A while back I decided to play around with a home made sunflower seed butter recipe, I then had a lot of Sunflower Seed Butter and no real use for it (other than licking it off the spoon, mmm!) so I needed to turn it in to something. Hence the Nut Free Bliss Balls were born.
I wanted to create a bliss ball that was easy to make (OK they are all easy to make!) but didn’t use nuts as a base as I know there are plenty of people who are allergic to nuts and their price!
Crafted using sunflower seeds as the base to make this bliss ball nut free. I decided that a combination of cranberries and chocolate would go well together and oh boy they certainly do!
I was very pleasantly surprised when I tasted these nut free bliss balls for the first time as they were perfect! Just the right amount of sweetness with a hint of saltiness at the same time.
I made these bliss balls every weekend for a good month (you know, just to make sure they did taste good!) and I’m missing them dreadfully while I’m doing the Whole 30 which states no ‘treatlike’ foods even if they are made from whole ingredients – sad face!
If you have any allergies or intolerances there is a high likelihood that you will still be able to make these delightful little balls as these bliss balls are naturally gluten-free, paleo (if you use paleo chocolate), refined sugar-free, vegan (use vegan chocolate) and of course nut free.
If you’re a bit wary about the fact that these nut free bliss balls use sunflower seeds at the base, do not fret! I am not a seed person at all, I always used to believe that seeds were for birds, not humans! The sunflower seed butter is close in taste to peanut butter so please do give it a go!
I would happily serve these nut free bliss balls up to anyone who wasn’t in the slightest bit interested in eating clean and I’m fairly certain they would enjoy them just as much as the clean eaters amongst us.
- 1/2 Cup Dates
- 2.5 Cups Sunflower Seeds (1.5c made in to butter, 1c made in to flour)
- 1/2 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips
- 1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
- 1.5 Cups Coconut (chips or shredded)
- 1.5 Tablespoons LSA (Optional)
- 4 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
- Shake of Sea Salt
- Boil the jug and pour the hot water over the dates to soften.
- Take 1.5cups of the Sunflower seeds and process them in your food processor (I use the Russell Hobbs Multi Food Processor) until they turn in to sunflower seed butter (or as close as your patience will take you to sunflower seed butter!).
- Pop the remainder of the ingredients in the food processor (excluding the cranberries and chocolate) and process until combined. I like to keep mine a little bit chunky.
- Add the cranberries and chocolate and pulse a few times until distributed throughout the mixture but not too broken up.
- Roll in to balls and keep in the fridge.
I am entering these Nut Free Bliss Balls into Sweet NZ hosted by Munch Cooking.
What are your favourite bliss ball combinations? Do you like cranberries and chocolate together?
Yum! Great idea to do a nut free recipe. And cranberries and chocolate – yum! I made some date free bliss balls this weekend with dried apricots. Also added chocolate and currants. They were good!
Yum. Loved your nutball recipe. Thanks for joining in.
Yum – this is my favourite bliss ball recipe, shared in the school yard. My son thought they were truffles… he he
Michelle
I love that using a different word helps people to enjoy a snack better! I’m intrigued by the use of rice cakes!
I love these kinds of healthy snacks, especially if they have a touch of chocolate. What is LSA? I would also use a mix of seeds – pumpkin and sunflower.
LSA is a mix of linseed, sunflower and almonds. Using a mixture of seeds is a good idea too 🙂
These sounds awesome – love it!
Thanks Bea 🙂