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These tahini chocolate date balls are gluten-free, refined sugar-free, vegan and made with just 3 healthy ingredients: tahini, cacao powder and dates.

Chocolate date energy balls sitting on a plate being dusted with cocoa powder.

Chocolate Date Ball Ingredients

To make this recipe, you’ll need:

  1. Tahini. I love tahini and chocolate together. You can use any store-bought or homemade tahini but something on the drippier side works best. No tahini? No problem! Try peanut butter or almond butter as an alternative.
  2. Raw Cacao Powder. I use cacao powder in this recipe to take advantage of its potent nutritional profile. We’ll go over it in more detail below.
  3. Dates. Dates naturally sweeten the recipe so there is no need for added sugar. We’ll go over the best dates to use below.
  4. Optional sea salt. I love the addition of a good quality sea salt. It really enhances the flavour of the rich cacao.
Containers of tahini, cacao powder and dates sitting in front of a food processor.

Cacao Health Benefits

I’ve talked a lot about cacao on the blog before and it remains one of my favourite ingredients. Organic, raw cacao is a true superfood and is loaded with:

  • flavonoids
  • fibre
  • phytonutrients such as sulfur, magnesium and phenylethylamine

Boost your Brain: Cacao is a feel-good food thanks to it’s tryptophan content, plus it can improve focus and energy and it has more antioxidants than tea, wine and blueberries!

Cacao powder being dumped into a food processor.

Cacao or Cocoa Powder?

This recipe calls for cacao powder. Cacao powder is just like regular processed cocoa powder but it’s loaded with antioxidants, magnesium and other minerals.

It can be used interchangeably with cocoa powder in recipes though. I find it’s slightly more bitter than processed cacao but I love the rich, chocolate flavour and you can’t beat the it’s nutritional benefits.

Can I use cocoa powder in the recipe?

Sure. If you don’t have cacao powder, you can use regular processed cocoa powder. It will provide the same flavour and texture but won’t offer the same nutritional benefits.

Chocolate date energy balls sitting on a plate being dusted with cocoa powder.

Best Dates to Use

Lately I’ve been using sayer dates for no-bake energy ball recipes but medjool, deglect noor or honey dates all work tool. I buy them pitted since they’re so easy to just toss into recipes like this.

Sayer dates are really sweet and caramel-like so they work well to naturally sweeten no-bake recipes like this but as long as your dates are soft and moist, they’ll work great.

Soak Dry Dates if Needed

If you only have dry dates, you’ll need to soak them in boiled water for 15 minutes before using. I’d highly recommend using soft dates for best results but soaking drier dates will work in a pinch.

After soaking, drain well before using them in the recipe. If they’re too wet, you may need to add a little extra cacao to balance the added moisture.

A chocolate tahini date ball with a bite taken out of it sitting on a small white plate.

Tahini Chocolate Date Balls Recipe

Okayyy, salted chocolate tahini balls. OMG. These are soooooo goooood. The flavour, the fudginess, the texture, the sweet and salty combo…you guys are going to love these!

Bonus: they taste like a decadent dessert but they’re totally healthy enough to enjoy anytime you want. For extra flavour and fanciness factor, you can roll them in more cacao, shredded coconut, finely chopped nuts or coconut sugar.

Nutrition Details

I rolled my dough into 15 balls which worked out to 145 calories per ball with 22 grams of carbs, 5 grams of fat and 3 grams of protein. Each ball also contains 4 grams of fibre and 10% of your daily iron. I rolled mine on the larger size so you could probably get around 18 smaller balls if you want to reduce the calories for each ball.

This recipe is vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free and grain-free.

More No-Bake Ball Recipes

Loving these chocolate tahini balls? You might like these too:

For more chocolate tahini goodness, try my chocolate tahini energy bars.

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Chocolate date energy balls sitting on a plate being dusted with cocoa powder.

Tahini Chocolate Date Balls

  • Author: Deryn Macey
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 15 mins
  • Yield: 15 balls 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: No-Bake
  • Cuisine: Vegan

These cacao date energy balls require just 3 ingredients: dates, tahini and cacao. They’re vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, refined sugar-free and oil-free and taste absolutely amazing. They’re rich, decadent and fudgy but with those 3 wholesome ingredients you can enjoy them anytime.

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

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Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until it forms a thick dough.
  2. Roll into about 15 balls and place in the fridge for a couple hours to set. Roll the balls in cacao powder, if desired.
  3. Store in the fridge for up to 10 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Notes

For best results, use a kitchen scale to weigh ingredients.

Keywords: chocolate, fudge, dark, plant-based, oil-free

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 ball
  • Calories: 145 calories
  • Fat: 5 grams
  • Carbohydrates: 22 grams
  • Fiber: 4 grams
  • Protein: 3 grams

This recipe was originally published October 17, 2017. It was updated with new photos November 2019.