MOLE'S BALLS.

We have needed a decent protein ball for a long time, since we are doing more in the gym and Leigh is currently also engaged in some heavy wood-manipulation (we have a woodburner to feed, which in turn feeds the whole house with heat and hot water).

So this is what I came up with. It is a combination of several recipes with my own alterations and additions! It's simple and you can knock up a batch every Sunday like we are now, ready for down-the-week pre-/post-gym or anytime-in-between protein injections, or in your packed lunches.

I also thought these made a good 'BACKATCHA' to Katherine's Raw Carrot Cake Bites - these too are raw.

[Note: Do not use whey protein - it behaves differently from plant-based protein and will not keep as long either (and it make your balls smell funny.)]

INGREDIENTS
Use the same sized cup for everything.
I used a mug, and it made about 20 balls.

1 cup of almonds
1 fistful of cashew nuts (about a quarter of a cup)
1 cup of soya, pea, hemp or other plant-derived protein powder
Pinch of salt
2 x tablespoons pure cocoa powder (not hot chocolate)
2 x tablespoons of coconut oil (MELT GENTLY till liquid)
5 x tablespoons of maple syrup
0.5 cup coconut, almond or soya milk
3 teaspoons of organic (non-propylene glycol) vanilla essence
1 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes - half as an ingredient, half for rolling the balls in


WHAT TO DO

Put the dry ingredients - almonds and cashews, protein powder, cocoa powder and salt - into a blender/food processor (we do it on the top of the Kenwood Chef).
Leave the coconut aside for now.
Blend carefully till crumbly but a wee bit sticky-togethery.

Then, in a separate bowl, mix together by hand the maple syrup, melted coconut oil, soya milk and vanilla essence - basically, all the wet ingredients.

Add half the coconut to the wet ingredients once mixed.

Scrape the wet ingredients into the dry stuff in the blender and blend carefully.
You'll probably need to scrape it down from the sides now and again (WITH THE BLENDER SWITCHED OFF!)

When it's well mixed - good and squidgy - dump the lot into a bowl being careful to get ALL that precious mixture out of the blender with a spatula.

Roll into balls neatly about the size of the bottom half of a hen's egg, and roll in the coconut.

Place into a lidded tin on a layer of baking paper, and leave them with the lid off for the first 12 hours or so (or overnight) - this helps them firm up a bit.

Then stuff them in your face.

Healthy, sweet and tasty!

It's K again here, and this time with again I have a recipe review. (Don't worry I do "freestyle" in the kitchen... sometimes.)

Now, I spoke before in my introduction about my love of sweet things. And boy, have I been indulging in the sweets... What I love more finding is healthier versions of sweet treats that I love, that give me the same sugar rush feeling but don't leave me feeling like I need to go for a run.

When I saw these Raw Carrot cake bites, I was eager to get 'baking'.

So I should say this shot is taken from this fab book, by Aine Carlin. G got me it from the Works- we were strolling around my little hometown around Christmas or just after, and it was one of the few shops open. The book though was so cheap! And full of fantastic recipes. You should buy it! If you're low on funds, I did find a recipe link online here.

Now, the recipe I linked you to uses cups (which I honestly prefer) but in the book it's in grams. No big shakes. 

But whilst I was making the recipe I realised I was 50g short of the total needed for pecans. I soldiered on anyway, and I don't think it effected the result that much. I also used normal dates and not medjool, sultanas and not raisins. Rebel, I know. 

The recipe along with being healthy is super easy to make- extra brownie points for that! (The book also features some fab looking brownies which I may have to try.)

In fact the "worst" part of the job was grating my carrot and zesting my orange. Such an effort to get that off there!

Squeezing the wetness out of the carrot was a pretty weird experience too. I mean I've done it to other food stuffs but it felt weirder with a carrot. Maybe I could have done with it's moisture.

Then you just chuck everything in a food processor and let it do it's thing! Little before and after for you. 

Once I thought I got it to the right consistency (which doesn't look as refined as the book's but still looked clumpy-ish), I took a ball out shaped it, and tried rolling it in the coconut. As you can see, not great coverage.

It just wasn't sticky enough. That bothered me more than the fact that they didn't have a radiantly orange centre like in the recipe book- mine are a bit more rustic. As a result of stick-less-ness, I lobbed it back in the food processor, added some water and let it stick up. I'm unsure why mine was so dry in comparison, maybe my fault for swapping in/out stuff, but it was nothing a bit of water couldn't solve. I did think of adding some of the orange juice, but I ate my orange after zesting so water was the way forward. 

The water helped! The coconut stuck a lot better. I then got stuck in to rolling out all of the other balls before coating them. Warning: it is very sticky work, and if you don't like getting messy hands you might struggle with it. Also, it is so very tempting to pop pieces in your mouth as you go along. 

Ready for the fridge. You know, for once, I actually made more of something than the recipe calls for! Partially I think because I was worried of using too much to start with, and then realised I could go bigger. Variety is the spice of life though, hey?

Boy though, they taste amazing, and it's nice to have all the different little sizes so you can pick and mix like 3 small or 2 large. G approves too.

As a last note, I really do recommend the book. Like I said, it's full of super recipes and so cheap. It saves hundreds of hand washes when your iPad/iphone falls asleep and you need to used the screen again to follow cooking steps. And I love recipe books, I love the signs of a well loved recipe through the stained parts and crumbs and just being able to not be connected to technology for a bit and escape in the realms of the kitchen. 

I'm thinking I might tackle Carlin's carrot and courgette loaf next, or the focaccia bread. Oh and the shepherdess pie with the cabbage and apple side, oh my... too many options!