Coconut Date Balls and Chocolate Almond Date Truffles (Photo: Margarita Persico)

This guilt-free, gluten-free and “sugar” free dessert was inspired by my husband and my friend Marlene.  Every December when we lived in California my friend Marlene would bring us a dish full of desserts she confectioned from dried fruits and other ingredients, which I don’t recall. They were vegan, raw and delicious. Today at the Aranjuez, San Jose, farmer’s market after drinking the water from two green s, I asked the vendor to split the s with his machete. I took them home and scooped the meat. When my husband saw the meat he asked if I was going to mix it with chocolate and make a dessert. I had planned to do a smoothie, but I decided to take his suggestion. I did even better than that—I created the Coconut Date Ball.

The following dessert was made from ingredients I had at home. The sweetness of this treat comes from the fruits especially the 2 cups of dates (about 20 dates). It yields 16 servings of approximately 100 calories each. Below is the recipe. Enjoy!

Coconut Date Balls

By Margarita Persico

Serving Size: 16

Categories: Desserts, Gluten Free, Raw Food, Vegetarian, Paleo

Ingredients

• 2 cups dates — pitted and  sliced
• 1-cup meat, sliced
• 2 tablespoons Cocoa or Carob powder
• 4 tablespoons flakes
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  

  Lemon zest just this amount (Photo: Margarita Persico)

• 1 pinch sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 ounces flakes

Tools

• Cutting board, knife, food processor, wax paper

Instructions

• Slice dates (doing this you will also ensure there are no pits)
• If you are using fresh green , after drinking the water safe the inside, known as the meat. Slice to make sure there are no pits and to make it easier to process.
• Add above ingredients to the food processor.
• Mix until it is a paste
• Add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and 4 tablespoons of flakes
• Mix all ingredients well in food processor
• Add a pinch of sea salt, vanilla, and a teaspoon of lemon zest.
• Mix again
• Cut a 14″ inch piece of wax paper
• Spread on the wax paper a few spoons of flakes
  

  Roll -Date in the flakes (Photo: Margarita Persico)

• Wash hands and keep moist. Using a tablespoon, scoop up mixture. Place on palm of hand and roll into a ball.
• Place on the wax paper and roll into the flakes.
• Repeat last two steps until all are formed. You might have to rinse and/or moisten hands a few times in order to keep -Date from sticking.

Copyright:

“All rights reserved”

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Approximate nutritional values according to MasterCook software:

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 103 Calories; 3g Fat (26.9% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 20g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 21mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 0 Grain (Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1 Fruit; 1/2 Fat.

Recipe exported from my personal MasterCook database

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If you liked this recipe, you will also like:

Chocolate Almond Date Truffles

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