cup of cacao powder mixed together which forms a chocolate-y sauce that will become solid when placed in the fridge. There is no need to heat up or melt this combo. Just add oil, cacao powder, and a bit of agave to a bowl and mix together with a spoon until a chocolate sauce forms.
Optional for toppings:
* coconut shreds
* dragon fruit powder
* beet root powder
* crushed nuts
* cacao powder
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Place almonds, cashews, oats, dates, peanut butter (and any beet root powder or cranberry juice concentrate to change the color if you are using it), process in food processor until everything is completely broken down and the ‘dough’ begins to stick together. (see picture) If you are forming the balls, and they are breaking apart… you need to process the dough more until you are able to form the balls without them breaking apart.
2. Roll into balls using roughly 2 tablespoons of ‘dough’ and place in a baking sheet. It’s normal if the dough is very crumbly.. use your hands to squeeze the dough together into a ball and it will eventually take form. Once all dough has been rolled into balls (about 12 balls), freeze for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. From here you can eat the cake balls / cake pops as is or cover them with your preferred toppings. My favorites are coconut shreds, cacao powder, and dragon fruit powder. I found that the toppings stuck easily to the balls but if you are having trouble = you can add a bit of agave or date paste to help the toppings stick.
4. If you want to cover in chocolate = Using a deep sauce pan filled 3/4 of the way with water, bring to a boil. Place another saucepan on top of it (to create a double boiler) and bring down heat to low. Add chopped cacao paste (or store bought chocolate chips) to dry saucepan and continue to stir until completely melted. Do not leave cacao unattended as it can burn quickly and it will ruin the chocolate. You have to continue stirring it frequently to balance out the heat and to prevent it from sticking to the pan or burning.
5. Once cacao has completely melted, remove from heat and set aside to cool down for 5 minutes. Add room temperature agave (or maple syrup would work well here too), and stir until evenly combined. If you are using cacao paste, you will notice that the sauce will begin to thicken considerably. This is normal and it is due to the fact that we did not use any oil. You will still be able to cover each ball with the chocolate sauce (see picture), I use a spoon and it works well. If you are using coconut oil and cacao powder – combine in a bowl, add agave and whisk until everything is evenly combined and you have a chocolate sauce.
6. Before you begin covering the balls with chocolate – make sure to have any toppings ready (coconut shreds, beet powder, ect because once the melted cacao comes into contact with the cold cake pops the chocolate will begin to harden and then the toppings won’t stick. So, first make sure to prep toppings, and then begin covering the cake pops one by one with the chocolate. Then, add toppings as desired.
7. Set back in the freezer and they will be ready to eat within 20 minutes. Or preferably set in the fridge overnight as these taste even better the next day!
*Remember to insert sticks into balls before placing back in the freezer. I used empty kombucha bottles to hold up the cake pops as they were setting in the freezer.
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY 💕💕💕💕
