Tuesday, April 13, 2010

No-bake almond butter balls

Sometimes you can take a bunch of tasty-on-their-own ingredients, combine them in a way that should be good, and end up with something awful. This is NOT one of those recipes. It is the exact opposite—a bevy of sweet ‘n salty items that, when smooshed together, become more than the sum of their parts.

Before you say anything—I know, I know, honey’s not technically vegan. Use agave nectar if you must, though I think it could affect the texture. If you really don’t care at all whether it’s vegan, feel free to use nonfat dry milk powder in place of the (more expensive and harder to find) soymilk powder. For that matter, use natural peanut butter instead of almond butter, or unsweetened cocoa powder in place of the carob. Agave or honey, soymilk or skim milk, almond or peanut, carob or cocoa, vegan or not, there’s no need to take food too seriously. Just play around and have fun!

1 cup dry soymilk powder
1/2 cup creamy almond butter
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
Dash of vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt
2 Tbsp carob powder




Combine the soymilk powder, almond butter, honey, flaxseed, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl. Grease your hands thoroughly with cooking spray and dig in, squishing everything together until well mixed.



Roll the mixture into about 16 balls (minus however much you munch on right out of the bowl) and place on a small baking sheet. Transfer to the fridge to chill for just a few minutes.



Place the carob powder in a medium bowl. Put the chilled almond butter balls, a few at a time, into the carob powder, and shake the bowl to roll them around until completely coated. Place them back on the baking sheet and chill for an additional few minutes.

These will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week or two, but good luck keeping them around that long. It’s far too easy to pop one, two, five of them at a time, right at the fridge door! At breakfast, for dessert, or in between meals, you’ll find these calling your name at all hours. Surprisingly well-rounded nutritionally, they also make the perfect pre- or post-workout snack. No-bake, no-guilt, and delicious!

Oh, and Hannah, the fact that I could have called these "chocolate-covered nut balls" did not escape me, trust me! ;P



Yield: 16 servings. Per serving: 125 calories, 5.6g fat (trace sat), 16.2g carbs, 2g fiber, 3g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Homemade almond milk
No-bake PB-choc-oat cookies
Raw pecan pie cookies

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14 comments:

  1. Those look good! I love these mix and matchy recipes. And I notice you have the exact same mixing bowl that I do. Amused me for some reason. :)

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  2. I'm mostly glad you restrained yourself, because the thought of nut balls calling my name at all hours is slightly disturbing. :P

    But hurrah, I'm back home with a kitchen so can theoretically make this! I'll have to hunt down a soymilk powder source in Canberra first, but after that, I'll be nibbling on some chocolate nuts!

    (I mean... oops.)

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  3. Yum...those look so good, and super easy to make! I'll have to try them out!

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  4. those look so good! i like the addition of the soy protein :)

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  5. I love the sound of these, and I also love your diet description. I do try and eat vegan because I like to and it suits my body and is better for the planet. I do enjoy meat and diary from time to time but it certainly no longer loves me back.

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  6. Those balls look amazing!!

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  7. McKella—Great minds think alike :P

    Hannah—Haha! Strange, it kind of excites me…er, what?
    When we do our bloggie exchange, I could always include a container of soymilk powder at your behest.

    Aimee—They ARE super good and easy, and so customizable. Pleast let me know if you try them!

    Fit&40—Thanks! The protein in the soymilk powder is definitely a nice bonus. Actually, now you’ve got me wondering if these could be made with just unflavored protein powder…hmm!

    Helen—I totally agree with you. Sometimes I feel alone in the world of veganism because I don’t really have an ethical grudge against meat and dairy (though environmentally/politcally speaking, thanks in large part to Michael Pollan’s books, I find myself more and more glad that I do not support those industries). It’s great to find someone on the same page as me :]

    Jocelyn—Thanks for reading! I’m just unfathomably jealous of your trip to India, by the way. I’d love to go there someday.

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  8. these look delicious!! If you are looking for another Raw cookie like recipe you should try Ashley's Coconut Carob Raw Balls from Never Home Maker. They may not be as good as yours haha but they are raw and very yummy. Here is the link: (http://www.neverhomemaker.com/2009/12/oh-hello-and-detox-day-1.html)

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  9. I am considering in becoming vegan. I have been reading a lot of vegan blogs including yours and books. I have tasted the waters of vegan lifestyle and enjoy mostly all vegan products but I am having a hard time making that first step. How long have you been vegan and do you have any advice for people seeking to live a vegan lifestyle?

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  10. Meaghan—Those coconut-carob raw balls do sound excellent; I may have to try them. As for your questions, I have been almost-vegan for about two years, and before that was almost-vegetarian for two or three more. I have kind of a unique take on veganism to begin with, so my advice on how to shift to a vegan diet would probably be at least somewhat atypical. I’ve actually had a handful of people ask me my take on that, and have thought about writing a full blog entry on it. I think you’ve convinced me to finally do so! I want to put some thought into it, so it may be a few weeks before I post it, but look for it in the near future :]

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  11. These were pretty good, although my cocoa powder made the taste a little bitter at first. Next time I'm going to try something like hot cocoa mix or something!

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  12. Rachel—I really love that idea! I want to try that myself next time I make these. Did you ever re-roll your cocoa-powdered batch in powdered sugar to try and cut the bitterness?

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  13. The verdict is in. They are in-fact good in hot cocoa mix, but perhaps a little too sweet. I had to have a second opinion, who did think it was too sweet. I did find that a different kind of cocoa powder(Hershey's) tasted better.
    Amber-I did try rolling the ones that were too bitter in powdered sugar and that was better!
    Thank you for the wonderful recipes! I really enjoy them!

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  14. Rachel—Maybe a 50/50 mix of unsweetened cocoa powder and hot cocoa mix would work. Or perhaps a 2-to-1 ratio of unsweetened cocoa to powdered sugar. Me, I'll probably stick to the carob powder, I think it's my favorite :]
    I love that you've been making my food! Thank YOU!

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