healthy bliss balls - fave lunchbox recipes

Once you get started making healthy bliss balls, you just can’t stop! Here are our favourite bliss ball recipes – and the kids won’t even know they are healthy ; )

Apricot + Coconut Healthy Bliss Balls

Use the plump, whole dried apricots (sometimes sold as Turkish apricots) for this recipe—their juiciness helps hold the balls together.

Makes 12 healthy bliss balls

You'll need:

• 250g / 8.8oz plump, dried apricots
• 200g / 7.1oz almond meal
• 2 tbsp (45g / 1.6oz) coconut oil, melted
• 45g / 1.6oz chia seeds
• 40g / 1.4oz desiccated coconut
• extra 40–50g / 1.4oz–1.8oz desiccated coconut, for rolling

How to make:

1. Place all of the ingredients, except the extra coconut you’re saving for rolling the balls, in the bowl of a food processor.
2. Process on high speed until the mixture starts to come together into a big ball.
3. Remove the blade from the food processor bowl.
4. Tip the extra coconut onto a medium-sized plate.
5. Take a heaped tablespoon of the bliss ball mixture and roll it between the palms of your hands, pressing it inwards to compact it as you roll, until it holds together into a firm ball.
6. Roll the ball in the extra coconut to coat it.
7. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
8. Store the bliss balls in an airtight container in the fridge to stay firm. They will keep for up to 2 weeks.

. . .

Date Caramel + Hazelnut Healthy Bliss Balls

If your hands are getting too sticky rolling these balls, moisten them a little so the mixture sticks to itself and not your hands! Slightly damp hands also help the chopped hazelnuts stick better to the outside of the balls.

Makes 16

You'll need:

• 450g / 1lb medjool dates, pitted
• 90g / 3.2oz nut butter
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 100g / 3.5oz roasted hazelnuts, finely chopped, for rolling
• 16 whole roasted hazelnuts

How to make:

1. Place the dates, nut butter and salt in the bowl of a food processor.
2. Process on high speed until the mixture comes together into a big ball.
3. Remove the blade from the food processor bowl.
4. Tip the chopped hazelnuts onto a medium-sized plate.
5. Take a heaped tablespoon of the bliss ball mixture into the palm of your hand. Use your thumb to press a single roasted hazelnut into the centre of the bliss ball mixture and enclose it in the centre of the bliss ball. Roll it between the palms of your hands until it forms a round ball.
6. Roll the ball in the chopped hazelnuts to coat it.
7. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
8. Store the bliss balls in an airtight container in the fridge to stay firm. They will keep for up to 2 weeks.

. . .

Black Forest Healthy Bliss Balls

Dried cherries are delicious but can be hard to find. Use dried cranberries as a very tasty substitute. The dark chocolate is optional, but highly recommended! You could also use a couple of tablespoons of cacao nibs instead of the dark chocolate pieces.

Makes 12

You'll need:

• 145g / 5.1oz dates, pitted
• 70g / 2.5oz dried cherries or dried cranberries
• 45g / 1.6oz desiccated coconut
• 50g / 1.8oz goji berries
• 2 tbsp (20g / 0.7oz) cacao powder
• 2 tbsp (45g / 1.6oz) coconut oil
• 50g / 1.8oz super dark (70–85%) chocolate, broken into little pieces
• 25g / 0.9oz cacao powder for rolling

How to make:

1. Place all of the ingredients, except the extra cacao powder you’re saving for rolling the balls, in the bowl of a food processor.
2. Pulse a couple of times to blitz the mixture, and then process on high speed until the mixture starts to almost come together—it will still be a bit crumbly looking, with a few little chunks of chocolate.
3. Remove the blade from the food processor bowl.
4. Tip the extra cacao powder onto a medium-sized plate.
5. Take a heaped tablespoon of the bliss ball mixture and roll it between the palms of your hands, pressing it inwards to compact it as you roll, until it holds together into a firm ball.
6. Roll the ball in the extra cacao powder to coat it.
7. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
8. Store the bliss balls in an airtight container in the fridge to stay firm. They will keep for up to 2 weeks.

. . .

Rum + Raisin Bliss Balls (adult and kids versions!)

Or whisky + raisin, or brandy + raisin … Of course, because of the liquor in these balls, they are for the adults only. If you’d like to make these for kids, leave out the alcohol and replace it with a teaspoon of vanilla paste and the zest of an orange. The dark chocolate is optional but really yummy—and, if you make the kid-friendly version, it turns them into jaffa-ish flavoured bliss balls.

Makes 12

You'll need:

• 150g / 5.3oz nut butter
• 40g / 1.4oz shredded or desiccated coconut
• 85g / 6.5oz raisins
• pinch of fine salt
• 2–4 tbsp (40–80ml / 1.4–2.7 fl oz) rum, brandy, whisky … or 1 tsp (5ml / 0.17 fl oz) vanilla paste and zest of an orange
• 30g / 1.1oz dark chocolate (70–85%), optional
• 50g / 1.8oz shredded or desiccated coconut, for rolling
• Place all of the ingredients (starting with 2 tbsp alcohol), except the extra coconut you’re saving for rolling the balls, in the bowl of a food processor.

How to make:

1. Process on high speed until the mixture comes together into a big ball. Have a little taste and see if you’d like to add more alcohol to the mixture. If you do, add a little more and process again to combine.
2. When you’re happy with the flavour, remove the blade from the food processor bowl.
3. Tip the extra coconut onto a medium-sized plate.
4. Take a heaped tablespoon of the bliss ball mixture and roll it between the palms of your hands, pressing it inwards to compact it as you roll, until it holds together into a firm ball.
5. Roll the ball in the extra coconut to coat it.
6. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
7. Store the bliss balls in an airtight container in the fridge to stay firm. They will keep for up to 2 weeks.

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Recipes by Amber Rossouw and photograph by Jacinta Moore for Lunch Lady Issue 14.