Raw, uhm, Balls.
For some reason, these balls seemed to appeal a lot when I posted the pic on Flickr the other day, so the super simple recipe is coming up at the bottom of this post.
It’s insane how packed with energy these things are: I feel the urge to bike every single day no matter what condition I’m in, and usually eat a little something-something before I go out and play. Most small breakfasts don’t hold me for more than a couple of hours at best, but 2 of these balls (oy) kept me going for over 5 hours.
Quick notes:
If you are concerned about the processor blades heating up the ingredients too much, be sure to chop everything as much as you can prior to throwing it in, for a quicker processing job.
You can shape this into good ol’ bars too, of course. But where’s the fun in that?
Raw, uhm, Balls 1 cup (124 g) raw sunflower seeds
1 cup (6 ounces, 170 g) dried Calimyrna figs
Zest of 1 small lemon
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 tablespoons (63 g) raw (or not, if you don’t care about that) agave nectar
Optional add-ins & stuff to roll the balls into: shredded coconut, ground cinnamon, raw cocoa powder, carob powder…Place the seeds in your food processor, and blend until the ground seeds start to stick to the sides of the bowl.
Add the figs, lemon zest, and salt. Process until ground.
Add agave, 1 tablespoon (21 g) at a time, until the preparation holds together well. You might have to add a little more agave, depending on the quality of the ingredients.
Throw in any optional add-in you fancy.
Shape into balls and roll them in instant coconut milk powder (read ingredients to be sure it’s vegan), ground cinnamon, raw cocoa, ground raw nuts…
I like to keep my balls cold in the fridge. What?Yield: 8 balls
Julie Hasson said,
August 4, 2009 at 7:35 am
Yummy Celine!
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Tam said,
August 4, 2009 at 7:45 am
sounds super tasty! can’t wait to make my own batch!
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Mihl said,
August 4, 2009 at 8:37 am
Beautiful little things. And as I happen to have a huge amount of sunflower seeds around and figs too, I have to make them!
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Rosa said,
August 4, 2009 at 8:41 am
LOL ;-P! I love that kind of healthy truffle!
Cheers,
Rosa
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Ani said,
August 4, 2009 at 9:08 am
Last time I made something like these, I added crystallized ginger, cocoa powder, and fresh mint from the garden. My husband absolutely loves these balls. (It’s true…he said so himself!)
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Lainie said,
August 4, 2009 at 9:17 am
Your pictures are stunning…your site is BEAUTIFUL! And your food – especially the raw balls – look amazing!
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Jules said,
August 4, 2009 at 9:33 am
Awesome. My hub and I have been eating mostly raw lately, and these look so good.
One question – are the figs dried or fresh?
Thanks!
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Celine Reply:
August 4th, 2009 at 10:55 am
thanks for pointing out the dried/fresh thing, I edited it up there: I meant, dried.
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Josiane said,
August 4, 2009 at 9:46 am
Your, uhm, balls look absolutely yummy! ;)
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VeggieGirl said,
August 4, 2009 at 9:48 am
They’re so perfectly formed!! Nice work!!
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dreaminitvegan said,
August 4, 2009 at 10:04 am
Yum!!! I’m assuming you used dried figs?
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alex said,
August 4, 2009 at 10:10 am
First Kagels, now raw balls… We only get dried figs here, will that work? Maybe I need to soak them first?
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Andrea said,
August 4, 2009 at 10:16 am
Sounds like just what I need in my fridge for an energy boost. I used to make something similar with peanuts that was called (uhm) bliss balls, but I prefer sunflower seeds so these sound much better. I’ve never seen instant coconut milk powder but now I want some.
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Kelly said,
August 4, 2009 at 10:20 am
I love how creative you are when naming. I can see why these garnered attention on flickr. The picture is gorgeous as always. Silly question, do you use dry or fresh figs?
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DaviMack said,
August 4, 2009 at 10:55 am
Hmm. Perhaps medjool dates instead of the figs, and throw in some cashews. Add some lime zest instead of the lemon zest … yeah, I can see how you’d groove on these. Yum!
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Azzahar said,
August 4, 2009 at 11:05 am
A question from a non-english speaker: does the word “balls” these days ALWAYS has a dirty connotations? Now I understand why all vegan insist on that meat part from “meatballs” – tofu meatballs, okara meatballs, lentil meatballs… tofu balls is not an option?
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Celine Reply:
August 4th, 2009 at 11:09 am
oh…kay?
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aimee said,
August 4, 2009 at 11:13 am
Mmm, yummy balls! Those look great! I’ve always used dates but I like the idea of figs.
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Lauren said,
August 4, 2009 at 11:13 am
First, of all, LOVE the title of the post ;).
The balls sound/look yummy! A nice alternative to homemade Larabars.
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Lacey said,
August 4, 2009 at 11:23 am
coconut powder makes EVERYTHING more delicious.
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Kiersten said,
August 4, 2009 at 12:26 pm
I was going to make a comment about how yummy those balls look…but now I’m not, I’ll try to behave. lol
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Jennyjen said,
August 4, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Gorgeous shot of the balls! :) The recipe looks fabulous & sunflower seeds are my favourite. Yummers.
