Chocolate Mint Balls

Name: Chocolate Mint Balls
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 24
Ingredients: 1 cup walnuts; 1 cup pitted dates; 1/3 cup cacao powder or cocoa powder; 2/3 cup shredded coconut + extra for coating (use unsweetened for less sugar); 2 Tbsp almond milk (or coconut milk or your favorite dairy-free option); 1-1.5 tsp peppermint extract

By Erika in Christmas

Christmas recipes dairy-free gluten-free grain free refined sugar-free veganThis post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Need a little pick me up? Give these chocolate peppermint balls a try! This guilt-free snack is gluten-free, dairy-free, grain-free…and oh-so-delicious! These chocolate energy balls are portable and will leave you feeling great.

I came up with these little gems a couple of weeks ago when I wanted a festive take on a chocolate snack ball. It took me quite a few tries to come up with a recipe that worked because my usual chocolate ball recipe wasn’t having it with the “minty” flavor. Sadly, I had to scrap that and start over completely. I ended up creating a completely new recipe and these chocolate energy bites are exactly what I hoped for.

Before you get nervous, trust me. I’m not going to make you grind or mash or whatever it is you do with mint leaves to make this healthy treat. Nope. All you need is some peppermint extract and a few other “normal” ingredients.

Plus they couldn’t be any easier to make! Seriously, it takes about 5 minutes to whip up a batch of these chocolate mint balls!

A Healthy Alternative

This is the time of year when delicious food starts appearing from every direction. You might be trying really hard to keep it out of the house, but those treats find a way in. Your neighbor brings over freshly baked Christmas cookies (how can you say no to that?!), your kids come home with treats, or maybe you simply love baking and whipping up batch after batch of cookies yourself.

I’m with you there; it’s hard to resist this time of year. But I’ve learned one big secret about making wise choices; we have to give ourselves a healthier alternative.

For example, if all you have are fudge and carrot sticks, it’s going to be pretty hard to choose the carrots when that delicious fudge is staring at you, begging you to eat it. But if you have fudge, carrot sticks, and healthier chocolate peppermint balls in your fridge, well, now you have some good choices.

Mint Chocolate Energy Balls Easy Grab and Go Snack

I like to make a double or even triple batch of these chocolate mint balls. Like I said, it’s all about having that healthy alternative!

I package a set of two of these in those snack-sized Ziploc bags and keep them in a bin in the fridge. When my family is rushing out the door in the mornings or for after-school activities, it makes it super easy to grab a couple of bags to eat in the car.

Plus, it’s one of the few snacks that everyone in the family likes – major mom win!

Delicious Chocolate Energy Bites

The reason everyone likes them? They are downright delicious.

I mean, what if I said these chocolate balls that tasted like a twist of cookie and brownie?

Plus, they have the perfect combination of mint and chocolate. I’ve always enjoyed the mint and chocolate flavor (anyone else a huge Andes fan?).

Also, these peppermint balls are completely guilt-free because there’s no grains, dairy, or refined sugar.

And they are so good that you’ll be dancing among sugar plum fairies, singing “Oh little minty balls of chocolate, where you have been all my life?”

Oops. I may have gotten a little carried away there. Chocolate mint balls make me do that!

How to Make Chocolate Peppermint Balls

But seriously, these chocolate peppermint balls are addictively delicious. And not in a bad way because they’re gluten-free and Paleo too. Of course, that’s no excuse to eat the entire batch at one time, but it does mean these delectable little balls of goodness are a great alternative to many other holiday treats.

In short, just try these little bites. You will be so happy you did.

Ingredients Needed:

Here’s a quick list of the ingredients I use & recommend:

walnuts
pitted dates
cacao powder
shredded unsweetened coconut
almond milk (or dairy-free milk of choice)
peppermint extract

Step by Step Directions:

First, use your food processor to chop the walnuts until they are well chopped.

Then, add in your dates to the chopped walnuts. Hit the pulse button a few times until the dates and walnuts are mixed together.

Add the rest of the ingredients, and pulse again to mix.

Form the dough into 1″ balls. The best way I have found to do this is to use a small cookie dough scoop. You could also simply use a spoon to scoop a bit of mixture into your (clean) hands and roll them into balls on your own.

Tip: if your “dough” is extra thick or tough, you can add an extra tablespoon of dairy-free milk. You don’t want the dough to be runny, but you need it malleable enough to form it into balls.

How to Store the Chocolate Peppermint Balls

These balls will need to be refrigerated to stay fresh. Like I mentioned above, I often will bag mine into snack-sized baggies so I can have an easily portable grab and go snack. You could skip the baggies and simply store in an airtight container within the fridge as well.

Enjoy!

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