Recipe request: date coconut balls without nuts

[sonia]

I'd like to make a snack out of dates and shredded coconut run through a food processor, but most recipes have nuts in them to hold it all together, and I'd like to make them without. Anyone have a recipe you like?

I did find a recipe for Coconut Date Balls that doesn't have nuts at AllRecipes, but it's so odd that I kind of wondered if it was generated by an LLM based on cookie recipes. I did try it, with some modifications.

First, it adds an entire cup of sugar, when dates are plenty sweet already. I added a little. Then it cooks beaten egg and dates and sugar on the stove, "stir occasionally." I realized I was going to end up with scrambled egg & dates if I didn't stir constantly, so I did. I added the vanilla, and substituted coconut/sunflower oil for the Tbsp of butter. Instead of crisped rice, I added about 3/4 cup sweet rice flour. It ended up tasting kind of like raw cookie dough (yum).

I started to roll the warm dough into balls and dip it into the shredded coconut (from Trader Joe's), when I realized I was going to have to get the food processor out after all to make the shredded coconut small enough to have a chance of sticking on.

I used Barhi dates because that's what I happened to get at the farmer's market a while back. They were still soft, not as dried out as I would have expected after sitting around in my cabinet for a while. And I think they're sweeter too, which made the sugar even more unnecessary.

I might try just dates and coconut and some sweet rice flour in the food processor next time. What do you all think?

Comments

[mific]

What about subbing sunflower or pumpkin seeds for the nuts? Might also be nice with some dried apricot in the mix.
Or here's a recipe for similar type of bars (but I imagine you could roll balls instead). https://youtu.be/1o2b6n54fc4?si=EIXkkEt8naX7QnYo - no nuts.

Oh, oops, that recipe uses cashews. But I'm sure you could sub with sunflower seeds and/or sesame seeds. The fruit paste will glue it all together.

[sonia]

Thanks for the ideas! Adding dried apricots had crossed my mind, so it’s good to have support for that.

(Btw, the si=… on youtube links is a tracking link, so it can be deleted when you share it.)

[panisdead]

I have done dates and coconut and almond flour, and the result was visually unappealing but it tasted fine. I bet dates/coconut/sweet rice flour would work similarly.

[sonia]

Good to know! Do you have proportions or amounts you aim for, or do you just eyeball it?

[panisdead]

TBH I don't remember the proportions I used with almond flour, but I was going off a recipe with these:

1 cup dates
1 cup almonds
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 pinch sea salt (about 1/4 tsp)
1/4 cup shredded coconut

Probably close to 1 cup? I'd reduce it if I was trying again.

[sonia]

Thanks, that’s a great starting point.

[sonia]

I bought an 8 oz container of medjool dates and gave this a try.

2 cups cut-up dates
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/8 cup coconut/sunflower oil
1/4 cup (approx) sweet rice flour

Ran it all through the food processor, and then shaped it into balls. They held together well enough, but weren't sticky enough to hold more coconut on the outside. I bet they would be better if I had remembered to add salt. They taste fine, but there was a little something missing. Next time I might add cinnamon.

[panisdead]

Ooh, cinnamon sounds good!

[fred_mouse]

we used to use powdered milk to absorb some of the sticky for equivalent balls -- which used honey for the sweet -- which gave a nice additional flavour. Unfortunately, that recipe includes nuts, so I'm not sure on what the appropriate proportions would be.

The place I would go looking, if I had the energy, would be the Thermomix forums. They used to have a lot of people who needed variations on recipes, and it was a very active community. Not sure if it still is, but I'm assuming that the recipes would still all be there.

[sonia]

Thanks! Makes me think of malted milk balls from back in the day...