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Amanda Nicole said,
August 4, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Nice balls ;) These sound like wonderful little bursts of energy, thank you for sharing.
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Vaala said,
August 4, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Oooo, these look delicious…a perfect idea for something quick to hold me over till breakfast during training. I will have to whip some up this weekend I think!
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Jackie said,
August 4, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I love quick and easy recipes like these, and using sunflower seeds instead of more expensive, uhm, nuts, will mean I can make these often.
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cage said,
August 4, 2009 at 2:25 pm
They look good! Try adding in barley grass powder! Really good that way!
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wannabeavegan said,
August 4, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Well now that I’ve been coveting your balls for days I can make my own, hmph!
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Shelby said,
August 4, 2009 at 3:38 pm
LOVE IT!
I have all of the ingredients too, I can’t wait to try them out!
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Marta said,
August 4, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I love using dried fruit for healthy desserts, or before-bike-ride-snacks :)
These must be delicious and with all those seeds and figs, no wonder they gave you energy for the whole day :)
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Caitlin said,
August 4, 2009 at 5:39 pm
I think it’s a sign of my (lack of) maturity that I giggled through this entire post. Sometimes, I just don’t know about me :)
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Miakoda said,
August 4, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Love the name of the dish ;) We make many different versions, with seeds, rice flour, nuts etc. Always good!
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Afsoon said,
August 4, 2009 at 9:10 pm
balls galore! and no pineapple! wheeee!
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Sophie said,
August 4, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Lovely, lovely, lovely,…
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM,….
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Sal said,
August 5, 2009 at 2:35 am
They sound pretty damn good. Balls, teehee!
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Celine Reply:
August 7th, 2009 at 11:36 am
say what? balls!
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Mae Bird said,
August 5, 2009 at 7:31 am
right up my alley – thanks for sharing. I hope to make these soon.
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Deb Schiff said,
August 5, 2009 at 8:57 am
These look just up my alley, and I have all the ingredients at home! Yay! Can’t wait to make them myself. Thanks for posting — excellent photo, too!
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Jojo said,
August 5, 2009 at 12:10 pm
I’ll have to try these balls soon, thanks for the recipe!
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Hello Veggie said,
August 5, 2009 at 1:09 pm
These look delicious and sound so healthy. I could use a good energy packed snack that tastes like a sweet treat!
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A&N said,
August 6, 2009 at 4:57 pm
I love how easy they are!
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Celine Reply:
August 7th, 2009 at 11:35 am
easy balls. yup. :)
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Alex said,
August 7, 2009 at 8:15 am
I love these simple, wholesome ingredients.
I also love balls.
(too easy, I know)
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Celine Reply:
August 7th, 2009 at 11:34 am
too easy? maybe. hilarious? always!
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Jessica "Su Good Sweets" said,
August 7, 2009 at 8:32 am
I made a version of these with dates (like Larabars) here: http://www.sugoodsweets.com/blog/2007/05/mayabars/. But yours are much prettier.
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Celine Reply:
August 7th, 2009 at 11:34 am
thanks! don’t be silly, though, yours look scrumptious. your version is rather different, and sounds extremely interesting, so I’ll try it asap. I’m becoming hooked on these things.
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jen jafarzadeh said,
August 7, 2009 at 12:01 pm
wow, at first (like a dope) I thought these were doughnut holes you’d baked. But then I saw they’re actually healthy balls! Love it. I’m going to try this out as I love a good snack.
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Celine Reply:
August 7th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
doughnut holes! now I’m craving them.
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ash said,
August 8, 2009 at 2:26 pm
these are totally cool!
I think I will gave these a go!
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veggie wedgie said,
August 10, 2009 at 6:47 am
They look so pretty, specially the ones that are rolled in powdered coconut!!
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gine said,
August 12, 2009 at 12:38 am
looks very yummy ^^ …!! XOXO
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Vegetation said,
August 12, 2009 at 2:19 am
You have the yummiest looking uhm balls ever! (Never thought I’d say that one to anyone much less a girl :P)
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Raw Power Balls « said,
August 14, 2009 at 5:32 pm
[...] I found the perfect item at Have Cake Will Travel in the form of her “Raw, uhm, Balls” recipe. I used her recipe as a blueprint and varied the ingredients according to what I had on hand and [...]
Mo said,
August 25, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Oh yeeeeah! Those look really good.
Reply
Food of the week – Raw Balls « Weeklythings said,
August 27, 2009 at 4:43 am
[...] Recipe from Have cake, will travel [...]
monday link dump « be well & take care said,
September 22, 2009 at 2:32 pm
[...] Raw Balls – Saying “balls” never gets old. Kind of like “that’s what she [...]
Johnnie said,
October 2, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I’ve been searching for a fig recipe and found these. Glad I did. They’re very good but I think next time I’ll use less salt or omit it completely. Was a tad on the salty side. I rolled mine in cacao powder and shredded/dried coconut. Poured some raw chocolate syrup on a plate and added the “truffles”. They look like truffles :-) They looked stunning! Thanks for sharing.
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