Vegan Raw Balls: BIZZOMB.

I hate to go there. You know, the "rawer-than-thou" place that makes everyone secretly cringe in the presence of self-absorbed health food enthusiasts, but I've got to give a thumbs up to the raw ball craze, because these babies are really good. "Superfood" is a bit of a stretch, "energy balls" I'm not yet sold on, and if you think something half composed of ground up nuts isn't ungodly fattening, you might be delusional.

But these unassuming little fruit and nut goods definitely have a place at my table - plus, they're extremely easy to make and meet my laziest threshold of "cooking" criteria, and you'll only need a blender and one food storage container if you play your cards right. (I did)

I tested a batch of these at work - one person asked for the recipe, and half of my co-workers came back for seconds!

SWEET SESAME RAW BALLS
7 dried whole dates
4-6 dried whole apricots
1 cup raw pecan pieces
1/2 tsp agave nectar
sesame seeds to coat

Soak dried fruit in a bowl of warm water for as long as your patience holds. Mine lasted somewhere between ten and fifteen minutes... so long as they become more pliable and have some substance to them when lightly squeezed. Remove from water and shake off excess, then transfer to a blender or food processor. Blend into a sticky paste - there may be small chunks, but it should really be more like a spread than a tampenade. You may have to scrape the mixture down toward the blades with a spoon a couple of times as it sticks to the sides of the blender. Spoon out the resulting paste and set it aside. Transfer the pecans to your blender and grind them into a fine-ish consistency. It should be soft and fluffy, not terribly chunky. Mix the fruit paste back into the blender and scrape the mixture down toward the blades. Add agave nectar and any extras you want to throw in at this point. Blend the mixture into a sticky paste, then spoon out into a bowl. Roll them into balls of desired size with your hands, then roll in sesame seeds or garnish of your choice to coat.

Lots of directions, but not time intensive. I used a food processor with a very short body and it took about five minutes.

The resulting balls should look something like this. Except, y'know, more date and apricot colored. These have about a tablespoon of dark chocolate blended in, and half were rolled in excess ground almonds.

I really wanted to add coconut to these, but Torr is allergic - hence the rolling in sesame seeds. These would be super delicious with unsweetened coconut flakes, cacao, dried berries, or anything else you want to add. I tried to go for a 50/50 date to apricot ratio in part because dried apricots are notably lower in sugar and calories and these balls are very sweet already, but you can use different proportions or forgo the apricots altogether. Figs would probably work well. I don't know if apricots or other dried fruits are sticky enough to bind together by themselves if you're not a date and fig fan... I imagine anything soaked in water long enough would become increasingly agreeable, but these have a really nice chewy yet soft texture.

Ooh, that's right. You'll never pay for a Kind bar again.

Go forth, experiment, dare I say FREEBALL? (!!!)

Cheers!