No-Bake Chocolate Oat Energy Balls

Mid-morning is where a good day usually comes apart. You are hungry, there is nothing ready, and what is ready is not what you meant to eat.

Fifteen minutes on a Sunday fixes that for two weeks. Dates do the sweetening, oats give them body, almond butter holds them together, and cocoa makes them taste like something you would want anyway.

Ingredients

• 1 cup pitted Medjool dates (about 10 large)
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of unprocessed salt (Himalayan, Celtic or Real Salt)
• 3 Tbsp dairy-free chocolate chips — optional

Method

1. If the dates are at all firm, cover them with warm water for ten minutes, then drain them thoroughly and pat dry. Wet dates make a mixture that will not hold.
2. Put the dates alone in a food processor and run until they break down into a thick paste that balls up against the side.
3. Add the oats, almond butter, cocoa, vanilla and salt. Pulse until the mixture is uniform and clumps when you press it between two fingers.
4. Pulse in the chocolate chips, if using, two or three times — just enough to distribute them.
5. Roll into sixteen balls, about a tablespoon each.
6. Chill thirty minutes before eating. They firm up as they sit.

Notes

• If it won’t hold together, add one more date and run the processor again. If it is sticky and won’t roll, refrigerate the mixture for fifteen minutes and try again with damp hands.
• They keep two weeks in a sealed container in the refrigerator, or three months in the freezer. They are good straight from the freezer.
• Medjool dates are soft and sticky and work best. Deglet Noor are drier and will need the soak.
• Sunflower seed butter or tahini works in place of almond butter if you are avoiding nuts.
• Oats are not always processed away from wheat. If that matters in your house, buy oats labeled gluten free.
• Use unprocessed salt — Himalayan, Celtic sea salt or Real Salt. Standard table salt and most standard sea salt have been refined, and that processing matters more than the trace minerals people usually talk about.

Makes: About 16 balls

We offer these teachings freely to support clarity, stewardship, and responsible care. If this recipe was helpful, you may explore additional resources here:

• MyHDiet.com — plant-based nutrition, detox foundations, courses to help you learn the diet from your home
• CleanseYourBlood.com — circulation, nitric oxide and blood-flow support
• WipeOutToxins.com — toxin-free living and prevention
• AMPMForHealth.com — health for the rhythm of real life
• HealthRetreat.com — Hallelujah Diet Health Retreat

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