YUMMMMMM! Carrot cake, but healthy? Yes please! I am a big carrot cake fan (thus these carrot cake waffles) and also a big bliss balls fan. These guys came about as a treat to take on the plane with me and a way to use a carrot I had left in the fridge. 

These are pretty easy to make as they don’t require any cooking, just a food processor and a tiny bit of patience (if you want them a little firmer). They really do have the flavours of carrot cake in them and they are also full of healthy ingredients. I mean one of their main ingredients is a vegetable!

I used a mixture of walnuts and almonds in these as walnuts are a pretty traditional carrot cake nut and almonds have a nice natural sweetness to them, plus are great for calcium in take. The rest of the sweetness comes from dried apricots and coconut. You could replace the apricots with dates but I like that the apricots add to the orange carrot colour of these little guys.

Ingredients

Coating

1/2 cup walnuts

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

2/3 cup coconut (shredded or flakes)

Balls

1 medium-large carrot, grated (approx 2 cups)

1 cup walnuts

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup coconut, shredded or flakes

1/2 cup dried apricots

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp freshly grated ginger

1 pinch of nutmeg

1 Tbs maple syrup (optional)

1/4 cup coconut cream or milk

Directions

In a heatproof bowl soak the apricots with 1//2 cup boiling water. Leave for at least 5 minutes.

Place the coating ingredients in the food processor and process for about 1 minute until ground to resemble ‘dukkah’., not too fine.

Remove and set aside in a bowl.

Put the walnuts, coconut, almonds, carrot, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg in the food processor. process until well amalgamated. Drain the apricots and add them along with the coconut cream and process until all the ingredients come together and stick together when you attempt to mould into balls. Taste, and if you want it sweeter add the maple syrup and process again.

Roll mixture into walnut sized balls (or a little bigger) and then roll each ball in the nut coating and set aside on a plate. Wet your hands if the balls are sticking as you roll them. Once all balls have been rolled place the plate in the fridge or freezer for 15 minutes- 1 hour to firm up. You can also store in the fridge or freezer, they defrost well or can be eaten frozen!

Enjoy!

HH. x