Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Balls
Date balls are one of my favorite go-to desserts. I love knowing that I’m getting a sweet treat but not ruining my health goals with something with tons of sugar. The fact that the sweetness in these little dark chocolate hazelnut balls comes from dates (and a tiny bit of maple syrup) makes me feel really good about my choice to eat them!
Plus, these little guys taste like dark chocolate Nutella. You’ll be in chocolate heaven with your first bite! I know you’ll love these dark chocolate hazelnut balls as much as I do!
Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Balls
INGREDIENTS
12 medjool dates, pitted
1 cup* hazelnuts
3 ounces dark chocolate
2 tablespoons sunbutter (or cashew butter)
1 tablespoon maple syrup (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
be sure you either purchase hazelnuts that are already blanched or that you take the skins off yourself. the skins are very bitter, so you don’t want to leave them on. i linked to the pre-blanched hazelnuts that i use because they are priced really well, but if you choose to do it yourself, here’s a video to show you how.
DIRECTIONS
melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler or microwave-safe bowl & then set it aside.
place the hazelnuts & pitted dates into a food processor. turn on high for about 30-45 seconds. You want the mixture to end up being chopped into pieces about the size of grains of rice.
Add in the sunbutter (or cashew butter), maple syrup (if using), vanilla & salt, then process again for another 30-45 seconds until well combined.
pour the melted chocolate into the food processor & turn it on again for another 5-10 seconds. at this point, the mixture should be pretty smooth, with only small pieces of the hazelnuts visible.
use a medium size cookie scoop to scoop out the date mixture. roll each scoop into a smooth ball, then refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.