Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Recipe: Apricot & Walnut Balls

I'm proud to present my first culinary experiment in primal holiday treats - Apricot & Walnut Balls! I could add Coconut or Cocoa/Chocolate into that name too since they're optional, wonderful extras, but then things just get a bit too wordy...

So here is my primal response to my old holiday favourite - chocolate rumballs!


The best part about this tasty treat? Outrageous simple to make, with just a few ingredients that are easy to find and use. Huzzah!

Ingredients:

1 cup dried apricots (whole)
1 cup walnuts

Optional extras - unsweetened dessicated coconut, raw cacao powder, vanilla extract.

(This was a mini-batch for trialling purposes, making 12 small balls. Simply scale up the amounts of each ingredient equally to create larger batches.)

Impressed by the simplicity yet? But wait, there's more...

Method:


1. Place apricots and nuts in a blender (plus optional cacao and vanilla). Blend well.


2. Roll mixture into balls of desired size with hands. (Optional - roll balls in coconut to finish.)

3. Chill until required.

That's it!!


To test the recipe, I made a variety of options for the tester to sample - plain, plain in coconut, with cacao, and with cacao in coconut.

The verdict?

The Sweet Treat Expert: Ask Beau Sugarholic

"Visually appealing, with a delicious tang of sweetness. The plain balls were a little too plain, though still stimulated the taste buds. Coconut immediately added interest, and cacao perfected the rich sweetness of the treat. I certainly don't miss the added sugar.

I would recommend making a platter with half with/without cacao, all rolled in coconut. Gorgeous! Mine didn't last long enough to test this theory, but given the exposed fruit, I'd keep these boys covered in an air-tight container until serving.

To check the uniqueness of my invention, I did a quick Google search of "apricot walnut balls recipe" and got a few hits, but all of them require the unnecessary addition of condensed milk or confectioner's sugar. Pah! If my resident sugarholic gives these the nod, you know that extra sweetness is dangerously excessive. Enjoy your food the way nature intended you to (occasionally)!

6 comments:

Diana Renata said...

I love these! I learned to make something like this years ago when I was in 3rd grade and we were learning about Egypt. I don't know if there actually was any connection, but it was 3rd grade and we were easily impressed children- lol.

The recipe just required dates and chopped nuts. Chop both and roll into little balls, then roll the balls in powdered sugar. I never considered using other dried fruits, but now I'm going to play with this a bit for Christmas. :)

Thanks for the inspiration!

gilliebean said...

Awesome!! This is sooo great!! Thank you - for experimenting and for sharing!

Kristy A. said...

These are delicious! I made my own version using dates and pecans. Thanks for the inspiration!

Check out my final product here:
http://feastingonfitness.blogspot.com/

Thank you for the amazing recipes you post!

Jessica said...

These were really great. Thank you so much! I made them with almonds, prunes and 1 bar of unsweetened chocolate. MMMM....

Brooke said...

oooh what a find! I have secret that I chopped up the dates and simmered in the juice of one orange and some of its pulp (until liquid reduces)...really adds to the taste;-)

Lisa Marie Harmon said...

How much Cacoa do you put into them?