Gone In One Bite

Chocolate Almond Bites

Now we all know peanut butter is the bomb, because it always has and always will be amazing. But if we're honest, we know it's not the best for us. Now before you shoot me down, I'm not saying it's bad for us, I'm actually saying it's GOOD for us...it's just not AS GOOD as almond butter. Almond butter not only has all the protein peanut butter has, but it also has LESS SATURATED FAT. Which is what makes it perfect for snacking and generally putting in all your meals. 

I always make my own almond butter, which you can get the recipe for here.

So the other day I was thinking about how great peanut butter and chocolate are together, I mean they're like the perfect couple, and then wondered if I could introduce almonds to chocolate to produce something similar. Still naughty but oh so good for you. Peanut butter M&Ms, Peanut butter kisses, Kitkat peanut butter...it got me thinking.

So here they are, chocolate covered almond balls. A bit like M&Ms, but home made and without the bad fat.

Ingredients

Makes about 80-100 depending on what size you want them!

2 oz Oats - ground

5 oz Almonds - roasted and ground

3 oz Cashews - ground

4 Tbsp Agave/Maple syrup

4 oz Vegan chocolate - I used dark and 'milk'

You'll need to blend your oats until they're fine, or you could use oat bran if you wanted, the texture may be a little rougher though - set aside.

Roast your almonds - spread them onto a baking tray and pop them in the oven for a few mins on 180c, be careful not to let them burn!

Now blend the almonds and cashews until they look like fin breadcrumbs, you can leave some chunkier pieces if you like.

Now add the syrup to the blended nuts and mix well.

Next mix in the ground oats and keep mixing until it forms a dough - you may need to add a few Tbsp of water.

Now scoop out little bits of dough and roll between your hands to form little balls.

Put them on a baking tray and chill in the fridge until your chocolate has melted.

You can use a toothpick or small skewer to spear the balls and coat them in the chocolate, mmmmm!

Note - I only coated mine in a thin layer of chocolate as I wanted them to remain quite a healthy treat, however if you want more of a proper chocolate coating like bought sweets, then dip the balls once, leave to set and then coat again.

I put mine in a little bag with a pretty ribbon, perfect for a gift or to keep you from scoffing the whole lot all at once!

Happy baking! x