Chocolate Crackle Bliss Balls
When I was a kid there seemed to be a divide between my peers. There were some of us who preferred white chocolate LCM’s or what we now know as “Rice Crispy Treats”. And those of us who preferred the delicious homemade treat lovingly called a “Chocolate Crackle”. It is essentially mounds of Rice Bubbles lathered in a syrupy mix of icing sugar, cocoa, copha, desiccated coconut and coconut oil - piled high into colourful patty pans and left to set in the fridge for a momentous after-school treat.
Although being a year-round treat, summers by the school pool were made more special with these chocolate sweets. Eskies brought by our mums’ were laden with Tupperware filled with them, each recipe differing slightly from the next. During the rare minutes us kids emerged from the pool - wrinkly, red-eyed and virulently smelling of chlorine, it was the first thing we’d beg for - be gone the immense platters of fruits our parents had spend the bum crack of dawn lovingly cutting up for us.
There was always something magical about getting to the bottom of a chocolate crackle. Each of us racing to pull back the patty pan to see who had the thickest layer of chocolate pooling in the bottom.
It never fails to amuse me - what we remember from our childhood. The small things that at the time didn't provide any sort of significance other than unsullied joy. Perhaps this is why chocolate crackles seemed to have left such an impact on me. Either that, or because my 5 year old face was smothered in one before cannonballing into the shallow end of my primary school pool, nearly snapping my coccyx bone on the bottom in the process.
So I guess in lieu of this memory, I wanted to discover a recipe that is reminiscent of those flavours of a chocolate crackle. But in a less sweet, healthier - more “adult” way. Goodness knows 5 year old Ainsley didn't seem to worry about the consequence of all that sugar, unlike 28 year old Ainsley does today. Gone are the colourful Patty pans and the competitive chocolate layers. Which does sound a little drab in hindsight but what’s left behind is a memory that this recipe reminds me to smile about.
That… And a still quite tender tailbone.
Chocolate Crackle Bliss Balls
Ingredients
- 1 cup Medjool dates
- 1 cup natural cashews
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tbsp raw peanut butter
- 1tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp water - if needed
- 1 cup puffed quinoa
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the dates and cashews. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Add the chia seeds, coconut oil, peanut butter, maple syrup and cinnamon. Continue to pulse until it comes together. Take a small amount and roll it into a ball. If the mixture sticks, continue with the next step. If not, add the additional water until the mixture can hold its shape.
- Add puffed quinoa and pulse a few times to combine.
- Take 1tbsp amounts of mixture and roll into balls. Place each ball onto a tray and put into the freezer for up to an hour to set. Sprinkle with puffed quinoa to serve or enjoy as they are.
Notes
Keep in the fridge during the cooler the months or in the freezer for a frozen treat during the heat of summer.