date & almond balls rolled in coconut

As our wedding gets closer and closer, I find that I am spending less and less time in the kitchen.  Not to say that I wouldn't rather be in the kitchen.  I'd always rather be in the kitchen.  It's just not my reality at the moment. I will surely make up for lost time once I'm all married and honeymooned. 

As wedding planning goes, my days have slowly become ravaged with emails, writing, planning, shopping, decision making, hair styling, talking, meeting, trying things on, and just plain doing. And one month from tomorrow all of these things will culminate in one very special event. And then it will all be over {sigh, relief}. Or should I say, it will be the beginning?

Yep ... that sounds better. The beginning. 

Beginning of our life together. Beginning of forever love. Beginning of our life filled with lots of love ... and walks on the beach, cocktails at sunset, late night chats, and of course lots of really really good food. 

I can hardly wait for the beginning to get here. 

Until then, between the all of the decision making and shoe shopping, I have managed to sneak into the kitchen from time to time.  One of the things I have been working on is a recipe for vegan lemon bars.  Sounds yum, doesn't it? Well, don't get too excited, it's not quite ready to share yet. 

However, during a failed lemon bar attempt I did come up with these little gems. Date, almond, coconut balls. 

In case you haven't noticed, I've been on a bit of an almond/coconut/date kick lately.  Maybe it's because I love all three ingredients individually, maybe it's because they are the foundation of a lot of my sweet treats. Either way, these might be one of the best little treats I have ever accidentally made. 

For the past week or so, Michael and I have been having these every night for dessert with a scoop of vanilla cashew ice cream.  They are absolute heaven. And tooootaly on the "pre-wedding diet" ;)

They're simple to make, and they make a beautiful presentation.  Coconut, dates, almonds, simple, and beautiful is what I am all about right now. Emphasis on keeping it simple. 

date & almond balls rolled in coconut

Makes
about 12-15 balls

Ingredients

1 cup of almonds
2 tablespoons of refined coconut oil
a pinch of sea salt
6-8 medjool dates
1/2 cup of shredded coconut 

Directions

• In a high powered blender or food processor, pulse the almonds until you have the consistency of a fine meal. 
• Then add in the salt and coconut oil, and while the blender is running begin to add in the dates a little at a time. Keep adding until all of the dates have been added and everything is well combined. 
• Pour the date/almond mixture into a bowl, and spread the coconut out on a plate. Begin to shape the balls. Take about about a quarter size (or a little larger) of the date/almond mixture and roll it around in the palm of your hand until you have a firm, packed, round shape. Then roll them around in the coconut to coat.  Repeat until the date/almond mixture is done. 
• You can eat these right away, or store them in the refrigerator to enjoy at a later time. Once they have chilled a little they become more firm.  Depending on the freshness of the ingredients, they should last for 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator. 

Enjoy.