Chocolate cranberry bliss balls with toasted sesame

Bliss balls is what I make when I crave something sweet but don’t want to make a whole cake. I use whatever dried fruits/berries (such as organic apricots, blueberries or mulberries) or fresh dates I have at home. Instead of oil I prefer to get my fat from tahini or any kind of nut butter as I like to use the WHOLE food, plus it’s adds LOTS of awesome flavour. Cacao is every so often in my bliss balls, and maybe some additional flavour such as cinnamon, blueberry powder or like here - cranberry powder! Then it’s the rolling left - coconut, toasted sesame seeds or nuts or berry powder all works perfectly!

These ones are my new favourites because A) they contain tahini which I love B) they are tangy thanks to cranberry powder and C) lightly crisp on the outside thanks to the toasted sesame seeds!

Hope you like them too! And please let me know your favourite bliss ball combinations!

Chocolate cranberry bliss balls with toasted sesame

Makes about 16

Ingredients

3 dl / 1.2 cups rolled oats

12 fresh dates, pitted

3/4 dl / 0.3 cups cacao, preferably raw

2 tsp cranberry powder

2 Tbsp light tahini

2-3 Tbsp water

1 Tbsp cacao nibs (optional)

a good pinch of flakey salt

For rolling

1 dl / 0.4 cups unhulled sesame seeds

How to

Mix the oats, cacao, cranberry powder and salt in a food processor. Add the dates and mix until crumbly. Add tahini and water to combine. Add a bit more water if necessary. Now you might want to add your cacao nibs. The batter should be a bit sticky as the oats will soak up the liquid when you let it sit for a moment.

Pre heat the oven to 175°C / 350°F. Spread out the sesame seeds on an oven tray and toast the seeds for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Form the batter in to about 16 balls. Roll in the sesame seeds. Store in the fridge or freezer - I like them best well chilled, pretty much straight from the freezer!

Loveable (raw)yum

This is my - semi raw - take on a Swedish classic called Kärleksmums. Chocolaty, slightly salty, sweet, crunchy, creamy and PACKED with plant based protein!

The recipe is from my second book The new green protein where I call them “Kärleksfulla (raw)mums”. That’s not all, it’s also my first ever recipe shared in a live television show! This very morning that happened! So, let’s just say that from this day on this cake will be quite special - not only because it’s yummy and works for as well fika as an afternoon snack but also because it reminds me to sometimes take a step back and enjoy the feeling of reaching milestones. And appreciating where hard work has taken me. Well done!

So, I’ll probably make another batch as soon as I get home (the friendly people at SVT enjoyed it all) and spend the rest of the evening with a couple of blankets, lit candles and all my new cookbooks that have finally reached me!

I know you wonder about the recipe. Here it comes!

Loveable (raw)yum

12 pieces

Base

2 dl / 0.8 cups toasted whole buckwheat *

1 dl / 0.4 cups pepitas

1 dl / 0.4 cups raw cacao

10 fresh dates, pitted

2 Tbsp cold pressed coconut oil

1-2 Tbsp water

Ganache

2 Tbsp cold pressed coconut oil

1/2 dl / 0.2 cups raw cacao

3/4 dl / 0.3 cups water

8 fresh dates, pitted

1 pinch unrefined salt

1/2 dl / 0.4 cups shredded coconut

How to

Mix all the dry ingredients until a fine crumble using a food processor, it’s nice to keep some of the buckwheat whole as that will give an extra crunch! Add dates, oil and water and mix in to a dough. Press out the dough in a small baking tray, put in the fridge.

Melt the oil on low heat. Mix all the ingredients for the ganache, except for the shredded coconut, until completely smooth. Preferably use a high speed blender if you have one - or continue mixing using a food processor - this might take a bit more time.

Spread the ganache over the base, sprinkle over the shredded coconut. the cake in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before serving. I even keep mine in the freezer as I love my bite properly chilled!

ENJOY!

• Toasted buckwheat: Put the buckwheat in a fine mesh strainer. Bring some water to a boil and then pour over the buckwheat. Rinse with cold water and let drain for a few minutes. Toast in a dry pan, on medium heat, until golden and crisp. Let cool. 

Recipe from The new green protein. Photo by Fanny Hansson.

Swedish Chokladbollar By Thess

To make sure we’re all in the game: “Chokladbollar” is the Swedish word for this brilliant and VERY traditional no bake little treat. Directly translated it means chocolate balls, and that it just what they are!

For years I’ve been making several types of raw food bliss balls (no grains, only nuts/seeds etc), then I remembered that I’ve eaten the most delicious chokladbollar every other day when growing up. Chokladbollar might be the one thing ALL Swedish kids learn to bake as soon as they kan stand on a stool (so they reach the countertop).

Anyway, I went back to the roots, made a batch of classic ones - but with a #plantbasedbythess twist. And to be honest they are great. No fuss.

