Our much loved date balls had to be a recipe that we used to make a great Banting-friendly snack (without the usual Marie/Tennis Biscuits). Although dates are approx. 50% sugar, eating dates does not cause a glycaemic response like sugar; they are actually considered low GI (with a GI rating of approx. 40-50 for dates vs 65 for sugar, and 100 for glucose). Dates are also rich in minerals such as potassium and iron. Dates can therefore be used to satisfy that sweet craving as part of a balanced Banting lifestyle (without the use of refined sugar).
We used raw almonds and pecan nuts in our date balls, however you could use any nuts you prefer (it adds to the texture when using a mixture of a softer nut with a harder nut).
- 350g Dates, dried and pitted
- 130g nuts, roughly chopped – we used half pecan, half almonds.
- 1 Tbs. good quality Cocoa Powder – we used Organic Dutch Process Cocoa from CocoáFair
- 50g Butter
- 1 Egg, lightly beaten
- pinch of Salt
Melt the dates and butter in a saucepan until the dates have become soft and gooey, set aside to cool slightly. Add the egg slowly to the mixture and stir (the mixture should be warm, but cool enough to touch without burning your finger, be careful the mixture is not too hot, or the egg will scramble). Mix in the cocoa powder and salt. Mix in the Nuts.
Roll into balls, and coat with coconut/ good quality cocoa powder/ toasted sesame seeds/ gold and silver Nicoletta Shimmer (calorie free). If the balls are approx. 3cm in diameter, the mixture will yield 25 date balls.
