Last Sunday, I met up with Natalie again, a super cool, high-raw vegan blogger. For our second meet-up, I wanted to surprise Natalie with a lil' something. Since she's raw, I figured I'd try making some raw snack "balls." They seem to be the quintessential raw food snack, so I had to give them a go. Unfortunately, almost all raw desserts call for dates (like medjool) which I can't seem to find here. So I was thinking, "what can I use instead? Raisins? Nah, too sugary and probably not even raw... Dried apricots? Nah, not a big fan... . And then a lightbulb went off. Dried persimmons!!
Cute, no? ^^
These turned out better than expected, and were pretty much like lara bars, but in ball-form. Infact, the first time Natalie and I met, she generously gave me two of her lara bars, which was so fortuitous because I had just finished my own stash that I brought back with me from Cali last December.
I love the fact that lara bars use such whole, unprocessed, raw, vegan ingredients, and that's what I kind of wanted to replicate in these balls. Anyway, here's what I did:
{ Raw Persimmon Nut Ballz }
- 3 dried persimmons, de-seeded & roughly chopped
- 1 cup of mixed nuts (I used almonds, walnuts, & sesame seeds)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)
2. Add the cinnamon and dried persimmons, and process until everything starts sticking together. This won't take long at all. Depending on the moisture content of your persimmons, you might have to use less persimmons, or add more nuts.
3. Take some of the 'dough' and roll in your palms to form uniform 1-inch balls (I got 12 1-inch sized balls) Store in a container in the fridge or freezer.
Note: The amount of dried persimmons you'll need depends on how 'dry' the persimmons are. Dried persimmons range from those that are still very gooey and mushy on the inside (like this), to those that are a little smaller, more chewy and stiff (like this). For these, I used the drier type to keep the moisture content fairly low.
The recipe is really easy and customizable. Now that I know I can use dried persimmons (and I have a huge bag-full in my freezer!), I know I'll be making many variations of these in the future.
They made for perfect energy-packed and nutritious on-the-go snacks. I liked that the persimmons weren't as sugary sweet as dates and they imparted a more subtle flavor that paired well with the different nuts. Next time I'm gonna roll them in some coconut shavings. So yummy! I think Natalie also liked em. You can see her post about them here.