These taste like a cross between cinnamon brioche and cinnamon donuts. The coconut, vanilla and cinnamon give them sweetness (enhanced with a little maple syrup, or dates if you’re not a fructard!) and the dark roasted almond butter adds a toasted richness that makes them extra delicious.

The idea for this recipe came from one of my dearest, oldest and bestest friends. I was trying to think of a cake to make for her birthday for the next Rising Social Star brief (I’ll post it next week!) and was picking her brain for her all time favourite sweet things. Chocolate and coffee were a given, as was the general lack of fruit (she’s always been ante it, unless it’s lemon curd or a splash of OJ topping up sparkling at brunch haha), but it was one of the other things that she mentioned that gave me the idea for these ridiculously tasty bliss balls. Cinnamon brioche! You probably guessed this, as it’s in the recipe title and you’re clever like that…

Roasting the nuts is super important to getting that sweet buttery flavour from them that you want in order to emulate the whole cinnamon brioche thing. I love the cinnamon coconut costing on them too, it’s a tiny but reminiscent of rolling donuts in  cinnamon sugar… But without the sugar.

Remember, these are still a treat food they’re just better for you (low in added sugar and higher in fibre, vitamin E and protein thanks to the coconut, almonds and oats) than actual cinnamon brioche or donuts.

Keep an eye out for the Mocha cake with coffee cream filling next week. These do double time as cake decoration!

Makes 10

Ingredients

2/3 cup dark roasted almonds (see tip at the end)

2/3 cup oats

1/3 cup coconut

1 Tbs chia seeds

1 tsp vanilla extract

1.5 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbs maple syrup or 1-2 dates soaked in hot water

1 Tbs water (if using a date use the water it was soaking in)

2 Tbs coconut, for rolling

1/2 tsp cinnamon, for rolling

Directions

place almonds in a small food processor and process for a few minutes, until they turn to smooth almond butter. Add all other ingredients (excluding those marked ‘for rolling’). Process until well combined and sticky. Add more water if it is dry.

Roll into walnut sized balls. Mix together the coconut and cinnamon you have reserved for rolling and then roll balls through it until lightly covered. Store in the fridge for up to a week. If you can make them last that long…

HH. x

Tip: roast almonds at 180 degrees for 20 minutes and then check, roast until a deep golden colour.