I wanted to title this post A Tale of Two Balls but I suppressed my inner 13 year old, aren’t you glad?
I love dessert and I definitely have a sweet tooth, my favorite treat is chocolate! I go through bricks of that stuff a day just to satisfy my cravings. Unfortunately I’m also really sensitive to refined sugar and caffeine and eating massive doses of chocolate can leave me a bit jittery. So lately I have been expanding my culinary horizons and enjoying raw desserts galore, like these epically awesome raw balls.
The chocolate peanut butter balls are my all time favorite raw balls EVER. They are lighter and less dense than most raw desserts I’ve tried and they are absolutely packed with intense chocolatey peanut butter flavor. Melt in your mouth delicious and much softer and creamier than the average piece of chocolate.
The pumpkin pie balls are perfect for this time of year. They are so soft and creamy, just like a bite of pumpkin pie and I made sure to fill them with all the traditional spices.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Raw Balls
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup raw walnuts
1/2 cup oats
6 medjool dates (if they aren’t medjool increase the amount of agave)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp agave nectar
2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
- Blend the cashews, walnuts, and oats into an almost fine powder in a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine totally until it is a moist and crumbly. Pack into balls with your hands and eat right away or store in the fridge to eat later.
Pumpkin Pie Balls
1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup walnuts
3/4 cup oats
5 medjool dates
4 Tbsp pumpkin puree
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of cloves
2 Tbsp agave nectar
- Blend the cashews, walnuts, and oats up into a fine powder in the food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until they form a moist, dense mixture. Form into balls and enjoy right away or store in the fridge until later.
Quick note!
There are dozens and dozens of raw ball recipes around the web, I’ve tried many of them but my recipes are, of course, my favorite! But I am so grateful for the inspiration that other people’s ideas and recipes give me and I’d like to acknowledge them. I think it is really important for all of us bloggers to support each other and give each other credit where credit is due. So, many, many thanks for my raw ball inspiration to Chocolate Covered Katie, Oh She Glows, Girl on Raw, and Loves Veggies, Yoga, Running, and Chocolate.
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Raw balls are such a great snack! Your versions sound very delicious.
I absolutely cannot wait to try making these over the holiday! I have been placed in charge of the baking…so it will be surreptitiously vegan
My balls want to play with your balls! OMG how bad does that sound?
And your pumpkin balls look like twinnies with the Pumpkin Pie Babies I'm getting ready to post this week (Don't worry; the recipes are different). Well, actually, yours look better. I truly need to work on my photography skills!
freaking *love* the pumpkin pie ones!
Hey lovely, thanks so much but you don't need to thank me…I haven't made balls in donkeys years!!! But thanks for the shout out gorgeous!!!
I must have those pumpkin pie balls!! I'm going to fiddle with the recipe so I can use stevia and no dates. . . will let you know how it works out! YUM!
Yummy balls (twss!)!
I like your comment on the end that we all put our own tweaks on things and that we all inspire each other, I think that's great…and ironically I was going to post something very similar to that in tonite's post. I had been waiting to see how I wanted to word it and to pop the idea into a recipe and place where it fit.
I made my own pumpkin spice balls I called them and they are great; and I can't wait to try your recipe out too!
BTW PB Cups…had no idea you ever made them? I am going to search your site now.
Thanks everyone!
CCKatie – Arghgh! My blog is quickly turning a bit R rated I think! Children, hide your eyes!
Girl on Raw – You are my raw guru, every time I work some raw magic in my kitchen I'm thinking of you!
Ricki – Good luck! Let me know how they turn out.
Averie – Hahaha, yep, I love pb and choc cups. On November 9th I posted Everyday Nums #12, they were included in there. I think you even commented on the post!
Seriously, though, there is no better combination on earth than peanut butter and chocolate. Seriously epic, I can never get enough!
Ummm hello balls, you look fab! Omg, I will be making some of these, I always seem to forget how easy they are!
You should submit these in the contest on my blog, they are perfect and easy!
XXOO
Kris
those look awesome!1 i am definitely intrigued in trying those
xoxoxo
shelley
i'm drooling over those balls! teehee
Isn't great to make raw nutritious balls?!!
Have to try 1 of these fab recipes & love the photos!
XoXo.
Looks delish and could not agree more on the give credit where credit is due part.
I really, really love all the raw date ball recipes lately (I just made CCV's fudge babies a couple of days ago!) — they're all so delicious, and the lack of refined sugar is such a treat. I'm definitely going to have to try your chocolate pb version. Thanks for sharing!
mm I always love trying different balls. They make such great and interesting snacks!
Everyone is making these and they look so good. I really like your recipe for them!
And I just bought a whole bunch of medjool dates!
Although they do look and sound delicious, they're not actually completely raw, which is fine for someone who isn't a raw foodist, but you may not want to advertise them as raw, say, at your new vegan bakery.
The things that make them not raw, are the pumpkin puree (usually steamed) and the peanut butter. I don't think you can have raw peanuts. I don't think you can digest them properly, but I could be wrong.
a tale of two balls had me laughing! ah ha ha! hooray for your raw chocolate peanut butter balls and the raw pumpkin pie balls – they both sound soooooooo gooooooood! oh my goodness, i need to get some more cashews so i can make these. yay!
Oh, these raw balls look and sound so healthy and yummy, maybe with a cuppa tea, Mmmmm! I can't wait to make these balls, hahaha!!!
Lulz at balls that melt in your mouth… tee hee!
Such a great idea to make pumpkin balls!! I've made so many varieties of raw dessert balls (they were singlehandedly the reason I went up a pant size over the summer, lol!) but I have NEVER thought to make them with pumpkin and I know I never would have without your great innovation!
Thanks for that, and have a wonderful holiday week!
I love it! I need to start making balls of this kind myself. So far, I've only made Averie's Chocolate Coconut snowballs, but they are a frosty treat, not like this. I have all the ingredients too! Like right now, I could go make these! But it's late, so I'm going to bed. But soon! I can't wait!!!
Oooh…these look so good! I'm a ball-maker too; I call mine Earth Balls and make variations on the basic recipe so it's a little different each time.
I'm going to try your PB balls today but will swap almond butter for the pb. What a great recipe, thanks for sharing!
I'm rooting for you and your fabulous new vegan bakery from all the way over here in Ohio
ahh, raw dessert balls are everywhere! and i've still yet to make them.. yours look great, chocolate and peanut butter are definitely my favorite combo!
I love seeing all of these raw balls everywhere. I'm with you on the chocolate and sweets. I love chocolate and as far as the sugar I'm sensitive to it and can only have so much. Usually I bake have just a bit and move on to the next baking frenzy I have.
raw raw raw raw. I am so jealous.
Gorgeous treats! I recently experimented with raw balls myself, and loved.
I love these! I usually make mine into bars (like Larabars) though. I am totally trying your pumpkin idea!
I posted some of my favorite combinations on my blog during Vegan MoFo http://fullofbeansblog.blogspot.com/search/label/dates
Oh my, I think I may be drooling! Such fantastic and totally guilt-free treats.
Yum! I just made the chocolate (okay, carob, because that's what I have on hand) peanut butter balls, and they rock! I think I got a little heavy-handed with the ginger, but it didn't bother me. Thanks so much for the recipes. As soon as I find the can of pumpkin I'll make some of the pumpkin pie balls too. Meanwhile, I'll have to share the recipe with my mom. We used to be big fans of rum balls back in the day.
[...] week including Raw Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls (pictured above); a slightly adapted version of this recipe invented by Tasha of The Voracious Vegan fame. To make it gluten-free I omitted the oats [...]
How am I still addicted to these babies???