I really love my chocolate nut butter date balls, but they contain oats. These days I’m eating grain free except for special occasions. I would like to enjoy date balls more than a few times a year, so I adapted the recipe to be grain free.
I’ve also cut way back on sugar of any kind, so I often omit the honey and add a little extra water to moisten them. You could also try using stevia or another sweetener of choice.
These date balls contain cocoa powder and nut butter. I love the classic chocolate and peanut butter combination, but with two people in my family having an intolerance for peanuts, I go with cashew butter.
The nice thing about date balls is that you can throw in whatever ingredients you like just being sure to keep it the right consistency for making balls. With no cooking involved, these grain free date balls are a perfect summer treat.
Grain-Free Date Balls
Ingredients
- 12 Medjool dates, pitted
- 3/4 cup natural nut butter
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Unsweetened shredded coconut (or coating of choice)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a food processor until the dates are smooth. The mixture should be crumbly but hold together when pressed into a ball.
- Use about 1½ teaspoons of mixture to form a ball, pressing and rolling it with your palms.
- Roll each ball in the shredded coconut or coating of choice.
- Chill before serving.
Notes
If the dates are dry, you should soak them in water before using them in this recipe. A little water can be added to the date ball mixture if needed.
Courses Dessert
This recipe is shared at Naturally Sweet Tuesdays
Hi Linda,
I wanted to know what you would suggest exchanging the almond flour for?
I have an intolerance to almonds, gluten, corn,& potato.
Thanks, Karen
Karen, if you can eat gluten-free oats, try this recipe: http://glutenfreehomemaker.com/chocolate-nut-butter-date-balls/
Linda, I love this photo, and I bet your new version of this recipe is even more delicious! 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing it with us. Many folks transition to a more grain-free diet and forget to share their updated recipes with us, so I really appreciate that you are doing that. I do much better with grain-free living, too.
Shirley
I can’t wait to make this – it will be a perfect snack for the busy new school year starting! Thanks 🙂
I finally got around to making these this week and we loved them, they are SUPER addictive, thanks again 🙂
-Cassidy
Yes, they are addictive! Glad you enjoyed them.
Thanks so much for this grain free version!!! I will definitely give them a try!!!
Hi Linda – thanks so much for adding these to Naturally Sweet Tuesday! I really appreciate you taking the time to participate 🙂 The linkup for this week is live, would love to see you again! ~Aubree
I trying very hard to stay gluten free. When I do eat gluten I blow up, get stomach pain and get either constipated or trots! I’m always looking for recipes.
We call them naked balls, just delicious and our boot camp guru lets us have them on our clean living plan lol
This looks like a wonderful treat. I love dates.
Trying the date balls! ..I need a gluten free, low GI, vegan diet …help please! 🙂 x
These are fantastic! Kind of like an adult no bake cookie. I followed the recipe exact and have also tweaked it to what is in the cupboard. (Like ground oatmeal instead of almond flour, and all natural crunchy peanut butter) Going to try it with some sweet prunes that no one is eating too! Thanks for sharing.
I tried cashew meal in place of the almond meal. It worked great!
FABULOUS and SO EASY!!! Instead of rolling in coconut flakes I used chopped almonds….ooey gooey and oh so satisfying! Thank you so much for this recipe.
You’re welcome, Carrie. Chopped almonds is a great idea!
Linda,
What a fabulous dessert and easy and healthy too. This would be great to make with the grandkids!