Coffee and Tahini Date Balls

date balls

In a nutshell:

We’ve posted about this sort of thing before, and I know many of you already make fruit/nut balls and bars as healthy treats. So all you folks need to know is that these days we’re really liking the flavor combo of dates and tahini, rolled in a 50/50 blend of ground coffee and cacao nibs (these are the dark ones in the pic above). If you don’t have the nibs, you can just roll them in straight coffee–fresh ground espresso is best.

Give it a try. It’s super easy, and super tasty for the adult palate–and if you eat enough of them, you get a caffeine buzz as a well as a sugar buzz!

The recipe:

This recipe is adapted from the great book, Pomegranates and Pine Nuts.

Makes about 12, depending on the size of the dates, and the size of the balls

Ingredients:

  • 12 pitted dates
  • 2 Tablespoons of tahini paste
  • Toppings for coating the balls, which may include:  fresh ground espresso, ground cacao nibs, ground chocolate, cocoa powder, toasted sesame seeds, poppy seeds, ground nuts of all sorts, coconut flakes…and anywhere else your pantry leads you.

Simply throw the dates and the tahini in a food processor and blend until a paste of some sort forms.

Now, dates vary in size quite a bit, but I think it’s pretty safe to hold to these numbers (12 dates: 2 Tbsp tahini) no matter what size your dates. There’s a lot of flexibility in this kind of recipe. Taste the paste, and add more dates or more tahini to adjust the flavor, as you like. I really don’t think it’s possible to screw this up.

If your dates are dry the “paste” will look more like a crumble–but that’s fine, as long as it will hold a ball form. It’s actually less sticky and easier to work with that way. Fresh, soft dates will yield a much goopier paste. To make shaping the balls easier, put the paste in the fridge for 15 minutes or more so it can set up a little.

Wet your hands and roll the paste into balls. The size is up to you, of course. I’ve grown to prefer small, one bite balls.

Then put a couple of tablespoons each of your chosen coatings into little bowls or saucers, and roll each of the balls in one or two of the flavors.

Keep these in the fridge if it’s hot out, or they’ll get squishy. I’m not sure what their shelf-life is, because they never last more than 24 hours, around here, but I expect they’d keep well in the fridge, covered, for a good week.

Notes on dates and tahini:

Dates can be expensive. The very worst place to buy them is a regular grocery store. They will be old and overpriced. The best place to buy them will be at a market specializing in Middle Eastern foods. There you will be able to get big fat soft dates for reasonable prices, and they will be fresh. If you happen to live near a Trader Joe’s, they have inexpensive dates as well, though they can be a bit on the dry side. If you live near a co-op or a health food store with bulk bins full of dates, you’re in good shape as well. And if you live in the right region, you may be able to find them at the farmers’ market.

Tahini is a paste made of ground sesame seeds. If you want a large selection of brands, and low prices, go to a Middle Eastern market. But you can also always find tahini in any health food store, and more and more it’s appearing in mainline supermarkets.

If you buy in a jar of tahini for this recipe, remember that you can also use it to make hummus and baba ghanoush with it, as well as some really tasty salad dressings. It’s a good investment!

Leave a comment

4 Comments

  1. That looks so delicious! Will have to try.
    Hoping you appreciate spelling feedback (with such an excellent narrative voice as yours – and your precision):
    palette = paint colors arrayed
    pallet = from home depot and such
    palate = your taste and preferences…

    Was just discussing this with my bilingual colleagues, as each of those has a distinct (and less confusing) counterpart in Spanish.

    Hope all is well.

  2. To augment your notes on tahini: it is a snap to make if you own a food processor. Simply toast the sesame seeds in the oven until light brown; let cool; whirl in the food processor until finely ground and powdery. Drizzle in olive oil to make a spreadable consistency. I found this out one night when I was making hummus and my tahini jar was nearly empty. I couldn’t face evening traffic for a run to the grocery store. I had a bag of sesame seeds in the freezer for use in baking, so I gave homemade a try. So fresh! It is especially good for folks who don’t use tahini often, since you can make only what you need.

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