Chocaholic's Dream - Chocolate Walnut Cookie Dough Balls

Chocolate Walnut Cookie Dough Balls - If you love chocolate and eating raw cookie dough - you've come to the right spot! These little morsels of chocolatey goodness will fulfill your cravings. Plus, they're super nutritious and easy to make! (Skip to recipe.)

I still can't bring myself to eat raw cookie dough . . . but boy-oh-boy, can I devour these flourless cookie dough balls. And who would think that this chocolate walnut cookie recipe is nutritious too!

After the deliciousness of Gingerbread Cookie Dough Balls, I haven't been able to stop craving the doughy little morsels of sweet flavour. And I've had thoughts of chocolate in my head lately. Just knowing these cookie dough balls are full of wholesome and healthy ingredients distracts my brain enough that it thinks it's getting a decadent treat.

My brain doesn't care that there are healthy omega-3 fats and lots of vitamins and minerals from the walnuts, or that there is a good dose of healthy fiber from the oats, or that the cocoa powder is loaded with natural antioxidants. It doesn't even care that the sweetness from the dates makes these treats refined-sugar-free.

Nope. All my brain cares about is the chocolate fix that's getting satisfied and the sweet cravings that are being stilled.

YAY for healthy solutions to a chocoholic's addictions, and YAY for fooling your brain!

* * * * *

Kitchen Frau Notes: If you think you don't like walnuts, it's probably because you've mostly eaten them when they are already rancid. Walnuts go rancid quickly because of their high percentage of healthy oils. The nuts you buy on the grocery store shelves, in bags for baking, are often already past their prime. If you want good walnuts, it is imperative to find a reputable source of walnuts that has a high turnover to ensure the nuts are fresh. Once you taste fresh walnuts you'll know how rich, nutty, and delicious they can be.

Always store walnuts in the freezer to keep them at their optimal freshness.

Walnuts are slightly bitter (a much different and milder bitterness than the bitterness when they've gone rancid) because of their skins, which are rich in phenols, so don't remove them. When combined with dark chocolate, the slight bitterness of the nuts' skins blends with the natural bitterness of the chocolate to become part of the delicious addiction of this chocolate walnut cookie recipe.

*While I'm toasting the walnuts, I always toast a few extra to keep in a jar in my pantry so I have them handy for one of my favourite quick and healthy breakfasts: Yogurt, Honey, and Walnuts - Beautiful Breakfast Simplicity.

Chocaholic's Dream Chocolate Walnut Cookie Dough Balls

• ½ cup (60gms) oat flour or rolled oats (gluten-free, if necessary)
• 2 cups (200gms) fresh walnuts
• 1 cup (200gms) halved and pitted medjool dates - about 10 to 12
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ⅓ cup (40gms) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 to 2 tablespoons water

To roll the balls:

• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder +4 tablespoons coconut sugar (or granulated sugar, if that's all you have)
• or finely chopped toasted walnuts

Preheat oven to 350° F. Spread the walnuts on a cookie sheet. Toast for 10 to 12 minutes, until the nuts are golden and you can smell their fragrant aroma. Let cool.

Place the oat flour or oats into the bowl of a food processor. If using oats, whiz them until they become a coarse flour.

Add the toasted walnuts, dates, salt, cocoa powder, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of water.

Process until the mixture comes together and whizzes around the bowl in mostly one large clump. You may have to stop the processor several times to push down the dough if it sticks to the sides of the bowl. Add the second tablespoon of water if it needs it to form a ball.

Stop processing as soon as the mixture comes together in a ball. If you process it too long, the nuts will become so fine they will start to release their oils, as if you were making nut butter. This doesn't alter the taste or nutritional value - it just makes it messier to roll the balls, since they are so oily (words of experience, here).

Mix the cocoa powder and coconut sugar in a small bowl.

Scoop out 1 tablespoon-sized chunks of the cookie dough. Roll into balls and roll the balls in the cocoa-sugar mixture or in the finely chopped nuts.

Leave at room temperature for several hours to dry, then store in a single layer in a container in the fridge for several weeks (though I defy you to keep them that long without eating them all up). Can be frozen, too.

Makes about 24 balls.

Guten Appetit!

 

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