Swedish Chokladbollar

By Thess

Ingredients

Makes about 20-24 balls

🌿3 dl / 1.2 US cups rolled oats

🌿12 fresh dates, pitted

🌿1/2 dl light tahini or almond butter

🌿1 dl / 0.4 US cups raw cacao powder

🌿1 Tbsp brewed coffee

🌿1/2 tsp ground cinnamon or vanilla powder, optional

🌿A good pinch of flakey salt

🌿Shredded coconut for rolling 

How to

Mix all of the ingredients until smooth (you want it to be sticky but rollable) in a food processor. Add a bit water or oat mylk (any plant mylk really) if it feels too dry, or a bit more rolled oats if it feels to wet.

Form in to balls. As big or small as you want. Basic knowledge - if you make smaller ones you can eat many and you get more (!) coconut coating.

Put shredded coconut in a bowl, add a few balls at a time and give the bowl a good shake so the balls get all covered. OR even smarter - use a bowl with a lid, then you can give it a proper shake!!

Let the chokladbollar sit in the fridge for about an hour before eating. Best when chilled! Eat within a couple of weeks (you will never be able to keep them for that long. Trust me on that one!).

Good to know!

The chokladbollar can be stored in the freezer if you want to keep them for longer, or make in advance in you have a fika coming up.

Apple cake bliss balls with cacao nibs

Delicious small bites of - my take on - a soft and sweet Swedish apple cake! Inspired by my dear friends at Food Pharmacy I made these ones the other day when I wanted something sweet for fika (Swedish word for a time of day when you sit down/chill out/have a snack + cup of tea or coffee or some other drink maybe). And I am very happy with the result - natural sweet, nutty and nutritious ingredients flavoured with two of my favourite spices; cinnamon and cardamom cannot go wrong. So it wasn't much of a gamble to be honest.

Unlike most bliss balls these ones are soft - and almost kind of chewy. As the cashews are soaked before mixing the bliss ball batter, they are easier to digest (+ nutrients even more accessible)+ adds an extra creaminess to the balls. Now let's bake!

Apple cake bliss balls with cacao nibs

Makes about 20 bliss balls

Ingredients

2 dl cashew nuts, soaked for 1-2 hours in 5 dl water I 1 tsp unfiltered apple cider vinegar

2 dl steel cut oats

1 red apple, roughly grated

6 fresh dates, pitted

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cardamom

2 tbsp cacao nibs (optional)

grated coconut for rolling

How to 

Drain and rinse the cashews. Mix with the rest of the ingredients, except for the cacao nibs, until a soft and smooth batter. Add the cacao nibs and pulse a few times. Form in to 20 balls, and roll in grated coconut.

Store in the fridge or freezer. 

Soft raspberry ice cream with whipped coconut cream and hazelnuts

A quick dessert, or why not a weekend breakfast och brunch. That's one of many clever things about nourishing food, you can have them at anytime from breakfast to dessert! Avocado is the secret ingredient which makes this quick ice cream irresistibly soft and creamy. Try substitute raspberries for blueberries, blackberries or a mix of you favourite berries!

And oh, if you can't find hazelnuts without skin in your grocery you can scroll down to find my tips on how to remove skin from hazelnuts (as it has the tendency to give a bitter taste we want to remove it). Plus tips on how to best deseed a pomegranate - knowledge you cannot live without!

Now, who wants soft ice cream in 15 minutes?!

Soft raspberry ice cream with whipped coconut cream and hazelnuts

Serves 4

15 minutes

Ingredients

3 ripe avokados

500 g frozen raspberries

1 tsp pure vanilla powder

4 fresh dates, pitted (use more for a sweeter taste)

Topping

1 1/2 dl / 0.6 US cups coconut cream

1 dl / 0.4 US cups pomegranate seeds

1/2 dl / 0.4 US cups toasted hazelnuts, skin removed 

2 tbsp cacao nibs

Fresh lemon balm

How to

Whip the coconut cream until fluffy. If you find it hard to get it fluffy you can let it sit in the fridge for about 30 minute, as that will make it more firm and easier to whip.

Thaw the raspberries for 5 minutes. Mix with the rest of the ingredients for the ice cream using a immersion blender, food processor och preferably high speed blender until SUPER smooth. Add more dates for a sweeter touch.

Divide in to 4 small (or 2 big if you're on that mood) bowls and top with coconut cream, hazelnuts, pomegranate seeds, cacao nibs and last but not least fresh lemon balm. Eat straight away!!

Toast and peel hazelnuts

Pre heat the oven to 175 degrees celsius. Put the hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast for about 10 minutes, until the skin starts to crackle. Let cool. Put in a clean kitchen towel and rub to remove the skin.

Deseed a pomegranate

Cut of the top crown and the bottom of the fruit. Now carefully cut the fruit from the top to the bottom, along the inner gentle ridges/fruit membrane which you are suposed to see once the top and bottom are removed. Normally you'll get about 6 cuts. Open the pomegranate, so that you get separate sections. Now you can easily deseed the pomegranate, using your fingers, preferably over a bowl. Remove any membranes that might come with the seeds.

This is a recipe that I created for Swedish vegan food magasin VEGO some time ago! Photo and recipe by me.