Chocolate Date Balls

About the Recipe

These chocolate date balls, or bliss balls, are perfect for a quick homemade snack or dessert. Here’s why we love them:

• 3 ingredients needed.
• Just a few minutes of prep time.
• No-bake.
• Vegan and gluten-free.
• No added oil or sugar.
• Nut-free.
• Taste like a decadent dessert!
• Fudge-like texture.
• Perfect for homemade energy bites.
• About 100 calories per ball.

Ingredients & Substitutions

All you need is tahini (or any nut or seed butter), cocoa powder and dates! Here are the ingredient details and possible substitutions.

This list is not complete. Please see the recipe card at the end of the post for the complete ingredient list with measurements and detailed instructions.

• Tahini : Use any store-bought or homemade tahini. Good quality tahini should be smooth, easy to drizzle (not too thick) and have an earthy flavour that’s not overly bitter. You can substitute any other nut or seed butter like almond butter, sunflower seed butter or peanut butter.
• Cocoa: Raw cacao powder or regular unsweetened cocoa powder both work great here. You can substitute powdered peanut butter or your favourite protein powder for a variation.
• Dates: Use any variety as long as they’re soft and moist. If you only have dry dates, we’ll go over soaking below so you can use them in this recipe, though for best results, I’d recommend using gooey dates rather than soaked dates.
• Extras: To enhance the flavour, try a pinch of good salt and teaspoon of vanilla extract. C

Variations & Additions

There are lots of ways to customize chocolate date balls. Here are some ideas:

• Coat in Chocolate: To make these into fancy chocolate truffles, try coat them in or drizzle them with melted dark chocolate.
• Dark Chocolate Coconut Balls: Add 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips and 1/2 cup coconut flakes. Roll the balls in coconut.
• Chocolate Orange Bites: Add up to 1 tbsp orange zest for a citrus twist.
• Add Nuts, Coconut or Chocolate: You can add up to 3/4 cup rolled oats, coconut flakes, chocolate chips, crushed walnuts, pecans, almonds, pecans or cashews. Add them to the food processor first to break them down into small bits.
• Add Dried Fruit: Try adding up to 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots or dried cherries, cranberries or blueberries.
• Add Seeds: For extra nutrition and texture, try adding up to 1/2 cup hemp seeds or sesame seeds, or up to 3 tbsp chia seeds.
• Peanut Butter Chocolate: For peanut butter chocolate dates balls, use peanut butter instead of tahini. Almond butter works too or you could use sunflower seed butter for another nut-free option.
• Chocolate Mint Bites: Add a few drops of peppermint extract for chocolate peppermint bites. These would be perfect for the holidays or an edible gift.
• Spices: Try up to 1 tsp cinnamon and/or a pinch of ginger or nutmeg. You can also add a pinch of cayenne to add a subtle kick!

How to Make Chocolate Date Balls

Step 1: Add the dates, cocoa powder, tahini, salt and vanilla if using to a food processor and blend into a thick, sticky dough you can press together between your fingers. If you’re adding any extras, mix those in now as well.

If the mixture forms into one big ball in the food processor, that’s perfect.

Step 2: Use your hands to roll the dough into balls. Any size works but used about 1 heaping tablespoon per ball and got 16 balls out of the recipe.

If you like, you can roll each ball in cocoa powder, shredded coconut, cookie crumbs or crushed nuts for an extra touch. Chill in the fridge or freezer for at least an hour to set.

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