Raise your hand if you grew up eating those delicious bite-sized coconut (or sugar!) coated apricot delight bites?!
Pretty sure, back in the day, I could easily devour a bag of them in one sitting – I loved them! Last week, I had a craving for them and I was so disappointed. Not only because of the unnecessarily long list of ingredients (and all that added sugar) but they just didn't taste nearly as good as I remembered.
It makes me so sad because I love food! It should always be enjoyable and delicious and when it's not, especially when it's something I've been really looking forward to, it just makes me sad.
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But these right here are game changers. These quick and easy Apricot and Coconut Bliss Balls make me all kinds of happy, and I guarantee that they will not leave you feeling disappointed in the slightest!
They're made with just a handful of ingredients that I bet you have on hand already. There are no weird additives or unpronounceable ingredients – just almonds, apricots, coconut, vanilla, and a cheeky pinch of salt. And you can’t forget the key ingredient in all our recipes: collagen! Specifically, for this bliss bites recipe, I used Vital Proteins Collagen Creamer® in Coconut. On top of being free of gluten, dairy, and added sweeteners, our Collagen Creamer also contain energy-boosting MCTs from the coconut milk powder. Their main benefit? Helping to promote stronger hair, skin, nails, and joints.
Talk about feel-good food at its most delicious and nutritious!
Apricot & Coconut Bliss Balls
Yields 20 Apricot & Coconut Bliss Balls
Ingredients:
- 1 C raw almonds
- 1 C dried apricots
- 4 T shredded coconut
- 1 t vanilla
- 1/4 t sea salt
- Pinch of turmeric
- Pinch of ground cinnamon
- Pinch of ground ginger
- A pinch of ground black pepper (This is important as the chemical compound in the black pepper is what helps and enables the body to absorb all of those incredible nutrients in the turmeric! You can't taste the pepper, I promise.)
- 2 scoops Vital Proteins Collagen Creamer® in Coconut
- 1 t maca powder
- Freeze-dried mango (crushed to powder; optional for toppings)
- Finely shredded coconut flakes (optional for toppings)
Note: keto- and low-carb fans, be sure to soak/ferment your fruit in coconut water kefir or kombucha overnight and you should be ready to roll. Read more about how/why it works here.
Directions:
- Place your almonds onto a lined baking tray and roast at 175'C/350'F for 5-10 minutes until lightly toasted, gloriously golden and deliciously fragrant.
- Once toasted, place your nuts into your food processor/blender and pulse until crumbly, you want there to still be a few bigger chunks to give the bites some nice texture.
- Add apricots and process until the mixture starts to come together into a sticky "dough."
- Add vanilla, spices, Coconut Collagen Creamer, and maca (if using), then process again until combined.
- Using your hands, roll approximately 1 small tablespoon-worth of dough into bite-size balls then set aside. FYI, I like to make my bites on the smaller side. You would probably need three of mine to make up one of those golf-ball-size bliss balls you buy at cafes or in stores.
- If you are going to coat your bliss balls, simply place your mango powder and coconut into a small bowl or Ziploc bag and gentle press/shake until nicely coated. Store in the fridge until ready to serve. Enjoy!
Note: If you find your apricots are super dry, try soaking them in some warm water for 10 minutes before you begin. Then drain and rinse and continue as normal.
